3 ms·

Your answer reminded me of the Ford quote: "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses." I don't mean that in a derogatory sens

Your answer reminded me of the Ford quote: "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses." I don't mean that in a derogatory sense, I just strongly believe that in 20 years we'll look back at our Googling years and wonder how we managed to find anything at all. Who know what the next pattern of information retrieval will be, but I personally think it'll be an even bigger jump than the jump from reference desks and encyclopedias to Google. Edit: okay, maybe not 20 years. Decades, perhaps.

amelius 5y ago
Faster horses could have been better for the planet than cars. https://horses.extension.org/what-is-the-carbon-footprint-of-a-horse-compared-to-an-automobile/ https://horses.extension.org/what-is-the-carbon-footprint-of... > The digestive process of horses produces far less methane than the digestive system of cattle and sheep. (...)
- deleted 5y ago
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542458 5y ago
I don’t think Ford ever said that, and I don’t think that quote is a good argument for not listening to users. Cars existed pre-Henry-Ford. They were just expensive. Many people could have correctly identified the need for a more affordable car. Ford’s innovation was actually doing it. Also the Ford company’s dogged resistance to listening to customer wants (“Any colour you want so long as it is black”) hurt Ford as soon as they had to compete on anything but price, with GM finding success with “a car for every purse and purpose”. From 1921 to 1927 Ford went from controlling 65% of the American car market to just 15%. All that to say: “innovator vision that flies contrary to common sentiment about what people want” is often overrated and can be a trap. That’s not to say that the customer is always right… but they’re not always wrong either.

3 ms·

Your answer reminded me of the Ford quote: "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses." I don't mean that in a derogatory sens

by educaysean 5y ago

amelius 5y ago
Faster horses could have been better for the planet than cars. https://horses.extension.org/what-is-the-carbon-footprint-of-a-horse-compared-to-an-automobile/ https://horses.extension.org/what-is-the-carbon-footprint-of... > The digestive process of horses produces far less methane than the digestive system of cattle and sheep. (...)
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
542458 5y ago
I don’t think Ford ever said that, and I don’t think that quote is a good argument for not listening to users. Cars existed pre-Henry-Ford. They were just expensive. Many people could have correctly identified the need for a more affordable car. Ford’s innovation was actually doing it. Also the Ford company’s dogged resistance to listening to customer wants (“Any colour you want so long as it is black”) hurt Ford as soon as they had to compete on anything but price, with GM finding success with “a car for every purse and purpose”. From 1921 to 1927 Ford went from controlling 65% of the American car market to just 15%. All that to say: “innovator vision that flies contrary to common sentiment about what people want” is often overrated and can be a trap. That’s not to say that the customer is always right… but they’re not always wrong either.