April 7, 2010
Lessons in Design & Business: iPhone Copy & Paste
Remember when the the 1st-gen iPhone was released? The internet and even the mainstream media were in an uproar because of the lack of copy and paste in the iPhone OS. In fact, that was one of the biggest knocks on the iPhone.
Fast forward two years, Apple releases iPhone OS 3.0 during Summer 2009 and it now includes copy and paste. Although some people don’t feel that the implementation is that great, they are in a very small minority. Further, the vast majority of users think that the implementation is very intuitive and easy to use.
So what lessons can we learn from Apple’s course of action in terms of both design and business?
First, great design takes significant thought and time. It takes many iterations and much user feedback, in this case two years. Very rarely is the first version of a concept sufficient.
Second, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. When Apple launched iPhone OS 1.0, they likely didn’t feel that they had developed a solution that was adequate. As such, rather than implement a functionality that was inadequate and that might detract from Apple’s reputation by implementing a poor design, they simply didn’t include the functionality. Even though some users were annoyed, the lack of copy and paste didn’t have a substantial impact on their opinion of Apple’s design savvy and/or skill, which is really one of Apple’s biggest assets, as intangible as it may be.
In stark contrast to iPhone copy and paste is Windows Vista. Despite the enormous variance in terms of complexity, the comparison is still apt. Soon after Microsoft launched Windows Vista, the complaints started to surface and did so in droves. These complaints didn’t concern the lack of features in Windows Vista; rather, the stability and usability of Windows Vista. Despite the fact that Windows Vista is, and was, a relatively good operating system, people already had their minds made up. Further, Windows Vista was never really able to shake the stigma that was originally associated with it.
You really never get a second chance to make a first impression. With the exception of businesses that produce fungible goods, good design can’t generally be sacrificed for the sake of profitability. If it is, profitability will likely suffer significantly.
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