[iBercovich]

I agree. You build a tool to solve a problem, not for the building sake. And if it turns out the consumers are using your tool for a different purpose, it is in your own interest to understand this new use and optimize your tool to fulfill that previously unnoticed problem.

[stcredzero]

if it turns out the consumers are using your tool for a different purpose, it is in your own interest to understand this new use and optimize your tool to fulfill that previously unnoticed problem.

Amen! That last bit is quotable!

[seanos]

I once read a story about a Chinese company who built washing machines and found that they were getting lots of warranty claims after people had broken them trying to wash potatoes. Instead of putting a notice on the machines not to use them to clean potatoes, they successfully developed and marketed a dual purpose machine.

http://www.connectedaustralia.com/News/Trends/tabid/121/sele...

[iBercovich]

That is exactly what I am talking about!

[zaphar]

And yet to borrow from a commenter on the post. If you complain to a tool company about your hammer being a sucky screwdriver what exactly should the tool company to do? Make the hammer a better screwdriver? or point the user to the real screwdriver?

Sometimes the solution isn't to optimize your tool for something it can't do very well but to build a new tool that does do it well. I think turning Google the search engine into a site redirection service for keywords ala AOL falls into that category.

[iBercovich]

If you go to Home Depot with a hammer being a sucky screwdriver, they will replace it with a screwdriver--maybe the customer wasn't aware there was a better tool for that. Here google is home depot, not a hammer. Also, if your hammer is a sucky screwdriver and home depot doesn't have a screwdriver to exchange for your hammer, they better get some because otherwise the customer will go somewhere else. Finally, software is much more extensible than hardware, so the analogy is not exactly 1 to 1.

[RyanMcGreal]

So what do you do if you're Home Depot and you try to tell your customer about screwdrivers and they stick their fingers in their ears and yell, "Nyaa nyaa I don't want to learn anything new"?

[iBercovich]

Put a screwdriver in their hand and let them try it for a month before paying for it.