July 2, 2002
Could Life Please Get A Little Simpler? ... Let's take five with Moira Gunn. This is "Five Minutes".
Have you seen the new Apple TV ads? They feature real people, who give their names and what they do for a living. And you're left with the impression you could track them down and talk to them if you had a mind to.
They're touting the wonderful switch they've just made from Windows to Apple, and the ads are very cleverly done. Each person transforms before you from the expected actor-in-a-television-commercial to a real person whom you actually might know, to a professional with credentials in the world of computers.
Previously, people who stayed with Apple were perceived to be the geekiest of the geek, or graphics designers, owing to Apple's predominance in that field. The prevailing paradigm was that Apple was a small niche market - some 5% of pc's, and it mishandled any chance to be bigger long ago.
Still, these ads are pretty compelling.
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Today, we're all looking for ways to reduce stress in our lives, while more and more technology keeps funneling its way in.
My cell phone tells me it can do everything my PDA can, my PDA tells me it can do everything my laptop can, and my laptop wants me to watch movies that I would normally see on my television set.
It's not only confusing, it seems like every technology wants to be a different one, in some competitive dance of "cross-technology envy," and so, these new Apple ads are perfectly timed. They tap directly into our collective dissatisfaction with the products we already have, that don't work, but should.
I personally only use email and simple word processing, yet after 3 or 4 hours, I have to remind myself to turn my computer off and back on again. If I don't, Windows will do it for me with its dreaded "blue screen." But this is more than just a personal irritant; it turns out that problem software is costing us money.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology, which operates within the U.S. Department of Commerce, has determined that errors in software cost the American economy nearly $60 billion each year.
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According to its recent report, only about a third of these costs could be reduced with better software practices. It turns out, the biggest culprit is complexity, since, it warns us, complex software must be expected to have bugs.
And that's when I got to thinking.
Walking through the garage of a high-rise condo complex recently, I was struck by the maze of pipes running everywhere, making right-angle turns, crisscrossing and disappearing into ceilings and walls.
I asked myself, what if they made me build my house this way? Well, a house doesn't need that complexity. And frankly, my computer doesn't either.
Yet, every pc maintains the capability to do absolutely everything and anything a personal computer is capable of doing, even though each of us only uses a few features.
The challenge is simple, and it's right before our eyes: Our personal computers should only have that tiny bit of software which we actually need. Reduce the complexity, and each of our computers will run better.
Whether it's pc's, automobiles or can openers, the best technology is simple, and works pretty much every time you use it. It's not more technology that will help us live better lives - it's the right technology.
I'm Moira Gunn. This is Five Minutes.
