Company TBD

There is a great discussion over on Fred Wilson’s blog on what leads to consumers adopting new technologies.

Fred highlights these technologies to help answer this question:

iPhone – mobile browser with a killer touch screen interface
Facebook – a social net with real utility
Wii – gesture based user interface for gaming
Hulu – your favorite TV shows in a fantastic web UI
FlipCam – a video cam that fits in your pocket comfortably
Rock Band – everyone can be a rock star for a few minutes
Mafia Wars – a natively social game built for social nets
Blogger – a printing press for everyone
Pandora – drop dead simple personalized radio
Twitter – blogging everyone can do in less than a minute

You can read all the great comments on the post, but many emphasized usefulness, sexy, simplicity, sociability, purpose and visibility to others

Fred’s view is:

So it seems to me that consumers are driven to new experiences that are simple and useful and/or entertaining. It is not enough to be the first to market with a new technology. You have to be the first to market with a version of the technology that is simple and easy to use.

I believe deep down inside we are all self-centered, insecure and want to be ’stars’. Most or all of these consumer technologies meet these human needs:

Twitter: How cool is it to see your username and all your tweets? better when someone else refers to your tweets.
Wii: Lets us imagine we are that awesome tennis player or golfer we always wanted to be
Pandora: Music just for ME…because I am ’special’ – same goes for Hulu, TV just for ME
Facebook: My friends can see all my photos, what I’ve been up to..and I can expand my friend circle
Rockband: We can be a [rock]star!

Compare this experience to installing a new printer driver on windows.  Did that make you feel like a star?  Didn’t think so…quite the opposite.

So, takeaway for me is make your customers feel special…like they are a star, and you’ll win them over.  Kind of obvious but important.