I’ve often commented on industry’s lack of “tactical patience” – in our case, meaning that they are usually not willing to invest in longer term research, instead wanting technology that is close to being ready to market. I understand the reasons for the stance, but often it is incredibly short-sighted. This is a very good article talking about what I call “design patience” and how Apple is different than their competitors. I also appreciate the gentle (?) jabs at SV.
“Patience is a virtue lost on Silicon Valley
Here in Silicon Valley, we’re a bunch of inchoate Peter Pans, which affects how we approach relationships, how we design, build, and grow apps, and it affects our ability to relate to the people that use the things we make (because everything we make is soooo important, magical, revolutionary, changing the world, solving world hunger, making life less demanding by making everything available on-demand).
Somehow (maybe it was the acid trip Jobs went on), Apple learned to take their time with products, and to pace their product evolution. They seem slow at times, but maybe it’s just because they resist the short-sighted approach that most tech companies feel forced to take to try to get ahead.
That means most tech companies struggle to fully understand the problems they’re solving, and don’t stop to saddle up alongside their users to develop empathy — to really understand what their users are willing to put up with and what they never will.”