RSS FeedWhen Features Aren't Features
Everyone loves a bullet point. Marketing especially. Showing a prospective customer advantages of a product quickly is the name of the game in advertising. But it seems more and more what should be standard in our products are touted as extra features.
My PC at work is a prime example. The computer I've had set up for me is an HP Pavilion Slimline s3700f. On one side is the sticker that came on the computer that shows off its features: warranty, card reader, optical media drive bay (which I still can't figure out why it wasn't written as 'dvd drive'... perhaps it sounds more hi-tech the other way.)
But I noticed as my eyes glazed over while the call center here died down, that one of the features is 'Power Button'. Yes the one thing every computer probably has, the one thing every computer needs is a power button. (I believe Dell tried 'convenient paperclip powerup device', but most people don't like opening their case and touching their motherboard pins with a piece of metal).
Now, as for how it actually WORKS as a feature, it doesn't, at least no better than any other power button. I figured it out in a couple seconds, but I of course looked at the bottom right of the tower to find the button first. Moving it up makes no difference to me except a (very very) slight learning curve. So to use this as a marketing tool is pointless... I can't imagine a time I have looked at a case and thought WOW the buttons on this are placed in such weird places, cool!
But then I guess I'm not the target demo :P
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