4 ms·

Not to be pedantic, but Henry Ford figured that out long before SJ was a twinkle in the valley's eye. "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have

Not to be pedantic, but Henry Ford figured that out long before SJ was a twinkle in the valley's eye. "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses."

danilocampos 15y ago
To be fair, Jobs himself acknowledged this. Still, Ford made cars. What was interesting about Jobs taking that stance is that he was in a position to do something about it in tech, upending a lot of established dogma. And making a lot of money in the process.
MartinCron 15y ago
I always hate this quote. You should always ask people what they want, you just shouldn't literally deliver what they ask for when you can do much better.
- WalterBright 15y ago
  It helps by reframing the question. Instead of asking people what they want, ask them what kinds of problems are they having with their existing solution. Often, they will tell you solutions, and you'll need to work backwards a bit till you discover what their pain points are. Once you thoroughly understand the problems they're having, you have a much better shot at crafting a great solution.
recoiledsnake 15y ago
The current situation is more analogous to car owners preferring a different kind of horse. Or even people not owning any vehicles still preferring a new kind of horse rather than a car even after cars came out. From http://allthingsd.com/20111005/nevermind-the-iphone-5-wheres-my-windows-ipad/ http://allthingsd.com/20111005/nevermind-the-iphone-5-wheres... But the BCG study isn’t an anomaly. Forrester conducted a poll earlier this year and got the same message, with an even starker gap between Microsoft and everyone else: “Only 9% of consumers considering buying a tablet actively prefer an Android tablet — compared with 16% who prefer iOS and 46% who prefer Windows.” When I wrote about it back in August, I found this so puzzling that I got Forrester researcher Sarah Rotman Epps on the phone to confirm that this wasn’t some weird typo. Nope, she told me. And it’s sort of common sense: “When we survey consumers, it becomes very clear that Windows is still a very popular brand,” she said. Apple has sold tens of millions of iPads, but Microsoft has sold more than 400 million Windows 7 devices.
- culturestate 15y ago
  I think your second analogy is spot on. I'm curious to know what kind of tablet people are envisioning when they answer these questions: an iPad-style device running Windows or a better-designed version of a convertible notebook? I honestly can't believe that nearly half of the ready-to-buy-a-tablet market is holding off for Metro.
- AJ007 15y ago
  46% of consumers preferring Windows = 46% of consumers who are clueless to what a tablet really is. I've had a touchscreen LCD hooked up to my Windows 7 machine for about a year and a half. Beyond scrolling through web pages it is unusable. The Windows UI is designed for a keyboard and mouse. Now take this 22" touch screen I have and bring it down to 7". Good luck doing anything. Obviously Microsoft's answer to this is the new Metro overlay (or whatever they are calling it for Windows 8.) If consumers are swiping through two different versions with a Windows 8 tablet, and one of them is barely usable on a touch screen, its going to flop. I use Windows on my iPad -- by remoting in to my desktops. The only app that I have found usable is LogMeIn because of how the mouse cursor is controlled. Its not a pleasant experience but I can get minor work done at able 1/4th speed or less. You can't release a device that does that out of the box and put your brand on it. Microsoft appears at a loss on how to move from the keyboard & mouse world to the touchscreen & voice one. Windows has tons of software for it, none of which was designed for touchscreen & voice world. I never have used this phrase before, but Microsoft is trying to have their cake and eat it too. Instead they will get nothing.
  - clarky07 15y ago
    You are trying to use something not designed for touch and suggesting they suck at touch. Have you tried a windows phone 7? I am a mobile dev who has worked on wp7, android, and iPhone. I personally use an iPhone, but I found wp7 to be much nicer than Android and pretty well designed.
    - AJ007 15y ago
      You didn't read the original article. The story is about microsoft not wanting to fork Windows. They want Windows 8 to work on desktops, and tablets. From the demo videos I saw, Windows 8 switch back and forth between a usable touchscreen UI and the traditional keyboard & mouse UI. That is having your cake and eating it too. And its going to piss consumers off when they think they can use Excel on their new Windows Tablet and instead get an experience akin to picking cactus nettles out of your face.

Not to be pedantic, but Henry Ford figured that out long before SJ was a twinkle in the valley's eye. "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses."

danilocampos 15y ago

To be fair, Jobs himself acknowledged this. Still, Ford made cars. What was interesting about Jobs taking that stance is that he was in a position to do something about it in tech, upending a lot of established dogma. And making a lot of money in the process.

MartinCron 15y ago

I always hate this quote. You should always ask people what they want, you just shouldn't literally deliver what they ask for when you can do much better.

WalterBright 15y ago
It helps by reframing the question. Instead of asking people what they want, ask them what kinds of problems are they having with their existing solution. Often, they will tell you solutions, and you'll need to work backwards a bit till you discover what their pain points are. Once you thoroughly understand the problems they're having, you have a much better shot at crafting a great solution.

recoiledsnake 15y ago

The current situation is more analogous to car owners preferring a different kind of horse. Or even people not owning any vehicles still preferring a new kind of horse rather than a car even after cars came out. From http://allthingsd.com/20111005/nevermind-the-iphone-5-wheres-my-windows-ipad/ http://allthingsd.com/20111005/nevermind-the-iphone-5-wheres... But the BCG study isn’t an anomaly. Forrester conducted a poll earlier this year and got the same message, with an even starker gap between Microsoft and everyone else: “Only 9% of consumers considering buying a tablet actively prefer an Android tablet — compared with 16% who prefer iOS and 46% who prefer Windows.” When I wrote about it back in August, I found this so puzzling that I got Forrester researcher Sarah Rotman Epps on the phone to confirm that this wasn’t some weird typo. Nope, she told me. And it’s sort of common sense: “When we survey consumers, it becomes very clear that Windows is still a very popular brand,” she said. Apple has sold tens of millions of iPads, but Microsoft has sold more than 400 million Windows 7 devices.

culturestate 15y ago
I think your second analogy is spot on. I'm curious to know what kind of tablet people are envisioning when they answer these questions: an iPad-style device running Windows or a better-designed version of a convertible notebook? I honestly can't believe that nearly half of the ready-to-buy-a-tablet market is holding off for Metro.
AJ007 15y ago
46% of consumers preferring Windows = 46% of consumers who are clueless to what a tablet really is. I've had a touchscreen LCD hooked up to my Windows 7 machine for about a year and a half. Beyond scrolling through web pages it is unusable. The Windows UI is designed for a keyboard and mouse. Now take this 22" touch screen I have and bring it down to 7". Good luck doing anything. Obviously Microsoft's answer to this is the new Metro overlay (or whatever they are calling it for Windows 8.) If consumers are swiping through two different versions with a Windows 8 tablet, and one of them is barely usable on a touch screen, its going to flop. I use Windows on my iPad -- by remoting in to my desktops. The only app that I have found usable is LogMeIn because of how the mouse cursor is controlled. Its not a pleasant experience but I can get minor work done at able 1/4th speed or less. You can't release a device that does that out of the box and put your brand on it. Microsoft appears at a loss on how to move from the keyboard & mouse world to the touchscreen & voice one. Windows has tons of software for it, none of which was designed for touchscreen & voice world. I never have used this phrase before, but Microsoft is trying to have their cake and eat it too. Instead they will get nothing.
- clarky07 15y ago
  You are trying to use something not designed for touch and suggesting they suck at touch. Have you tried a windows phone 7? I am a mobile dev who has worked on wp7, android, and iPhone. I personally use an iPhone, but I found wp7 to be much nicer than Android and pretty well designed.
  - AJ007 15y ago
    You didn't read the original article. The story is about microsoft not wanting to fork Windows. They want Windows 8 to work on desktops, and tablets. From the demo videos I saw, Windows 8 switch back and forth between a usable touchscreen UI and the traditional keyboard & mouse UI. That is having your cake and eating it too. And its going to piss consumers off when they think they can use Excel on their new Windows Tablet and instead get an experience akin to picking cactus nettles out of your face.