Chapter 6. The Inmates Are Running the Asylum
Despite the widely varied nature of the products described in Chapter 1, “Riddles for the Information Age,” they all share a common frustration-inducing unpleasantness. In this chapter, I'll show that this recurrent pattern is due to the inadvertent hijacking of the industry by technical experts. Despite all of the marketing rhetoric, the form of our products is really determined by the people least equipped to determine it.
Driving from the Backseat
An article[1] about the spectacular failure of high-tech startup company General Magic is revealing. The author innocently touches on the root cause of the product's lack of success when she says that Marc Porat, the president, “launched his engineering ...
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