Elegant Technology

How many people are seduced by the features of a product only to find they are unused after ‘playtime’. By playtime I mean the time when the initial burst of enthusiasm with the features of a product are used beyond the ‘core’ features.

Take a mobile phone. Today these come with features like calendars, cameras, games, ring tone composers, wap browsers, music players, etc. My argument is that after a short time [playtime] these features are no longer used and only the ‘core’ features like the phone and SMS are.

Even iPods have features that do not get used like photos, contacts, and a calendar. Sure people may have sync’d these between iTunes and thier iPod but later, how many people actually use anything beyond listening to music [or possible watching video].

Every product has more and more features added in later generations or models. This is often referred to as ‘feature creep’. In order for manufacturers to continue selling they add features that the buyer perceives as something special.

Why can’t we focus on refining the core features and thus make the product more elegant?