Since the adoption of the web by the general public, we’ve seen a rapid shift in the way companies think about software. Have you noticed how pretty much any device that needs firmware now seems to be /maybe/ 30% feature complete compared to what’s printed on the box and is typically very buggy when it’s put on market? If not, you must have not used any sort of DSL router or wireless switch in the past few years. It’s strange to think about now, but products with firmware actually used to not suck, and engineers even had time to implement firmware into scanners which would allow them to play music.

Personally, I would much rather have a small subset of functionality in trade for a stable product (both in what I write as a software developer, and what I buy as a consumer), and this article agrees with those sentiments as well.

In the seemingly never-ending debate about Apple’s successes, announcements, new products and predicted-but-unannounced über-gadgets, features and technical specifications often seem to dominate the debate. Yet if there’s one lesson to be learned from the company’s recent successes, it is a very simple one: features don’t matter any more.

I can only cynically giggle when I find myself producing some new whiz-bang butterfly chasing or bouncy-shiny ball chasing type feature which will soon be replaced in two months after it’s somewhat completed by another equal feature because each new one is “teh new hotness” that 8 billion customers will buy or whatever rather than focusing on making core functionality better if not stable. Each of these new half-baked features are rarely used and is only good for presentations– sort of the software equivelent of taking a car with extra stickers and shiny wheels on it to SEMA claiming that it’s faster.

I think another analogy (alebeit a poor one, but bear with me) is to look at is the product cycle of soft drinks. Each year it seems like the big soft drink companies come-up with some new flavor like Cactus Mint Cola. At first there are some xtreme commercials that make people want to go skateboard up a mountain while skydiving, a little buzz is created with consumers, and some people go out and buy it who usually just drink the plain Cola. Rarely are they repeat customers, or if they are, they get tired of the Cactus Mint and just want plain Cola again. Eventually the Cactus Mint Cola is not moving at all, and they pull it off of the shelves. This is followed by marketing/product development coming-up with the next new xtreme flavor which will make new people their customers forever– Orange Salmon Cola. Rinse and repeat.