Ricky Wong

Louis Sullivan"Form follows function" was made famous by Louis Sullivan, stating that the shape of a building is driven by it's purpose.  From a technology perspective, the phrase "features follow flexibility" is equally appropriate.  I believe that a gadget's many individual features are ultimately less important than the overall flexibilty it offers.  

Let's use my iPhone as an example.  Its touchscreen is OK, the email app is rough around the edges, and the lack of cut & paste is brutal.  So then, even with these shortfalls why has Steve's Jesus phone outsold the wildly popular Motorola RAZR?  Flexibility.  It multi-functions as a calendar, media player, web browser, and phone.  It's a single platform that takes care of all my communication and productivity needs when I'm away from my computer.  Each atomic feature enhances the overall value of the iPhone. 

Consumers tend to buy based on feature lists, and it's OK to want a gadget that's smaller, faster, and jammed with more features.  Unfortunately, business owners make technology purchasing decisions based on a subconscious attraction to the bells and whistles- and without assessing the overall flexibility of the technology. Business owners must not buy based on features because they'll end up with technology for technlogy's sake. 

That's an ironic statement since what I do at M5 Networks (an on-demand phone system provider) is help build new features into our core platform.  A softswitch must have key features and functionality to be competitive, yet it's the flexibility of our platform that delivers the business impact to our clients.  Here's an example- each of our phones is a network device with an IP address which means that it can be used anywhere with a cable/DSL connection.  Unlike traditional office phones, our clients relocate our phones as easily as laptops.  

The significance is that anyone can easily (and for free) relocate an office phone to a home office, effectively extending the workplace and eliminating commute time.  Also worth mentioning is that notebook sales surpassed PCs for first time in US.   Now my laptop and M5 phone has useful features, however it's the overall flexibility which freed me from my office and increased my effectiveness at home- a win for any business.