Support innovation, not copying
Thursday, October 4th, 2007
Verizon and LG are about to release The Voyager a visual copy of Apple’s iPhone. My god, have these people no shame?
Apple puts more of it’s money into research, development, industrial and user interface design and testing than any of these other companies and it’s obvious in the products they make. Okay, I’m an Apple fanboy but I’m also a design and user interface fanatic and all of the little details that Steve Jobs and Jonathan Ive sweat I appreciate. This is true on computers, gadgets, software, advertising, corporate campus everything.
This isn’t big news for Apple folks; we’ve experienced Microsoft’s lifting Mac OS for Windows, Dell et al lifting PowerBook touch-pad design and placement, Microsoft lifting iPod design for Zune, and countless other design thefts from Apple, who innovates more than any other company in the computer world and now the consumer electronics world.
I’ve also experienced this in the outdoor clothing world. I’ve been a fan of Patagonia clothing designs since Yvon Chouinard started the Chouinard Equipment catalog in 1972. Chouinard innovated, not just in his clothing and climbing equipment designs, but also in the way he built his company. In the process, the company gained cult status much like Apple and other companies like North Face, Land’s End, and even LL Bean copied Chouinard’s original designs. I have bought Patagonia clothing and gear since the 1970′s, not only because I like and appreciate it, but I want to support companies that are doing innovative things.
Wouldn’t it be great if more consumers worldwide supported truly innovative companies and their products rather than simply shopping price?
The Motley Fool weighs in: Will Verizon Slay the iPhone?.
Morning Richard,
I had not seen this Frankenphone before – what a horror! How the Verizon design chaps and the brand manager can hold their heads high with this monstrosity I do not know. Shameful.
I’m just trying to think of other companies like Apple and Patagonia…. there are none that really come to mind at the moment, but I agree with you. It is worth paying for original and genuinely intuitive design.
Cheers!
Jon
PS: I did mean intuitive but could also say innovative! I love using things on a daily basis that I get a kick out of – Apple stuff, iPod Touch UI, Bang & Olufsen Phones etc.
Wow, another self confessed Patagoniac! Bought my first shelled bunting jacket when I was 14 and every year since I seem to have an expense account with them. But I support it partly for the same reason you do too.
I think Subaru is another example. They do what they do better than anyone else (IMO). They’ve been doing all-wheel drive for many years and they have about perfected the implementation. Others have all-wheel drive, but often it is a hack. And relevant to the idea of environmentalism, they recycle every bit of trash the plant produces to create a portion of the energy that powers the plant. One small step, but a step nonethelss.
Andrew, thanks for telling me about Subaru, I didn’t know that. My wife had an early Subaru Outback and it was a dog but know they’ve improved since then.
My dream is to get one of my photographs in the Patagonia catalog… of course, it would help if I got out and did some climbing again, or something a bit more active than taking pictures of paper. ;)