This sheet, comparing the upcoming HP Slate to the iPad has been making the rounds for the last couple days and I think it says a lot about the difference in how HP, or their customers, see the world in contrast to Apple.
Note that every aspect of each device that HP pulls out is a technical specification. It’s the size of the screen, graphics cards, ports and so on. No where does HP mention the experience of using the iPad as it compares to the Slate. There is nothing about ease of use or ease of installing applications. Most striking to me: no mention of the OS.
To be fair, HP doesn’t have total control over a lot of these aspects of the device as they’re the hardware manufacturer so it may only make sense to speak to what they can own. Additionally, this may be intentionally geared to the person who would be looking at the HP in the first place.
None of this is meant to be critical of HP, I just find it interesting to see what motivates a brand, and how those motivations manifest themselves in the final product.
I’ve been thinking about this a bit, and do find it telling/amusing that HP is selling their product based on the same “speeds and feeds” they try *not* to emphasize in their sales training materials when educating sales reps on how to engage consumers with HP products. But more telling than this apparent backpedaling is how all kinds of companies eschew experience for emphasis on technical benefits.
Let’s call this the “Old Country Buffet Mindset”; all you can eat (look how many choices!) for less money than you’d spend on a tiny dinner at a fancy restaurant. The choices may not actually be better, but calling them out makes them *seem* better, and gosh there are just so many of them. In fact, how dare that other restaurant only have 6 entrees and charge over $15 for each?
So rather than focus on the quality of the experience we’re worrying about getting more for our money, and having more choices and capabilities even if we don’t want, understand, or need those things. I’d argue that catering to the Old Country Buffet Mindset is the behavior of a brand that isn’t a leader or innovator in a space, and never will be.
Big iPhone or tiny PC, it’s not the speeds and feeds that will make or break these products. It’s the experience of using them that can make them great and change how we relate to technology.
I have to start this off by saying: I did a lot of work for the HP Gaming group, while it existed. Disclosure and all that.
Any way, here is my dilemma with this. My reaction, and it seems to be yours as well, is that this fixation on hardline specs rather than over all experience is akin to, as you’ve put it, the “Old Country Buffet” (I like this by the way) notion of quality. It’s poorly considered, poorly executed and results a more or less quantifiably bad experience. At the same time, I have to ask, is “more” equal to “quality experience” for some people? Is this is a matter of HP not getting it, or actually of them getting it perfectly. What if, for the HP customer, the experience they’re looking for is the experience of knowing that their slate has more RAM, and can run Flash.
It reminds me in some ways of a story I heard about why the Subaru SVX failed: People who drive sports cars don’t think of Subaru. People who like Subaru’s don’t by sports cars. Perhaps it’s what motivates Ford to make the Mustang the way they do: using basically outdated technology to produce something that doesn’t drive half as well as even some basic European cars, but that can make some noise, go fast in a straight line, and burnout like nobody’s business. It’s not a “good” car, but it is the “right” car.
This was really driven home for me today when I finally got down to the Apple store to play with an iPad. I loved it, but when asked for examples of why, I had few to give. It was simply the collection of a bunch of things that worked exactly how I wanted them to. Maybe it’s a similar but opposite experience for the HP customer, it’s not the abstract experience they’re looking for, but rather the concrete knowledge that its lighter, or more powerful, or has a USB, whatever the case may be.
**Full disclosure: I worked on HP’s online sales training for 3 years
That’s a good point, HP’s Slate audience may not actually care about experience and are more interested in speeds & feeds. It’s like the Android v. iPhone debate: how much of it is the Android being superior, how much is anti-Apple sentiment and specs providing a rational reason to dislike the iPhone?
I’d love to see the HP product come out with better specs AND a higher price point, just to see how that defines the consumer base for the Slate.