31st
Feature Whores (or Windows Mobile is the Shiznit & iPhone is the Suck)
In GigaOM’s post on the GPS supplier for the 2nd iPhone, I couldn’t help but notice the usual bitchfest going on in the comments.
The person causing the ruckus so clearly exemplifies the kind of adamant “My phone can do more things than yours. You’re the idiot.” way of oblivious thinking that some character types seem to exemplify in spades.
This is so diametrically opposite to the way the majority of people view things that these group of people are completely baffling.
The proof is in the pudding: Stellar sales of the iPhone so far proves beyond a doubt that it is a successful product, and would grow by leaps and bounds come mid-June, to the befuddlement of this vocal minority who bash products that they do not like.
Grasping at Straws
Let’s examine a few choice quotes:
Instead of imagining, you could just get one of the many Windows Mobile devices that has had built in GPS for years. They also come with this amazing feature called “copy/paste”. So far I’ve seen that the new iphone is going to add 3G functionality (although no explanation of why such an obvious feature was left off in the first place) and GPS. What about the tons of other missing features?
The argument always starts with a laundry list of features that the “inferior” product doesn’t have. Nevermind the fact that the listed features only matter to some people, not everyone.
There are obvious explanations for a phone that lacks features, which these characters will not seek to understand.
I believe what Apple did was to focus on the platform and UI capabilities to build a solid OS foundation for future iterations. These things take time, so they chose to go with a basic feature set in the inaugural iPhone, then add new features in upcoming models.
A phone (that has a very small percentage of the total mobile market share) is not going to have any noticeable effect on standalone devices other than a few fanbois that will somehow rig it up in their car as a tiny, slow GPS.
The snotty ones will start labeling people who don’t accept their views as stupid fanboys, and denigrate them every chance they get.
My WM device doesn’t ever lock up and unlike the iphone, has millions of choices for 3rd party software. Crap software to me is when you’re handset maker tells you what apps you can run and if they don’t have an app you need then you’re out of luck.
Many Windows Mobile versions do lock up constantly. This is well-known. These characters think that its only their experience that counts. If you have a boss that insisted on doing everything his way, and bashes every suggestion you make, its time to jump ship.
These characters choose to shut out the fact that there is an iPhone SDK. And the superior Mobile Safari browser allows cool web apps to extend the functionality of the iPhone.
Mention the SDK, and you get a snotty “Is it available now?” response. They have a serious disability to project into the future. Better not work as an analyst or buy stocks.
With such a late entry into the mobile handset market Apple had a great opportunity to deliver something truly amazing. Instead, as with most of their products, they delivered something that is shiny and pretty, but lacks basic functionality that others have had for years.
“Lacks basic functionality” means being unable to use a phone as a phone. And we all know the iPhone has more capabilities than that. How about a Windows Mobile phone that sometimes does not ring when its supposed to, or freezes when you pick up a call?
A favorite tactic of these characters is to denigrate the fact that Apple is actually capable of designing attractive products as if it was a bad thing, irrelevant when attracting consumers to actually buy an expensive gadget.
Their #1 all-time favorite argument must be to trot out the fact that their “superior” product had a particular feature “for years”. If I bought either product now, I wouldn’t give a shit since both would have that feature. And if I bought the “shiny and pretty” one from Apple, it would most likely frustrate me less.
I’ve actually heard someone argue that Apple’s Time Machine is a copycat and hence it sucks, simply because Windows has a Backup application more than 10 years ago. Well, yeah, if you consider the one person on the planet that used it regularly.
On top of that they kept their horrible philosophy of a closed system that benefits them rather than the consumer. If Microsoft doesn’t make an app for what I need then I have other choices including making it myself (something I have already done).
Yawn, its the “closed system” argument again. There are 3rd party Mac apps, and the iPhone will have a SDK. What’s the problem here?
Maybe we could change the meaning of the word “closed”, like how Clinton redefined the meaning of “sexual relations”. More likely, they are bitter that Mac OS X can’t be installed on a fugly Dell.
I could go on and on, but the bottom line is the iphone is only good for “hip” people who think it will make them look cool.
That “bottom line” must be really thin.
Most people buy the iPhone because it just works better. There’s just no way to argue against this, given that the iPhone has the highest customer satisfaction.
This whole thing about “looking hip” and “being different” is fascinating in terms of sociology. Some people would buy things by virtue of them looking great and working well for themselves. Others who derive their self-esteem externally are preoccupied with not being seen as “following the crowd”, and would go all-out to rail against the majority.
These characters would do seemingly stupid things just to prove their point, like buying an inferior product rather than the best-selling and better-working one, or arguing that a stylus-based “single-touch” device is better than the iPhone’s multi-touch because a stylus is can more accurately poke at the tiny-ass virtual keyboard.
I can list a TON of features WM has had for years that the current iphone doesn’t have and the 2nd iphone still won’t have. I’d accuse Apple of trying to copy WM, but they left off so many features it’s really nothing like it.
This mirrors the Mac OS X vs Windows bitching that never seems to end. These characters even insist that Mac OS X is copying Windows when its obvious that everyone steals features from other OSes and incorporates them.
I’ve also noticed that these characters seem to disregard the user experience, as long as they know how to operate a feature themselves. They won’t mind having to tap through 10 levels of menus and screens to change an obscure setting, when its like torture to the majority. Having that feature available adds another tick to the feature checklist.
Bottom-line: The company that implements features in a better and more intuitive fashion always wins.
Character Types
This has led me to think that clashes like this are mostly due to differences in character, which leads to people valuing certain things over others.
I have personally found the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) to be an accurate way to view the differences in people around us. You can take the test, then read your portrait.
Discounting the Intraversion (I) and Extraversion (E) attitudes, let’s focus on the three aspects that I believe strongly characterize these types of people:
Sensing (S) vs iNtuition (N): Trusting concrete and factual information (vs the abstract and theoretical)
Thinking (T) vs Feeling (F): Makes judgements with logic, consistency and rule-matching (vs associating and empathizing)
Judging (J) vs Perceiving (P): Places emphasis on Thinking/Feeling (vs Sensing/iNtuition) when relating to the outside world
Reading both the portraits of the ESTJ and ISTJ, the following comes to light:
- Features matter because of their fact-based bias (S)
- The experience of using a product doesn’t matter due to their thinking bias (T)
- They are always right, because of their logical/judgemental bias (J)
This is potent combination for the “I don’t care what you think. I am right.” zealot (religious or otherwise) that we so often find in this world. (About 20% according to the USA population breakdown.)
The ESTJ type, being extroverts, would be the hardest to fathom for others with opposing character types, with their need to impose their singular view on the outside world due to their extraversion.
When it comes to online forums and gadget discussions, a flame war is just a mouse click away. Apple’s sales figures prove that they are doing a good job selling to the majority who appreciate the values imbued in their products, just as there are people who will stick with Windows and never touch a Mac because of who they are.
Competence in Empathy
I’ve so insensitively called these people “feature whores” because the value systems of my character type are the polar opposite of these types, which I can’t help but react to primally as “indignant” and “holier-than-thou”. This makes it a daily challenge to interact with my friends who have these character types.
If there was ever a truer saying, its that it takes competence to recognize incompetence.
Instead of thinking that you can’t understand how people are so “stupid” to think something that seems so wrong to you,
- Seek to understand that people are different due to the way their character types are different
- Take opposing perspectives and run with it
If we are ever going to be better human beings, we should make the effort to challenge ourselves and improve our awareness. Never think that our way of thinking is absolute, because we ourselves may not realize that we are viewing things myopically.
And if all else fails, then the other party is a dumbass retard. ;) (No, I am not recommending this approach.)
