I’m sitting looking out of a window unable to see very much due to the snow storm outside. I think this could be a good metaphor for 2011. The only visible trend is that there’s no clear trend visible (or as Olga put it yesterday, the only certainty is uncertainties). Anyway, here’s another one…
#7. Feature fatigue
The recession may have promoted austerity and frugality in individuals and institutions, especially in developed nations, but there seems to be one industry where a no-frills future is still an alien concept – consumer electronics. In everything from washing machines to computers, manufacturers seem to be involved in an arms race of adding sophisticated new features. This is creating feature fatigue among ordinary consumers, who simply want things to work and have little or no need (or time) for anything fancy. There are a handful of exceptions to this. Apple makes products that are easy to use even if they contain extra features hidden under the surface. But there is still work to be done. White goods manufacturers and car companies, in particular, might like to get started by removing the various buzzes and beeps that tell you to do something, or at least make them an opt in option rather than something you can’t easily remove or re-program.
Implications
Expect to see more stripped down products, partly because people in the West don’t want them, but also because consumers in developing regions don’t want them either. A good example of this is netbooks – super-cheap computers that can be used for simple tasks and not much else. Tata’s Nano is another example. This is essentially a stripped down micro-car that dispenses with many of the so-called essentials found in small cars in the West. Incidentally, the other reason that striped down products will do well in the future is that societal ageing means that people will have less money and older people like products with big buttons that are easy to use and understand.
On the subject of “the snow”, I find it strange that people have stopped clearing the white stuff from their garden path for the last couple of years. In my road (in London), there two houses in 60 that have cleared their drive and front step.
And with less people using net curtains, we can see a 50-something inch flatscreen TV inside their front lounge, and there are footsteps in the snow leading up to their door. So they’ve been out today.
I think the shift has moved from outside the house (“what will my neighbours think”) to inside the house. Out of mind and all that.
Your views Richard?
Two reasons.
1. Fear (of litigataion). If you clear the snow in front of your home badly (maybe it then ices up overnight?) you are more liable if someone falls and hurts themselves than if you hadn’t touched it in the first place. Of course, 20 years ago if you slipped and broke your leg you would say silly me, I should have been more craeful. Nowaday we sue.
2. Focus on the self and our own back yard (sweet irony). We look after #1 and withdraw into our homes rather than the outside community. Having said this there is a slight counter-trend when things get bad. Yesterday, for example, I rescued 4 people from the snow, acted as a taxi drive to complete strangers and bought a tow rope to pull other vehicles out of the snow. It felt good.