2010-03-31 13:27:48 Twitter! Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!
Last night I saw this
article, which basically says the one day soon computers won't present the
user with the ability to manipulate "files" anymore.
Suddenly, I had stuff to say. But I've been using Twitter,
which limits me to 140 characters. So, I Tweeted this:
We're heading toward two classes
of computers: one for people like me, and one for people like my Mom.
(And BTW, Mom, usually when I mention you on the Internet,
I'm not really talking about you. You're a metaphor for "normal people", those
who use computers to get things done, as opposed to geeks like me, who use
computers just because they are shiny.)
Anyway, I thought the tweet would be enough. It wasn't.
In the beginning, we were the only ones here. Normal people
didn't use computers at all. Only the geeks used computers, and we certainly
weren't using them to get anything done.
I remember my Mom saying that she would never use a
computer. (Mom, this one is actually you.) And I certainly can't blame her
for thinking that at the time. She had no reason to see computers as a way of
getting things done. All she knew is that I would periodically run into the
family room to announce to my parents that I had just shaved three more
instructions out of the main loop so now my graphics move faster. And Mom just
wanted me to at least stack my Byte magazines in the corner so she could get
the vacuum cleaner through.
Fast forward to today. Computers, by and large, are still
designed for geeks. This is why we all buy T-shirts that say "No, I will not
fix your computer". The genius of the iPad is that it cannot get things like
viruses. It is a closed platform. You can't put apps on it. You can't write
and distribute software for it without Apple's permission. This is why geeks
hate it and normal people will love it.
Your Mom wants a computer she doesn't have to ask you to
fix. She is willing to trade power and flexibility to get simplicity. The
iPad is another major step.
I find this interesting because it raises all kinds of
questions:
- The industry is finally ready to sell things that make
geeks feel frustrated instead of things that make normal people feel
helpless. What does this mean for geeks and our role in society?
- How is the terminology going to shake out? Surely we need
two different names? Things that geeks use should probably still be
called "computers". What should we call the class of devices that help
normal people manage their Amazon wish list?
- We geeks will become the minority market niche. How will
this affect the pricing of things? Will there be sufficient economies of
scale to sell computers to geeks at margins that are tolerable to both
buyer and seller?
- What kinds of computers/devices will get caught in the
middle and suddenly have no place in the world?
- What classes of users are going to be special cases? I'm
talking about folks that are not geeks but that for some other reason
cannot accept the power/simplicity tradeoff of devices designed for normal
people.
This is a major wave of change. I don't know the answers to
these questions. The only thing that seems clear to me is that Microsoft will
miss this wave just like they missed the last one.
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