Which is more important, technology or the product?

I regularly talk with people about what matters. In life, at work, with your family, friends, or in general. What really matters to all of us? When you work in the technology field (engineering or IT or whatever), you have a tendency to think that technology will solve the latest problem. The latest software or gadget could very well solve all the problems. Well, it doesn't.

People don't buy technology. They use and buy what solves the problems with their circumstances. Take a look at technologies that didn't work out even though they were probably the best thing around. If you look at PDAs, the best PDA to come out at the time was the Apple Newton. Apple spent a great deal of money on the product. It gained some recognition, but was way ahead of it's time. The product was cool, had problems, but was not wanted by the user. Then came along the Palm. With the right mix of features, everyone wanted one. It solved the "job" that was needed by business folks. A whopping success. What was the better product, the Newton or the Palm? We could debate this for several hours, but the Palm hit the mark with a good combination of calendar and contacts. At that point, people started paying upwards of $400 for this device.

Another great story is that of Nucor steel. Nucor actually started as a company dealing with other products and services. They bought a scrap metal company. As the company was looking at what they wanted to do and where they wanted to go, they realized that they could never be the best or greatest in their market. Instead, they moved into producing a lower quality steel solution. The steel companies didn't think they had to worry. Why would the customers ever buy a lower quality product. But they did because the lower quality product served their needs at a lower price point.

Look at broadband services. I sat with a customer in the early adoption days as they were considering deploying DSL or cable modems in a rural community. As we discussed the DSL solution, they wanted to know how much capacity to deploy to the customer. They wanted to deploy the full capacity of the DSL equipment. Having spent considerable time looking at customer usage, I could only give them one answer. If you give your customer the full capacity, they will use the capacity. Not everyone, but lots of them. The problem was not the last leg to the customer. The problem was the upstream of this carrier to my network. They didn't want or expect much of an increase in their Internet transit pipe to me. I warned that they would see explosive growth over time. And they did. The broadband connections increase from 3MB in 2000 to multiple Gigs today. The consumer found what they wanted on the Internet and it grew and grew and grew.

What about VoIP? At first, VoIP was a techie toy. A cool gadget. However, once the quality issues were resolved, it became useful. Like cell phones, it provided voice services at, initially, a lower quality with a lower price. Most telephone companies couldn't see that VoIP would take off. However, the consumer saw a need for a service. They had broadband, were willing to suffer a lower quality, and wanted a lower price for all the features provided. Now even the carriers are deploying VoIP as a product. It provides them a new product for customers and helps to lower their own costs.

How about the heart issue? The consumer will buy from their heart quicker than they will from a technology. Take the iPod and the iPhone. You have to ask the questions as to why these products have taken off. First the iPod. Consumer MP3 players had been around for some time. However, the iPod came the consumer a product that was slick, worked well, and solved a need. More importantly, once the consumer bought an iPod, you didn't dare take it away. You should see the the looks I get from my son when I have taken away his iPod as punishment for something he did wrong. People love their iPods. Second, the iPhone. The iPhone obviously built off the success of the iPod and was an overwhelming success. It has issues when it was first rolled out, but people loved the product so much that they were willing to accept the issues. Why else would people move from $45/month cell plans in a tough economy to a $70/month ATT iPhone plan. Because no other product could provide the ease of use, the functionality, and garner the love the iPhone has.

The key to a successful IT project or consumer product or anything else for that matter is to appeal the need of the person. If you can find what solves their immediate problem, they will not only be willing to use your solution, they are willing to pay more for it.