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August 5th, 2010
Consumers don’t have long memories so I am always baffled when companies introduce products long before their ship dates or even without stating ship dates. Also, consumers need to know price to help them with their purchase consideration.
So, I was amazed when I opened USA Today on July 22nd and saw a review of the Dell Streak in Ed Baig’s consumer tech column which said “Availability: Dell won’t say but indicates the Streak is coming very soon” and “Price: That’s also a Dell secret for now…”
Why would they let one of the two most important consumer tech writers in the world cover a product that consumers can’t buy and not even give them a clue of the price or when it is coming? Just does not make sense from a consumer sales/marketing/experience point of view.
Its unclear even today (two weeks later) if its available. There are reviews on Dell’s site but the page still says “The Dell Streak will be available for purchase soon.”
On the other hand…
This past Tuesday, RIM held an event to introduce a new phone. Over the past few years RIM has been getting better and better at focusing on consumers–with things like product names (Curve, Pearl, etc.) rather than just model numbers.
In fact they have changed so much that the headline and lead of one article about the announcement said “RIM attempts to create Apple-like buzz with BlackBerry Torch event” and “In an uncharacteristic move, Research in Motion held a media event Tuesday in New York City to generate buzz for its new BlackBerry Torch 9800 smartphone.”
What else did they do different than Dell? According to the article. “The device will be available exclusively on the AT&T network starting August 12. It carries a $199 price with a standard two-year contract.”
That’s the way to introduce a product: With a DATE AND PRICE!
Filed under: Blackberry,Dell,Don't launch until ready,Products have names,RIM
September 10th, 2009
Today, Harry McCracken has a great article “AMD Keeps it Simple. Very Simple” on his great new Technologizer site in which he discusses AMD’s new processor naming scheme.
He says, “AMD is making a dramatic bid to simplify branding of its CPUs down to the bare essentials. In fact, rather than emphasizing specific CPUs at all, it will focus on three levels of performance:” Vision, Vision Premium and Vision Ultimate.
This is clearly (and I think successfully) aimed at consumers–who are typically confused by all the tech references in processor names.
From the simplicity of this scheme (and if it is smart) it appears AMD will keep the names simple even as the underlying technology changes. Apple does this–it’s always the MacBook and MacBook Pro even as the processor, hard drives, ports, etc. continue to change.
Meanwhile…
In 1993 Intel revolutionized the selling of technology to consumers when it, named its processor the Pentium rather than the i586 (the i386 and i486 had come before.) Ironically, Intel was pushed into naming processors when AMD began copying the x86 names when a court refused to grant trademark protection on numbers.
So where is Intel today with consumer processor naming?
I hate* to say: Not as good. On a page aimed at helping consumers find the right processor for laptops is a list of products including: Intel Core 2 Extreme, Core 2 Duo, Centrino 2, Core 2 Solo, Pentium and Celeron processors. And while Intel has an explanation next to each (e.g. “Unplug and enjoy great performance in more places.”) there is not a lot of clarity in the names themselves.
Great to see tech companies naming products. Even better to see good naming schemes.
*Disclosure: I worked at Intel for a few years and still have a small amount of stock.
Filed under: AMD,Component technologies,Intel,Products have names
August 5th, 2009
“Products have names.” Anyone who knows me has heard me intone this mantra over and over again.
This month’s (September 2009) Consumer Reports magazine has a fun article on how and why paint companies name paints rather then only giving them a number.
The article talks about the origins of names like Old Pickup Blue, Orange Sherbet, Mermaid’s Tail, Jamaican Acqua and a few others.
What’s most interesting for the consumer technology industry is the quotes that explain why give paints names at all. “In addition to evoking a special feeling, names can be easy to remember. ‘Lily White is infinitely better then White-937,’ says Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute.”
“Pantone’s color of the year is mimosa because, says color consultant Leatrice Eiseman, ‘yellow is the color of hope and change and enlightenment, and its also very warm and inviting.’”
Benjamin Moore and the other paint companies discussed are not naming only a few colors. As the article states “There are thousands of paint colors, and each needs a name.”
So how do they do it? “At Benjamin Moore, that task falls to senior interior designer Sonu Mathew—not that she works alone. When a new color palette is created, she enlists fellow employees, from workers at the plant to the CEO.”
This is a good model for the consumer tech industy to emulate.
Meanwhile back in the tech industry…
The other day Nikon introduced a first for a digital camera. They announced a digital camera with a built in projector. CNET’s Don Reisinger said “I believe that projectors will be the next big thing in the digital camera space.”
Anyone remember hearing or reading about this camera over the past few days? If so, remember the name? I suspect not. Maybe because its called the Coolpix S1000pj. Coolpix may be a name but s1000pj sure is not. Revolutionary product. Not so revolutionary name.
August 6 Addendum: Just after publishing this piece I read Walt Mossberg’s generally positive review of a new Toshiba netbook in which he says: “Toshiba has advanced the netbook category in key respects.”
But, what was one of his comments about the product? “…inelegantly called the NB205-N310…” Give products names and avoid one more thing that can distract from the good qualities of a product.
Filed under: Benjamin Moore,Products have names,Toshiba
On the other hand…
Here are excerpts from articles about product updates that Sony and Apple announced today: