Gadget makers used to have one goal with the devices they produced. A cell phone made calls, a PDA helped you organize, a Discman played discs.
The current trend is to create devices that do it all, but specialize in a certain area at the same time. For instance, the Blackberry is a PDA that also makes calls/takes photos, a cellphone makes calls but will also act as a clock/watch. The iPod is an MP3 device but it will play your movies and you can also do some gaming. These devices do well at their main function, but tend to skimp over the other stuff. Cell phones make calls but suffer from a poor interface. iPods play MP3s but I’ve never seen anyone use them to play games. Instead of focusing on adding a bunch of pointless accessories, why not make hidden features?
High end watches can be sold for an absurd amount of money. The watch performs one function, and so the rest of what it “does” is up to the owner. The connection to the brand, the prestige, the story that the consumer tells themself, etc. These are the hidden features.
Hidden features aren’t spelled out in the manual. Not every user is affected by them. The iPhone has a bunch of hidden features, all the way from the way it looks sitting on your hip, to the way it makes you feel like a futuristic businessman when you’re touching icons and watching the cool animations. The rush you get from pushing the accelerator on a BMW, that’s a hidden feature.
For devices that do one thing really well, and do a mediocre job on the other stuff, hidden features might be a good thing to look into.
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