The Law of Supply and Demand makes it so that producers must submit to the demand of its consumers. New inventions will not be used and innovative practices will not be adopted if the consumer population is not convinced that they will be worth purchasing. Learning from a generally skeptical reaction to Windows 8, Microsoft adapted with its new OS Windows 10, bringing back familiar aspects (like the Start Menu) mixed with new features rather than completely changing its user interface. This decision will hopefully cater to consumers who enjoyed the Windows XP and Windows 7 experience and allow Microsoft to continue innovating and competing in the computer market.
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-29431412
I think that part of the problem was that the vision behind Windows 8 wasn't really seen by the general public. The average person didn't see why it would be useful to have one standard operating system across all platform types - tablet, PC, phone, XBox, etc. Without this understanding, many people couldn't understand why Windows 8 was designed the way it was. Now, I don't know if people know how hard it must be to accomplish that feat - in fact, Windows 8 and 8.1 do something quite impressive that no one credits because they don't understand it's value. I believe that Windows 8 was a good building place for Microsoft to make the pioneering journey of developing one operating system for all platforms.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that anyone who wants to own a profitable business needs to keep their consumers in mind. This does put a burden on new product developers, as you were saying in this blog post, but I think there is a risk in not innovating at all either. If the new product does the same things that the old one does, what motivation does the consumer have to buy it. They need some sort of motivation to try out the new product, which innovation can usually provide. It does come with its own risks, which Microsoft found out with Windows 8, but some of the greatest products we can recall throughout history were born through extreme risk and innovation which ended up paying off.
ReplyDeleteIt is incredible how fast things change with technology as it is these days. We start adapting and feeling comfortable with something, but that has almost come to mean synonymous with bored or outdated. Our demand for innovation and feeling new things has skyrocketed. It is a very interesting period of time.
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