Summary: One of the biggest mistakes companies make is not realizing that times have moved on. We're no longer in the 1990s and it isn't PCs that people want. But I still see modern products being marketed as though we're still partying like it's 1999.
There are two ways to go about making and selling a product. One way is to come up with a bunch of features and incorporate those into a product and try to sell it, and the other way is to find out what customers want and build a product that matches their needs. Unfortunately, most companies choose the former over the latter, and as a result history is littered with the remains of technology that just never made it.
Stop making this basic mistake!
While more and more people are now buying technology, both for home use and business/work/BYOD, competition is also at an all time high, and so are the chances that people won't care about whatever new product hits the market.
One of the biggest mistakes companies make is not realizing that times have moved on. We're no longer in the 1990s and it isn't PCs that people want. But I still see modern products being marketed as though we're still partying like it's 1999.
Here are five things that tech buyers just don't care about any more. OK, I accept that this might not apply to you (or me) but as far as the keyboard tapping, screen-swiping masses are concerned, these things are irrelevant.
Upgradeability
People just aren't cracking open PCs to install new RAM, CUs, GPUs, or hard drives like we once did.
Part of the reason is that devices are powerful enough to do everything that users want from them, partly it's down to price and the fact that it's cheaper to replace then it is to upgrade, and partly it's down to upgrade cycles being aggressively short.
In fact, upgradeability is a negative for a lot of buyers because it means devices that are unnecessarily big and have parts like screws that can fall off.
Repairability
Hand-in-hand with not caring about upgradeability, consumers are also unmoved by repairability.
While sites such as iFixit should be commended for the work they do, repairing gadgets is not for the masses. Even with fantastic instructions repairs are far from easy, and when you factor in the parts and tools (plus the risk of the repair not working) then it's usually cheaper to replace then it is to repair.
Optional extras
Does your gizmo come with an optional keyboard/cover/solar charger/death-ray attachment that differentiates your gizmo from all the competition?
I have bad news for you. Unless that killer bit of kit is in the box then the majority of customers (or potential customers) won't care because they'll never buy it (about the only exception here is for Apple products, but most of the accessories sold for those are third-party).
Replaceable battery
Were you the sort of person who when they bought a new device you also bought a spare battery, and maybe even a desk charger? Yeah, me too. But I have news for you. We're extinct.
No one wants to bother carrying spare batteries with them these days because batteries last longer and USB charging is ubiquitous. Replaceable batteries mean bigger devices, parts to fall off, and parts to lose.
Future features
Your device better come with a raft of cool features out of the box, because consumers have no time or patience to wait for things to happen.
Take something like the Binauric speaker. Cool idea that is has features that might be activated in the future, but what are the chances of these features coming to life, especially if the product isn't a roaring success? I've seen too many products come to market with promises of "jam tomorrow" where the product died a death from being ignored and the jam never came.
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