whateverisok t1_jdg88m1 wrote
Reply to comment by djdjddhdhdh in NYC’s Museum of Failure opens to make us feel better about our lives by NYY657545
Not just "failure" in the literal sense, but also public perception of "failure".
The most recent and major example I can think of is Apple's AirPods: when the original AirPods product was announced, everyone made memes about it like Apple's wired headphones with the cords cut off.
I'm pretty sure Samsung even made an ad about that.
I was one of the early users (bought it ASAP), loved it, and showed it to my friends who originally thought it was a bad product, but then were actually surprised at its quality.
Now, Apple's AirPods (and competitors Bluetooth, in-ear pods) are ubiquitous.
Went from meme and "who would buy that" to who wouldn't buy that
BeautifulVictory t1_jdh1x4w wrote
I feel it Bluetooth is more ubiquitous because they did away with the headphone jack. It makes it harder not to use them when you have to have a dongle to use your headphones.
whateverisok t1_jdhh6vk wrote
They made direct lightning cable ones, but agreed - you can't charge and listen to music at the same time.
I still occasionally see people in NYC walk around with wired Apple in-ear headphones (the old/classic one) and I think it's either they're on calls for a majority of their day (battery degradation) or they're worried about getting bumped or tripping and having an AirPod fall down the sidewalk grates.
Or ear shape. Mine fit pretty well, but I'm sure if some big guy is running/hustling and hits me, it'll go flying and then I won't use it until I can clean it - don't want an ear infection from something on NYC streets haha.
djdjddhdhdh t1_jdhe1pk wrote
Haha I was one one of the people that bashed AirPods and iPad when they came out, but now it’s a part of daily life for me lol
Ye perception is definitely a big one. A lot of time you create something expecting it to ‘fail’ because you want to learn/test from it. Creating something that doesn’t exist or improving on an existing design is such a fascinating process
whateverisok t1_jdhijgj wrote
Agreed! I love joining those focus groups.
There's a site called UTest that actually pays you to try out company products or apps, and be a part of that whole development process.
I was selected for a couple, but it's nothing crazy like in the movies/TV shows where you go in a room with a 1-way window, everyone's sitting in a circle, and are asked those questions haha - it's entirely remote (at least the ones I did).
Aka. It's not like this: https://youtu.be/Sx1J3S6vUJ8
djdjddhdhdh t1_jdhsycm wrote
Oh awesome, thanks, I’ll have to check it out, always good to have someone else subsidize my device addiction lol
HombreDeMoleculos t1_jdi5eyt wrote
That's the entire history of Apple. The Lisa was an expensive failure, they reworked it into the Mac. The 20th Anniversary Mac was an failure, they reworked it into the iMac. The Newton was a failure, they reworked it into the iPod. I'm not sure the company has had a single success apart from the original personal computer that wasn't built on a past failure.
whateverisok t1_jdi6z3k wrote
I think 1st gen Apple Watch was a good success and was not reworked from another product - sure there were other smart-ish wearables (like Pebble and FitBit), but Apple's first launch was really successful.
Same goes for Apple AirTags: first iteration (no reworking) and they're a complete success - people are using them for pretty much everything. (I do know the privacy concerns that come up, but Apple's semi-addressing them).
Regarding the Watch, obviously they've now iterated and improved on its features, but the first release was a pretty big success and continues to be so.
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