Value Subtracted – Version Release Syndrome
An open letter to companies of virtual “products” that are actually “services.”
We are way beyond the magical year 2000 now. Turns out Nostradamus didn’t know shit. The world did not end, and I’m still paying for the end-of-the-world party I had in 1999. (still slightly hungover too…)
So here we are in 2007, and there are 3 things that Should Be, but Are Not:
1- Flying Cars
Where the hell are they already?
2- Virtual Reality
We been looking forward to Virtual Reality ever since seeing the Holodeck on Star Trek, and the closest we ever got was this crap. Oh yeah, and SecondLife.
3- Software as a Service, not a Product
Alright, so we ain’t been waiting on this one for near as long, but I loaded up the new Adobe Reader 8 and I’m wondering how is this different from version 7? Version 6? Version 3?
What Adobe Reader changed from previous versions is to hide all the buttons people used to use (Like ‘Save A Copy’? Yeah, glad you got rid of *that* useless button) and replace them with things like BEYOND Adobe Reader. Seriously? What the fuck is Beyond Adobe Reader? BEYOND Adobe Reader? And a meeting button? In Adobe Reader? WTF?
The casual user doesn’t use any of those ‘Value Subtracted’ features. They use it to view PDF files. Let me rephrase that in a parable for Adobe:
[Setting: The Pearly Gates]
God – “Alright mortal, before you can enter Heaven, you must answer this question, and answer it honest and truthfully, or shalt thou forever burn in a fiery pit of, um… of Fire!”
Adobe Reader User (terrified) – “Yes Lord.”
God – “What is the purpose for Adobe Acrobat Reader?”
Adobe Reader User (sweating) – “Um, to read PDF files?”
God – “Correct!”
It isn’t just Adobe. Microsoft Money and Intuit’s Quicken programs haven’t changed functionality in a decade, but they have continued to release new versions every year. And Windows? Exactly what I am talking about. These companies have bought into the paradigm that a Software Product is a living, breathing entity, which ebbs and flows like the tide, continually morphing into new and exciting user experiences under the guidance and direction of their marketing department…
…but they are wrong. Sorry, into the fiery pit of Fire with you.
If you can’t write a piece of software and call it done then you don’t have a Product. You have a Service. If customers buy your software off the shelf, install it on their computers and never look back, then you have a product. But what we have instead is a mindset I call Version Release Syndrome.
It isn’t hard to understand why. You have hundreds of people working on the project. For months. Years. You fine tune, and you beta test, and you work work work. Suddenly, the shareholders scream in unison. The press has been notified, the preorder checks have already been spent, and the market is buckling under the stress of waiting. The drop dead date is etched in bits on the internet. The bloggers scream! “It’s gonna suck!” “It’s gonna rock!” There is no more time, and not enough caffeine in the world.
Somewhere a file is transferred to the duplicator. You just went gold.
After the programmers come out of their comas, then comes all the frustration of shoulda/woulda/coulda. Shoulda added this feature. Woulda got more user feedback. Coulda done more QA testing. If we only had more time.
And now we sit here, in this big money-making-machine, and it’s a shame to shut it all down now. I mean, what are all these talented people going to *DO*? The juggernaut pauses for just a breath. It would be SO DIFFICULT to shut it down, and SO EASY to…
Keep going.
The beauty of the internet has only enabled this attitude. Software companies can ship unfinished and untested ‘product’ and provide patches later. Just slip in a clause into the EULA, and bam! You can make money today on software that isn’t even finished! Game companies are the most notorious for this, but at least They draw the line on their releases at some point, so they truly are a Product. Imagine if music or movies did this! (although with DVD re-releases and CD remasters this can be done to some extent)
This is NOT the way.
What companies will eventually realize is that software in all its forms, movies, music, e-books, webpages, RSS News Feeds, blogs, and even operating systems should be distributed as services, not products. Charge a subscription for them. In case no one noticed, they already are, but it’s about the clumsiest system I can imagine.
Instead of trying to trick your customers into upgrading to the new version, get them to sign on as subscribing customers. Which method do you think will make more money? Think long tail. AOL understood this. Give the software away. Free. Charge a subscription for the service, like a utility.
This IS the way.
Blog on,
-CZ
