Comments on: Users don’t want rich http://neilmiddleton.com/2009/09/30/users-dont-want-rich/ in more than 140 characters Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:39:20 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Bas http://neilmiddleton.com/2009/09/30/users-dont-want-rich/comment-page-1/#comment-81928 Bas Sun, 11 Oct 2009 21:15:41 +0000 http://neilmiddleton.com/?p=535#comment-81928 You are right, But what can you expect from companies that buy other people's stuff to put their brand on and sell on. The bean counters of these companies know better than anyone that inflation (devaluation) does not only touch money directly. Everything in the capitalist system we all formed as is, is susceptible to inflation, for instance money, education, products, software programs, anything we value. This is also the reason why we can't pay for a good functioning police force anymore or why 2 family members have to work now compared to one, a half century ago. Main reason for this function creep you are talking about is called inflation (maybe even entropy?). Apart from the force of your sales department, unconsciously in your head you start to doubt if your customers get enough bang for their buck until you reach a point of seeing the bloat mountain and starting to realize what you have written above. You are right,

But what can you expect from companies that buy other people’s stuff to put their brand on and sell on.
The bean counters of these companies know better than anyone that inflation (devaluation) does not only touch money directly.
Everything in the capitalist system we all formed as is, is susceptible to inflation, for instance money, education, products, software programs, anything we value.
This is also the reason why we can’t pay for a good functioning police force anymore or why 2 family members have to work now compared to one, a half century ago.

Main reason for this function creep you are talking about is called inflation (maybe even entropy?).
Apart from the force of your sales department, unconsciously in your head you start to doubt if your customers get enough bang for their buck until you reach a point of seeing the bloat mountain and starting to realize what you have written above.

]]> By: Brett Morgan http://neilmiddleton.com/2009/09/30/users-dont-want-rich/comment-page-1/#comment-81921 Brett Morgan Sat, 10 Oct 2009 22:47:31 +0000 http://neilmiddleton.com/?p=535#comment-81921 To paraphrase Steve Jobs, it takes a lot of work to get past complexity and get to the truly simple to use. In short, it takes a great designer and a lot of iterations to come up with a simple intuitive system. On the upside, now that it's people who use our products who are choosing which to use, suddenly design is a major determinant of who gets the sale. To paraphrase Steve Jobs, it takes a lot of work to get past complexity and get to the truly simple to use. In short, it takes a great designer and a lot of iterations to come up with a simple intuitive system.

On the upside, now that it’s people who use our products who are choosing which to use, suddenly design is a major determinant of who gets the sale.

]]> By: Tom http://neilmiddleton.com/2009/09/30/users-dont-want-rich/comment-page-1/#comment-81863 Tom Sat, 03 Oct 2009 13:58:19 +0000 http://neilmiddleton.com/?p=535#comment-81863 It's a great point Neil. I wrote a post recently, arguing that software manufacturers are seeing that 'more' does not mean 'value added' for their customers and that this was one of the reason's for Adobe's recent acquisition of Omniture. Specifically, it happened not just because Omniture's web-monetization technology is a good fit for Adobe's existing tools, but because future growth in revenue generation from them will not match that of the past. Customers are questioning upgrades/retraining costs, especially in a recession. Adobe absolutely has to diversify. CAD systems, btw, are another area where the tools work well enough that further changes are largely unnecessary and often simply serve to confuse users, even professionals! It’s a great point Neil. I wrote a post recently, arguing that software manufacturers are seeing that ‘more’ does not mean ‘value added’ for their customers and that this was one of the reason’s for Adobe’s recent acquisition of Omniture. Specifically, it happened not just because Omniture’s web-monetization technology is a good fit for Adobe’s existing tools, but because future growth in revenue generation from them will not match that of the past. Customers are questioning upgrades/retraining costs, especially in a recession. Adobe absolutely has to diversify.

CAD systems, btw, are another area where the tools work well enough that further changes are largely unnecessary and often simply serve to confuse users, even professionals!

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