The Sheila Test
Have I already blogged this? Ah, well, it makes no difference because it deserves constant repetition.
I subject technical things, especially software, to the Sheila Test, named for my mother. Basically, if Mom can install, run, and use it without help then it is more likely to be a successful product than if she can't. Not that Mom is particularly dense; quite the contrary. It's just that she's more likely to give up on something if she has to learn a lot of new techie stuff. I understand that: life is too short to have to spend time learning PERL script if you have no other need to know PERL.
This first occurred to me when I was reading about linux in the "early" days. According to the experts looking at the server conversion rates and projecting them into the future, Linux was going to take over the world in a matter of months. What was the advantage? "You can fix bugs and recompile the kernel yourself." Wh-wh-what? That's a benefit?! To whom? No, no, no, my dear sir, my mother is not going to feel comfortable recompiling kernels. It's just a little too much excitement just to get a new printer to print vacation pics. What she wants is an operating system that installs and updates itself. That is why Windows holds the market share it does, and why linux is very popular among the 1% of the population who think that recompiling kernels is fun as well as exciting.
I'm finding the same is true of blogging software, at present. Blogger doesn't support lots of neat features, so move to Moveable Type, right? Oh, by the way, you need to make sure your server supports SQL, PERL, PHP, Unix ... okay, we're failing the Sheila test. I suspect that lots of bloggers with sophisticated blogs but no actual discussion of "hacks" or other techie issues are supported by the bloggers' grad students (or friends, or employees, etc.). Mom doesn't have a research assistant, and is not likely to get one this year or any other. This spells opportunity: when someone produces software that installs easily, integrates onto the desktop, provides all the features you want, and can be upgraded/updated to take advantage of new features, then everyone will migrate to that.
Uh, Mr. Gates? Mr. Jobs? Mr. Torvalds?
I subject technical things, especially software, to the Sheila Test, named for my mother. Basically, if Mom can install, run, and use it without help then it is more likely to be a successful product than if she can't. Not that Mom is particularly dense; quite the contrary. It's just that she's more likely to give up on something if she has to learn a lot of new techie stuff. I understand that: life is too short to have to spend time learning PERL script if you have no other need to know PERL.
This first occurred to me when I was reading about linux in the "early" days. According to the experts looking at the server conversion rates and projecting them into the future, Linux was going to take over the world in a matter of months. What was the advantage? "You can fix bugs and recompile the kernel yourself." Wh-wh-what? That's a benefit?! To whom? No, no, no, my dear sir, my mother is not going to feel comfortable recompiling kernels. It's just a little too much excitement just to get a new printer to print vacation pics. What she wants is an operating system that installs and updates itself. That is why Windows holds the market share it does, and why linux is very popular among the 1% of the population who think that recompiling kernels is fun as well as exciting.
I'm finding the same is true of blogging software, at present. Blogger doesn't support lots of neat features, so move to Moveable Type, right? Oh, by the way, you need to make sure your server supports SQL, PERL, PHP, Unix ... okay, we're failing the Sheila test. I suspect that lots of bloggers with sophisticated blogs but no actual discussion of "hacks" or other techie issues are supported by the bloggers' grad students (or friends, or employees, etc.). Mom doesn't have a research assistant, and is not likely to get one this year or any other. This spells opportunity: when someone produces software that installs easily, integrates onto the desktop, provides all the features you want, and can be upgraded/updated to take advantage of new features, then everyone will migrate to that.
Uh, Mr. Gates? Mr. Jobs? Mr. Torvalds?
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