Dumb vs Smart Products
I was just reading an article about the Australian Air Force operating in the Middle East.
Every plane was carrying a smart bomb which according to the article could mean that a pilot could drop a bomb from 20,000 feet from some 20 miles away and hit a target the size of a garage for example.
I was amazed.
This is such a far cry from the terrible blanket bombings of the second world war and the loss of civilian life.
Lets be clear I am not advocating or celebrating warfare.
But smart bombs are a useful example of the difference between dumb and smart products.
I could have equally used a dumb phone from yesteryear of a smart phone of today.
My point is this.
Smart is the new benchmark.
All new products or services need to be smart.
What about sweat bands for example?
In a recent workshop in China for example, with the leaders from Adidas I challenged them to design the world’s first smart sweat bands.
Suddenly with this challenge they came up with all sorts of ideas.
What about a sweat band that records your workout or number of steps or how much you are sweating or when you might need a new one?
Suddenly a dumb sweat band can become a smart one.
A sweat band can become part of a complete fitness or health ecosystem.
Now if we can create a smart sweat band for example why not any new product?
Smart new products are the new customer and consumer expectation.
Producing dumb products is well … dumb!