We have all struggled with the age old question "When a tree falls in a lonely forest, and no animal is near by to hear it, does it make a sound? Why?" at one time of the other. No one seems to know the origin of this question; I came to think of it again while reading an article in the WSJ about the Microsoft Vista challenges.
The article talked about how Microsoft needs to focus on communicating the existing features in Windows before developing anything new because current users already have a tough with the built in creativity of the Microsoft wizard programmers. It all starts with Microsoft second guessing the user community by making choices and settings from the simplest to the most complicated. Here is a classic example the Firefox browser takes less than half the amount of time to load than Internet explorer, primarily because Internet explorer had many more add-ins that the browser automatically loads and often the user community does not even need. Alternatively Firefox is minimalist and lets you add what you want when you need it, with less baggage the Firefox browser is quick to load and fast to surf/navigate. Not every user is savvy enough to use Firefox but not stupid enough to need Internet explorer to push creativity behind the curtain.
Microsoft windows is the worlds most popular operating system and is responsible for much of the global productivity improvement since the mid 80’s. Creativity whether innate at Microsoft or inspired by rivals has made computer usage a mass phenomenon. But if the user is unable to experience this creativity and innovation there is no value.
Innovation is the value on creativity and innovation needs marketing!
