Business Strategy

I just finished reading a piece in Wired by Fred Vogelstein about the development of the iPhone.

http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireless/magazine/16-02/ff_iphone?currentPage=all

I’m always fascinated by things like this. The other thing that fascinates me is how hard it is for companies to make a product like the iPhone.

Anyone can figure that out by looking at every other cell phone ever made. The iPhone has its flaws, and many of them, but like the iPod before it, it is the best product you can buy.

And that’s all that matters.

Maybe it’s my idiotic inexperience, but I feel like doing this in most any branch of technology is very achievable. The problem is that consumers and manufacturers are almost always apparently at odds with each other.

Most business models center around things like “locking the consumer in,” “screwing the consumer over,” or “killing 17 year old girls.”

I think that’s dodging the challenge. I think that businesses should go big or go home. If you make something that is really fantastic - fantastic for the consumer - then everyone wins.

Give it a try. I think you’ll find success.