David Pogue: Simplicity sells
David Pogue sier: "Enkelhet selger"
David Pogue is the personal technology columnist for the New York Times and a tech correspondent for CBS News. He's also one of the world's bestselling how-to authors, with titles in the For Dummies series and his own line of "Missing Manual" books. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
Simon & Garfunkel)
first grew cold, and then grew mold.
crashed my Mac,
and you pray for a trained MD.
to Be a Broadway Accompanist."
column six years ago,
slickest new gadgets.
play with them, evaluate them
before you have to send them back,
and I absolutely love it.
small downside, and that is,
at the end of every column.
you get an incredible amount of email.
and hundreds and hundreds of emails.
today is about frustration.
come up on my screen.
it's too much technology, too fast.
of a support structure.
put into the design of it
to reach Dell Technical Support,
there were 700 messages
on the Times website,
off of this frustration will --
get up there? Just kidding.
has put so much thought
interface used to look like, DOS.
Madonna was still a brunette.
operating system fit in 211 k.
the Mac OS X logo in 211 k!
things became easier to use,
was coming into contact
of sitting in on the Apple call center
for me to listen to.
you know how they say,
for quality assurance?"
the funniest dumb user stories
so classic, and yet so understandable.
that her mouse was squeaking.
your mouse is squeaking?"
is that it squeaks louder,
up against the screen?"
'Click here to continue.'"
how much time have we got?
this is absolutely true --
and he told the technician
how many times he typed "11."
"What? Why are you typing 11?"
'Error Type 11.'"
at the feet of the users.
we the consumers want
smaller, smaller.
tinier and tinier,
staying the same size.
of a challenge.
to another primal force:
more and more versions.
or a candy bar, where you own it.
where you pay dues every year,
and we'll sell it to you for $99."
just on Photoshop over the years.
35 percent of their revenue
a piece of software enough times,
just a word processor in, you know,
we're adding so many features.
that's just a word processor:
is not a database."
and it was called Microsoft Write.
in acknowledgment, because it died.
with unnecessary power, right?
and the website, but they're like,
you know, I might need that someday."
features, where are they going to go?
You only have so many design tools.
sliders, pop-up menus, sub-menus.
about how you choose,
this is not a joke --
with all the toolbars open.
opened all the toolbars,
is this little, teeny window down here.
of interface matrices,
features and options,
is always bulleting your lists
a simple, good interface,
which one of these features.
dialogue box for Windows 2000.
is so full of other components
on the exact same dialogue box.
the dialogue box. No, no.
that Apple and Microsoft
approach to software design.
to simplicity tends to be:
let's just make it more steps.
of Windows coming out this fall.
there's absolutely no telling
the first letter you want to type. Ok.
that we don't want to cross.
in a simple, intelligent way?
label things, mostly.
if they violate the biggest rule of all,
not consistent, but it's better.
what country you're from, ok?
as a global village.
Europe, and Japan.
seven screensful to get to it.
to put "United States" first,
shut down a Windows PC
you have a printer.
one copy of your document,
this every time you print?
you'll notice, is not "Print."
is the only company who has embraced
wonderful about this.
when they were flying high in the '90s,
I met one of the employees.
"Thank you. What do you do here?"
I'm like, "You're a what?"
the CEO, says,
takes more than three taps of the stylus,
and it has to be redesigned.'
have a tap counter.
a new blank document in Word --
and you choose "New."
a task bar appears,
by the way, not at the top --
that makes you a new document.
not counting taps.
here and make fun of Microsoft ...
that makes the whole world run.
but the press is snowed.
is doing Microsoft's R&D.
down these days.
You've got nowhere to go.
that fits the world today.
there are really two Microsofts.
for Windows and Office.
out and start fresh, but they can't.
and other company stuff
simple interface designs.
flopped miserably in the market,
simply and beautifully designed.
every night like your cell phone,
when you leave your area code?
is only going to get worse.
people are illuminating,
came back to Apple in 1997,
it was the MacWorld Expo --
in that black turtleneck and jeans,
but I had just seen --
You'll think I'm strange.
Apple's future is black.
who started out in a garage
know what the tricks are.
in simplicity and elegance and beauty.
obviously did not value it,
three percent market share,
putting a price on it.
the meaning of depressed.
of common wisdom.
other products had more features,
and FM transmitters.
by Microsoft, with an open standard,
this is the one they wanted.
is getting the message.
very well with simplicity and elegance.
elegant thinking coming along lately.
back to your computer?
and haul that around.
revealing USB contacts.
offload the pictures,
Will you be my power plug?
DP: Hold that and don't let go.
this is Apple's new laptop.
It hooks on like this.
this at some point in your lives,
about to pull this onto the floor.
the laptop onto the floor.
using speech recognition software.
you have to be kind of quiet
software is really great
a day; period.
that it writes down; period.
called voice macros; period.
from the hall and stuff.
very quickly by saying a short word,
a much longer thing.
sends me a fan letter, I'll say,
for taking the time to write ...]
sends me hate mail --
Don't tell anyone.
this is a really interesting story.
in version eight?
happened before in software!
this software work right." Right?
this software, tried it out --
we're not going to do anything,
is starting to spread.
who are consumers of this technology:
it's not necessarily you, ok?
of the thing you're using.
of good design and bad design.
who create this stuff:
is not deciding what features to add,
simplicity sells.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
David Pogue - Technology columnistDavid Pogue is the personal technology columnist for the New York Times and a tech correspondent for CBS News. He's also one of the world's bestselling how-to authors, with titles in the For Dummies series and his own line of "Missing Manual" books.
Why you should listen
Which cell phone to choose? What software to buy? Are camera-binoculars a necessity or novelty? As release cycles shorten and ever-shrinking gadgets hit the market with dizzying speed, it's harder and harder to know what's worth the investment. A tireless explorer of everyday technology, David Pogue investigates all the options so we don't have to.
After happily weathering installation nightmares, customer service hiccups, and an overwhelming crush of backups, upgrades and downloads, Pogue reports back with his recommendations via his many columns, TV appearances and how-to books. And he does it all with relatable insight, humor and an unsinkable sense of pun, er, fun. All that, and he sings, too.
David Pogue | Speaker | TED.com