Not so long ago, about 181 million cheap, disposable cameras were selling in the US, compared with around 7 million digital cameras. Evaluation discovered that customers would sacrifice lots of quality for a cheap, convenient device. Given the hassle it was to get film footage off cameras and onto a computer for editing and sharing, the videocam market was open to a cheaper, simpler video camera - the Flip Ultra. The camcorder captured relatively low-quality 640 X 480 footage at a time when the more high-end, high quality companies were launching camcorders capable of recording in 1080 hi def. The demand for cheap, fast, and simple, i.e. Good Enough, is increasing.
News comes from blogs, long-distance calls can be made on Skype, we can watch video on small computer screens rather than TV and many are moving to low-power netbook-computers that are just good enough to meet needs. Technology has increased the consumer and business appetite for flexibility over high fidelity, convenience over features, quick and dirty over slow and polished. Having it here and now is more important than having it perfect. The term "high-quality" is changing. From medicine to the military, the rise of Good Enough is becoming rampant. We can even get more music into our computers at a manageable size with MP3 technology. The music business has changed.
Web tools are succeeding because they are Good Enough. Ease of use, continuous availability and low price are becoming more critical. Even the military has jumped on the bandwagon — consider the MQ-1 Predator with a top speed of 135 miles per hour. The ability to maintain a constant presence in the air is possible because the aircraft is cheap to build, can fly for more than 20 hours straight, doesn't require pilots who need sleep, food and bathroom breaks, and who might die if shot down. The Good Enough theory is being applied all over the place. Look at elawyering, virtual trade shows inhabited by avatars, and health care one-stop shops.
How might all of this work? The application of the Pareto principle. 20 percent of the effort, features, or investment might deliver 80 percent of the value to consumers. So I ask you, is your marketing being affected by the Good Enough Revolution? Are you sacrificing quality for speed of delivery? Information for this blog was excerpted from the September 2009 issue of WIRED, articled entitled The Good Enuf Rvlutn, starting on page 110. I recommend reading it in its entirety!!
