

Solving the Wrong Problem - jaynate
http://www.jaynathan.org/2012/03/solving-the-wrong-problem/

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mistercow
The anecdote told in this article makes no sense. The plain "Swiffer Sweeper"
product is not used for wiping up spills, but for collecting dry dirt and
dust. It wasn't until later that P&G introduced several wet products, which,
again, aren't for cleaning up spills, but for getting stains up off the floor
after you've used the dry Swiffer Sweeper. As far as I know, there is no
circumstance in which it would be appropriate to pull out a Swiffer after
spilling a cup of coffee.

Perhaps the true story is that Continuum noticed that people don't use mops to
clean up wet spills, so they made something for cleaning dry floors?

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dmethvin
I think the main takeaway here is that rather than creating a product that
needed to elbow its way into an already-crowded market, they solved the
problem by creating a new market. Seeing how people really cleaned minor
spills and dirt was the inspiration for what is essentially a moist paper
towel at the end of a stick.

~~~
mistercow
Yes but what I'm saying is that takeaway is probably not true, because the
original Swiffer _isn't_ a moist paper towel and is not used for cleaning up
minor spills. It just doesn't add up.

You could say it's just an illustrative anecdote, but I think that
illustrative anecdotes lose their power when they are fabricated.

