
Selling Feelings - prostoalex
https://stratechery.com/2015/selling-feelings/
======
IIAOPSW
meh.

>PC gaming (yes thats still a thing)

How many successes does PC gaming need before people stop being dismissive.

>Well, how silly must you be to carry a $5,000 handbag with far less
functionality than another a fraction of the price, or wear a $10,000 watch or
$200 necktie?

This was supposed to be the "relate-able experience" to help our
understanding?

>What about flying first class or staying in a five-star hotel — you can’t
take either with you!

Those are objectively better than the cheaper alternatives. First class has
features that economy does not (more leg room, faster service). Same with 5
star hotels.

You can't substitute lack of features with some ill defined concept of "user
feeling". Marketing fluff and a polished product only get you so far.

Edit: people were getting real hung up on my derision of status symbols (I
called them vapid). It wasn't central to my point so I changed it.

~~~
dsacco
_> > In fact, if you do this I think you're vapid and lose respect for you._

To springboard off of this comment - you're entitled to this opinion, but why
do you feel that way? Perhaps you can be convinced that not everyone who
enjoys veblen goods is vapid.

I wear a $3000 watch every day. It's mechanical one that is, from a purely
objective time-keeping perspective, inferior to a $50 quartz watch.

But I love watches. This particular watch is made by Nomos Glashutte, a very
small watch company that makes minimalist watches with completely in-house
designed movements. They manufacture not only most of their watch parts, but
also most of the tools required to make those parts.

When I wear this watch I like to gaze at its movement sometimes and hear it
ticking away, thinking about the fact that some watchmaker in Glashutte
trained for years to make this by hand and finally did so. I also get a lot of
satisfaction from winding it by hand.

Finally, though it is an expensive watch, I don't wear it for recognition. It
is of a much higher quality from a horological perspective than most other
watches in this category (in-house movement, consistent industry awards,
beautiful design), but it is simple. It's not gaudy and does not broadcast a
name brand that is instantly recognizable, like Rolex or Tag Heuer.

For the same reasons I also love A. Lange & Sohne and Glashutte Original. I
encourage you to check out a video with John Mayer on Hodinkee where he talks
about his experience of watch collecting - yes he has the token Rolex in his
collection, but he also has many that are not instantly recognizable and it
would appear that he genuinely loves each of them for explicable reasons.

Now, I can't talk at the same length about a Hermès tie, but I could probably
speak at some length about a made-to-measure custom suit versus a bespoke
suit, and talk about the differences between Brooks Brothers, Brioni, Canali
or Ford (all different "tiers" of suits). It is much easier to enjoy a suit
when it fits you extraordinarily well, is made of a very comfortable fabric
and has a level of quality to be both attractive and reliable. Further, the
experience of going to a tailor is an altogether different one than buying
"off the rack." I think this is what the author means by products inspiring a
certain "feeling"...it might not be vapid elitism, it might just be affection
for hand-made, well-fitting and attractive items for both form and function.
In short, it can be art.

I think you might feel that people who enjoy these sorts of things are more
like yourself if you gave them a chance to explain their passion.

~~~
IIAOPSW
It sounds like you appreciate the watch as an art piece more-so than as a
functional device. That's fine. Everyone owns at least some art in some
broadly defined sense.

If we are talking only about buying art then the article is exactly on point.
Selling art _is_ selling emotion. But we are talking about selling apps not
just art. Trying to sell every app as though it were art is doomed to fail
(except for games). In terms of everything from tip calculators to pdf
readers, I couldn't care less about the "feeling" beyond some minimum
threshold of UI quality. Can you talk at length about _all_ the other things
you own? Can you even talk at length about _most_ of the things you own? Or
are most purchases emotionless and pragmatic? I bet the latter.

I was a bit hasty with my words on people who enjoy veblen goods. What I meant
was "in fact, if you do this I assume you're vapid". In general I find this
heuristic works but like all heuristics it is not 100% accurate. The important
thing is that when faced with evidence (EG someone who actually knows all the
finer details of modern time-pieces and still choose the $3000 obscure
mechanical watch) I am happy to reject my initial assumption.

------
thedevil
"software generally should be seen as a lever to solutions that are much more
meaningful to customers"

I always assumed that software developers were underpaid relative to the value
they create. Now, I worry that it's the designers, more than the developers,
who are underpaid and underappreciated.

~~~
cableshaft
I probably would switch from programmer to designer if it paid more. But I
usually get to do some form of design on the job as a programmer and I have
side projects, so I'm sticking with with what pays best.

The skills I gain when programming allow me to tackle my own projects easier
anyway.

