The cover of PowerBook laptops always had a small apple with a bite
taken out of the side. Consistent with their user focus, Apple wanted the
logo to look right to the owner of the computer. This was particularly
important given the frequency with which laptops are opened and closed.
People stuff the laptops in their backpacks or bags only to pull them out
later and start working. And when you pull the laptop out it’s hard to know
which way is up. Which side has the latch and so should face toward you
when you set the laptop down on a desk or table?
Jobs wanted this experience to be as fluid as possible, so he used the logo
as a compass. It faced the user when the computer was closed so that the
user could easily orient the laptop when he set it down.
But the problem came when a person opened the laptop. Once the users
had found a seat at the coffee shop and sat down with their macchiato, they
would open their computer to start working. And once they opened the
laptop the logo would flip. To everyone around them the logo would be
upside down.
Jobs was a big believer in branding, and seeing all those upside-down
logos wasn’t a great feeling. He was even worried it might be hurting the
brand.
So Jobs asked Ken’s team a question. Which is more important—to have
the logo look right to the customers before they opened their PowerBook, or
to make it look right to the rest of the world when the laptop was in use?
—————
As you can see the next time you glance at an Apple laptop, Ken and
Jobs reversed their long-held beliefs and flipped the logo. The reason?
Observability. Jobs realized that seeing others do something makes people
more likely to do it themselves.
But the key word here is “seeing.” If it’s hard to see what others are
doing, it’s hard to imitate it. Making something more observable makes it
easier to imitate. Thus a key factor in driving products to catch on is
public
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