Heavier than Air

Charles Miller on the MacBook Air:

The tech press, it seems, has a bad record on judging products on criteria you can’t fit on a feature matrix.

Which is a problem, because feature matrices suck. A feature matrix says: “Here is what everyone else is doing. To be competitive you must do the same.” Where’s the differentiation? Where’s the innovation in doing exactly what everyone else does, ticking the boxes, shaving off one or two points in each row so you get the green tick?

I think his comparison to the iPod Mini is spot-on.

★ Tuesday, 22 January 2008