This article is an extended version of the column I wrote for print. It's about innovation, and how I believe that our industry has lacked true innovation for years. Perhaps that will change over time - I certainly hope we can make a difference.
“Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity.”
- Charles Mingus
The word “innovation” seems to be overused in the PC industry. I often cringe when chip companies talk about how they “enable” innovation, yet they behave no differently than their competitors, and the people they supply rarely understand how to create their own innovations.
Many companies, consumer-facing or otherwise, claim they are innovative, yet when you boil it down it seems as if they are either losing their innovative edge or they never really had one. The fact is, innovation tends to get lost in a commoditized market, and unless you are truly thinking about the end user’s needs you aren’t innovating.
While no mean feat, creating a chip that’s slightly faster than the competition or designing a video card that delivers a few more frames per second (depending on which driver you use) are both evolutionary innovations. Revolutionary innovations require ground-up design with a clear understanding of the user. Companies like Nvidia, AMD, and Intel are enablers of innovation, but unless their customers understand how to harness their products’ potential and use it effectively we will continue to see commoditization of a once highly innovative space.
True innovation should be tangible, and somewhat obvious; the phrase “customer-centric innovation” comes to mind immediately. If an innovation needs to be “sold” then it’s probably more evolutionary than revolutionary—or not an innovation at all. Innovation is not, for example, painting your laptop lids different colors to target women. This has been done many times over, and there is nothing evolutionary or revolutionary about it, no matter how much you advertise it as such.
The iPod Revolution
This topic of innovation is somewhat close to my heart. In fact, many years ago I did a talk at a local AMD event in Calgary; at that time I believed the iPod would ultimately save Apple. I remember talking about this, among other topics, and watching the disbelief spread across the faces of the people around me; they must have thought I was insane.
Many believed that because other companies had invented the MP3 player, the iPod wasn’t innovative. Clearly they were wrong. The entire iPod implementation, including the iTunes download system, was innovative and sticky. Apple successfully looked at a problem and worked backward to fix it. Along the way the company created a “reverse attachment” to its brand, and with the help of its loyal fans it grew its community organically.
At the time, Apple’s biggest challenge was attracting a wider demographic to its computers, and the iPod seemed like the perfect Trojan horse to do this. I’m not sure if this was the company’s strategy from the start, but it worked regardless. I remember when Burton Snowboards first announced its iPod-compatible snowboarding vest and BMW started to integrate the iPod dock in its cars; that was when the “Oh *@#%!” alarm bells began ringing for those who hadn’t seen the light.
It became even clearer when my single-digit-aged daughter asked for an iPod for her birthday. Apple continues to attract new customers from as early as six years old to 40 and up, largely because its devices are simple to use. The company’s audience is expanding, as many are still just waking up to this phenomenon.
When Kevin Rollins suggested that the Apple iPod was little more than a fad, he obviously didn’t have the foresight to realize that he would be out of a job roughly two years later. Even Michael Dell, arguably one of the smartest people in our industry, said some surprising things. In November 2005, I remember vividly when Michael told me that Apple spends as much on R&D as Dell does; therefore Dell is a much more profitable company.
Now that Intel processors are being used in Apple machines and Windows can be installed on them, it’s getting hard to argue the versatility that they offer. To borrow the three-bagger of corporate terminology, one hardly needs to look further than Apple when they hear the words “connected, ubiquitous, and pervasive.” Personally I hate those words; it’s all bus unless practiced widely.
Enough about them, although clearly Apple is a serious competitor. Thankfully such competition should create tangible customer benefits in a highly competitive industry.
Defining The Personal Computer Generation
Historically in the PC industry, however, competition has been based on price. In fact, most companies are nothing more than marketers of Intel CPUs and Microsoft software, which is really sad when you think about it. If all you do is work to cut costs to compete then you’re losing sight of where the market is going. While price is important, it shouldn’t be the primary focus, especially now that more innovative choices are being made available.
Many companies have lost sight of what’s really important when designing a new product—can you guess what it is? Look in the mirror and the answer will be right in front of you.
There are currently three generations of PC users. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates created history and defined the future, creating a generation of 45-plus-year-old computer users. Then there are those who started at a very young age when Steve and Bill were already rolling, the 25- to 44-year-old range. We grew up on technology, and we’re far more demanding that previous generation of PC users, but there’s a younger generation of users who are even more demanding than we are.
The bottom line is there is a clear shift in user expertise, such that people who would traditionally look to experts for help are instead becoming experts themselves. This new breed of “technology consumer” grows up understanding what the hell a computer is. Eight-year-olds are using the Internet and three-year-olds are playing video games and using mini computers; 20 years from now, these are the people who will be making history.
When I was growing up, using a computer was anything but cool, and now it’s almost as normal as wearing a shirt. One could conclude that technology is now a way of life, and we are making buying decisions based on more meaningful factors. Factors like style, accessibility, coolness, and brand are all important in any trendy industry.
All said, it’s clear that we need to look at other ways to compete, besides price. There is a point when excessive price cutting can come at the expense of quality—just ask the people whose living rooms burned down when their laptops exploded.
HP’s Origins Of Innovation
Working at HP has reinforced a new view of innovation in my mind. HP’s culture is innovative to the core, starting in 1939 when Bill and Dave built this company on a foundation of innovation, and although this never really went away, there were times in its history when the company lost touch somewhat with how cool some of its accomplishments really were. Some folks didn’t stop to smell the roses, in other words, but the company’s new management is working to bring back an intense focus on innovation and a greater appreciation of HP’s history and place in the industry. Coming in as an outsider after witnessing some of the things this company has done over the years, I find it astonishing that HP doesn’t talk about some of them more often!
Some of this is likely due to the company’s focus on engineering over marketing; although putting the technology first is great, at times HP has probably not followed up and commercialized certain ideas in as timely a fashion as it should have, and others have stepped up and gotten to market faster. The analytical nature of this laser focus on engineering also sometimes gets in the way of internal appreciation for what HP has accomplished.
Things are changing, though. The company’s still investing billions in R&D, but many of its business units have become much more proactive in thinking about ways to bring customer-centric innovations directly to you. When you see what HP Gaming is launching later this year, you’ll understand that our view of innovation is slightly different from our competition.
It’s been almost a year since the acquisition, and we’ve been very busy. Based on the feedback we’ve received thus far, we believe we have some winning ideas on the way. Stay tuned.
“Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity.”
- Charles Mingus
The word “innovation” seems to be overused in the PC industry. I often cringe when chip companies talk about how they “enable” innovation, yet they behave no differently than their competitors, and the people they supply rarely understand how to create their own innovations.
Many companies, consumer-facing or otherwise, claim they are innovative, yet when you boil it down it seems as if they are either losing their innovative edge or they never really had one. The fact is, innovation tends to get lost in a commoditized market, and unless you are truly thinking about the end user’s needs you aren’t innovating.
While no mean feat, creating a chip that’s slightly faster than the competition or designing a video card that delivers a few more frames per second (depending on which driver you use) are both evolutionary innovations. Revolutionary innovations require ground-up design with a clear understanding of the user. Companies like Nvidia, AMD, and Intel are enablers of innovation, but unless their customers understand how to harness their products’ potential and use it effectively we will continue to see commoditization of a once highly innovative space.
True innovation should be tangible, and somewhat obvious; the phrase “customer-centric innovation” comes to mind immediately. If an innovation needs to be “sold” then it’s probably more evolutionary than revolutionary—or not an innovation at all. Innovation is not, for example, painting your laptop lids different colors to target women. This has been done many times over, and there is nothing evolutionary or revolutionary about it, no matter how much you advertise it as such.
The iPod Revolution
This topic of innovation is somewhat close to my heart. In fact, many years ago I did a talk at a local AMD event in Calgary; at that time I believed the iPod would ultimately save Apple. I remember talking about this, among other topics, and watching the disbelief spread across the faces of the people around me; they must have thought I was insane.
Many believed that because other companies had invented the MP3 player, the iPod wasn’t innovative. Clearly they were wrong. The entire iPod implementation, including the iTunes download system, was innovative and sticky. Apple successfully looked at a problem and worked backward to fix it. Along the way the company created a “reverse attachment” to its brand, and with the help of its loyal fans it grew its community organically.
At the time, Apple’s biggest challenge was attracting a wider demographic to its computers, and the iPod seemed like the perfect Trojan horse to do this. I’m not sure if this was the company’s strategy from the start, but it worked regardless. I remember when Burton Snowboards first announced its iPod-compatible snowboarding vest and BMW started to integrate the iPod dock in its cars; that was when the “Oh *@#%!” alarm bells began ringing for those who hadn’t seen the light.
It became even clearer when my single-digit-aged daughter asked for an iPod for her birthday. Apple continues to attract new customers from as early as six years old to 40 and up, largely because its devices are simple to use. The company’s audience is expanding, as many are still just waking up to this phenomenon.
When Kevin Rollins suggested that the Apple iPod was little more than a fad, he obviously didn’t have the foresight to realize that he would be out of a job roughly two years later. Even Michael Dell, arguably one of the smartest people in our industry, said some surprising things. In November 2005, I remember vividly when Michael told me that Apple spends as much on R&D as Dell does; therefore Dell is a much more profitable company.
Now that Intel processors are being used in Apple machines and Windows can be installed on them, it’s getting hard to argue the versatility that they offer. To borrow the three-bagger of corporate terminology, one hardly needs to look further than Apple when they hear the words “connected, ubiquitous, and pervasive.” Personally I hate those words; it’s all bus unless practiced widely.
Enough about them, although clearly Apple is a serious competitor. Thankfully such competition should create tangible customer benefits in a highly competitive industry.
Defining The Personal Computer Generation
Historically in the PC industry, however, competition has been based on price. In fact, most companies are nothing more than marketers of Intel CPUs and Microsoft software, which is really sad when you think about it. If all you do is work to cut costs to compete then you’re losing sight of where the market is going. While price is important, it shouldn’t be the primary focus, especially now that more innovative choices are being made available.
Many companies have lost sight of what’s really important when designing a new product—can you guess what it is? Look in the mirror and the answer will be right in front of you.
There are currently three generations of PC users. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates created history and defined the future, creating a generation of 45-plus-year-old computer users. Then there are those who started at a very young age when Steve and Bill were already rolling, the 25- to 44-year-old range. We grew up on technology, and we’re far more demanding that previous generation of PC users, but there’s a younger generation of users who are even more demanding than we are.
The bottom line is there is a clear shift in user expertise, such that people who would traditionally look to experts for help are instead becoming experts themselves. This new breed of “technology consumer” grows up understanding what the hell a computer is. Eight-year-olds are using the Internet and three-year-olds are playing video games and using mini computers; 20 years from now, these are the people who will be making history.
When I was growing up, using a computer was anything but cool, and now it’s almost as normal as wearing a shirt. One could conclude that technology is now a way of life, and we are making buying decisions based on more meaningful factors. Factors like style, accessibility, coolness, and brand are all important in any trendy industry.
All said, it’s clear that we need to look at other ways to compete, besides price. There is a point when excessive price cutting can come at the expense of quality—just ask the people whose living rooms burned down when their laptops exploded.
HP’s Origins Of Innovation
Working at HP has reinforced a new view of innovation in my mind. HP’s culture is innovative to the core, starting in 1939 when Bill and Dave built this company on a foundation of innovation, and although this never really went away, there were times in its history when the company lost touch somewhat with how cool some of its accomplishments really were. Some folks didn’t stop to smell the roses, in other words, but the company’s new management is working to bring back an intense focus on innovation and a greater appreciation of HP’s history and place in the industry. Coming in as an outsider after witnessing some of the things this company has done over the years, I find it astonishing that HP doesn’t talk about some of them more often!
Some of this is likely due to the company’s focus on engineering over marketing; although putting the technology first is great, at times HP has probably not followed up and commercialized certain ideas in as timely a fashion as it should have, and others have stepped up and gotten to market faster. The analytical nature of this laser focus on engineering also sometimes gets in the way of internal appreciation for what HP has accomplished.
Things are changing, though. The company’s still investing billions in R&D, but many of its business units have become much more proactive in thinking about ways to bring customer-centric innovations directly to you. When you see what HP Gaming is launching later this year, you’ll understand that our view of innovation is slightly different from our competition.
It’s been almost a year since the acquisition, and we’ve been very busy. Based on the feedback we’ve received thus far, we believe we have some winning ideas on the way. Stay tuned.
6 blogger comments:
Very good article overall, but I wonder if you could support the position:
"At the time, Apple’s biggest challenge was attracting a wider demographic to its computers, and the iPod seemed like the perfect Trojan horse to do this. I’m not sure if this was the company’s strategy from the start, but it worked regardless."
with actual statistics? Many have argued this but I think if you look more closely at the statistics, the announcement of the switch to Intel coincided with their computer market share expansion.
The IPOD is a fabulous product, well marketed, and highly successful - but I think many are trying to "fit" it into the perception that it should lead to better attachment rates with computers. I have yet to see any convincing data to support this common (mis?)perception, yet I hear many espouse this position....
No offense Rahul, but you have been telling us to "stay tuned" for longer than I can remember.
And you are speaking of innovation? What kind of innovation has Voodoo put into their Omen in the last year or two? It's the same product and if you look at it in terms of innovation and not speed, it looks like an antique.
Price is most important to a point. Once the only good thing about your products becomes the low price, then you've got a problem. A personal computer should have a good blend of price, innovation, and performance. Your Omen fails in the price category and fails in terms of innovation in the last year. The only good thing about it is the performance, just like the only good thing about a Dell is the price. You can't succeed by being the champion in only one field - two fields is better and all three are best.
Robert, your opinion is valid and we are aware of the lack of changes in the Voodoo portfolio. Such acquisitions take time to complete, especially since we are staffing up in a number of areas to prepare for our upcoming growth.
I am certain that you will be pleased with what's coming up. Remember the acquisition happened less than a year ago - it takes about a year to launch something new.
As I said, I'm quite sure you'll like what we're doing - if I'm wrong I'm willing to bet you -- I'll wear a bunny suit at my next keynote or something ;)
"No offense Rahul, but you have been telling us to "stay tuned" for longer than I can remember. "
Agreed, Show me something..... I do enjoy your blog, but something has been missing the past few months. During your old post I felt like you posted things that were "insider" I felt like you had your finger on the heartbeat of the industry.
I still enjoy your blog, but something is missing.
Regards
-Chris
Rahul,
I came across the blog while doing research on a news post about Envy H:171 on my notebook computing blog.
I'm real happy to see that your blogging, it's nice to get a glimpse of what's going on from the inside of companies. I look forward to see what innovations your company comes up with in the future.
I disagree with the comments about the Omen line. I think the chassis stands up against anything currently available in terms of style and function. At least we can all agree that the Omen still packs all of the new firepower that comes out.
Also, Voodoo's new line of notebooks is anything but stale. We know that they use an ODM, however they are using the latest and greatest parts out there.
I also feel compelled to defend Dell here. Dell's current offerings have some of the newest technology packed inside of them. You must admit that Dell has come a long way in the aesthetics department as well. While not gorgeous, they are easy on the eyes. The cost of Dell's product is very attractive as well.
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