Things that are simple seldom catch or deserve our attention.

WRONG.

In the past, it used to be the case where things were very simple, where most devices could only do one thing. Then came the age of technology and Moore’s Law where semiconductors began to get smaller, faster and better. There started to be a race in adding computational functionality to devices.

And evidently, most of the interfaces built into the devices were not designed with the user in mind. They were designed with having the consumer having to adapt to the usage of the devices and hence neglected the need for human functionality.

Yet there is a beginning of a return to Simplicity. Many now realize the importance of human functionality in devices. Today, I will focus on the Apple Front Row Remote Control.

It was Apple’s ‘one more thing’ event on 12 Oct 05 where Steve introduced his ‘Front Row’ Entertainment centre with his iMac. There he compared his remote control with the remote controls from Microsoft Media Center.

Quoting from Steve, he said “I don’t know if there was a slide that better captures what Apple is all about.” as he compared the three controls. The basic functionality between the Microsoft and Apple controls were similar. Yet we see that Microsoft produces controls (on the left and right) with 43 and 45 buttons while Apple (middle) was the clear winner with just 6.

In contemporary business, simplicity too is a key essence. Most of the time busines is not complexity but finding a gap in the market, taking an exisiting problem and creating a solution for it. Taking this modest solution and then acting on it. Attending a talk by Doug Richard, one of the Dragon Investors in the BBC Dragon’s den. During the talk, he encouraged us to keep the business as simple as possible, and gave this advice on investor pitches:
In a sentence - you got to descrive your entire business.
In a few sentences - you got to show the market and opportunity.