Be a HERO by planning for and fixing those “arrrrgh!” moments
My husband just unwrapped his brand-new IBM ThinkPad. As he was turning it over, marveling at how light it is, he noticed one small feature: a hole.
The underside of the keyboard has a hole in it, so that if you spill liquid on the keyboard — and lots of us have done it, we know it happens — it will drain out easily.
Adding a hole was not a feat of technical engineering. It didn’t require special materials or sophisticated machinery. It was just a case of someone thinking about what it’s like to knock over your glass of water and curse and turn your laptop upside down banging on the bottom and hoping that the water will leak back out and wondering if a hairdryer will make things worse – and saying, “We know this will happen. How can we minimize the damage when it does?”
This isn’t the kind of feature that’s going to win you points up front. But someone is going to be saved by it, and that person is going to be a ThinkPad evangelist for life (or at least the next couple of years, which is pretty equivalent to “life” in the high-tech world).
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April 16th, 2009 at 11:30 am
I buy a car for the cupholder. I buy a truck for the benchseat.
I want lights in the wheelwells, so you can change a tire without a flashlight!
I want a video cam that can look around the perimeter of the car without getting out of the car. How many times do I get out to see if I’m close enough, but not over the red zone when I park? Endlessly.
I want the car computer to tell me, not my mechanic what’s wrong with my car.
I want to have a display of brake life. I get my brakes done quarterly around here. Too much mountain driving. Maybe it would convince me to say in flat land.
I want a GPS that knows my schedule, so I don’t have a headon while punching in my destination. Yeah, I know, pull over, but where? Saturday, I always go here. Tuesdays evenings, I a always go there. Every other Monday, I go here and there.
April 16th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Reminds me of the Mac power cord that connects only by a magnet to the computer. Simply detaches, no damage done, when the cord inevitably is encountered by a leg, a pet, etc. Brilliant.
If your product can include just a few of these “arrrrgh” killers, it will be loved.
April 16th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
Trevor – Yep, with my first iBook the power cord frayed and I was so irritated when I had to buy another one. I was so pleased when they introduced the magnetized version.
Most of the folks in my current company have Mac laptops and there are no frayed cords, no tripping over power cables as you scoot through the conference room. Simple – but the whole point is that we shouldn’t have to think about the simple things!
April 23rd, 2009 at 6:14 am
[...] Be a HERO by planning for and fixing those “arrrrgh!” moments [Experience is the Product] [...]
April 23rd, 2009 at 9:59 am
I bought a TravelPro Platinum suitcase a couple of years ago. There really aren’t a lot of a fancy features, on it but it is very well built and the things that you need are just there. For instance, there is an anti-tip feature and a hand hold on the bottom for when you have to pull it out of an overhead rack. These touches are so welcome when you are in a hurry and need a little extra lubrication to make your day slide along smoothly.
April 23rd, 2009 at 10:55 pm
Genius solution!
May 12th, 2009 at 4:52 am
its very genius of IBM to put a little hole acting as a drainage for me its still a feature why? because not all computer has it feature doesn’t need to be hi technology it’s an advantage the thing has over the other.
July 8th, 2009 at 11:22 am
Sometimes the little things in life turn out to be a life saver!
September 21st, 2009 at 9:38 pm
ancient tech + sophisticated tech = think pad
i think the key is keep it simple
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Thanks for the link! Just say no to Twitter as a blog-replacement!
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