frippz et cetera

parislemon:

Steven Sinofsky on the internet figuring out he was using an iPhone:

Moving beyond the gotcha blogs, there’s an actual reason for using technology products and services other than the ones you make (or happen to be made by the company where you work/ed). I think everyone knows that, even a thousand tweets later. The approach in many industries to downplay or even become hostile to the competition are well-documented and studied, and generally conclude that experiencing the competition is a good thing.

Learning from the competition is not just required of all product development folks, but can also be somewhat of a skill worth honing. Let’s look at the ins and outs of using a competitive product.

…

Obviously you should use a competitive product. You should know what you’re up against when a consumer (or business) ultimately faces a buying decision. They will weigh a wide array of factors and you should be aware of those not only for the purposes of sales and marketing but when you are designing your products.

Sinofsky’s former boss, Steve Ballmer, to Fortune in 2006:

Do you have an iPod?

No, I do not. Nor do my children. My children—in many dimensions they’re as poorly behaved as many other children, but at least on this dimension I’ve got my kids brainwashed: You don’t use Google, and you don’t use an iPod.

“I think everyone knows that…”

“Obviously…”

Gotcha, indeed.

I’m willing to bet that the second those kids move out, they’ll buy every damn Apple or Google product there is. Forbidden fruit is delicious, right?