What I've learned in 18 years of reviewing laptops
Listen to consumers, but also innovate in unexpected ways. Easy, right?
As the sun sets on my many years at CNET, I realize that I've seen a lot of laptop trends come and go (and sometimes come back again). To be fair, I did do a fair bit more during all that time than just review laptops, but it was always one of my favorite parts of the job.
Every time a new, notable laptop is released, I think back to its antecedents and remember that I usually reviewed those models, too. For example, I reviewed the most recent 13-inch MacBook Air, and also the very first MacBook Air in 2008. Dell's Alienware brand just released a new 18-inch gaming laptop, and while writing that review, I remembered also reviewing Alienware's last 18-inch laptop from a decade before.
Why laptops?
Laptops specifically have always fascinated me, because they are among the most personal of devices. Sure, your phone is always on and always with you, but it's a tool for short-form communication and instant gratification. In popular culture, phones are infinitely disposable and replaceable -- spies on your trail? Just toss your phone and buy a new burner.
A laptop is where you do your big thinking, long-form writing and deep research. And because it's portable, that means your office, photo studio or writer's room follows along to every coffee shop, airport lounge or conference room you visit.
It's a shame, then, that so many laptops are painfully uninventive and have their edges sanded down to bland design-by-committee thinking. Or when one does dare to add something new and unique, it's often half-baked and will never get a chance to evolve. Think about the very small handful of folding screen and dual-screen laptops -- most were not-ready-for-prime-time prototypes thrown to the sharks and never heard from again. Same with many of the more unique blink-and-you'll-miss-them laptop/tablet hybrids that launched alongside Windows 8 in order to compete with the iPad.
Two stories about laptop design
There are a couple of laptop design stories I've told several times over the years, because they're broadly illustrative of how consumers know what they want, and how that can often be at odds with what tech industry marketing managers and even product engineers think they should want.
Way back when Sony was still in the PC business with its Vaio systems, a friend of mine went to J&R Music/Computer World looking to buy a new laptop. Yes, this story already features a computer brand that no longer exists and a classic NYC retail giant that also no longer exists.
She had a sharp-looking white Vaio laptop that died after a few years and needed to be replaced. That current year's Vaio models came in a handful of mostly meh colors, and there was no white option. The salesman at the store tried to convince her that the newer, dark gray or silver laptops had faster CPUs, more storage and were otherwise better in almost every way.
But my friend didn't want a faster laptop in a generic color, or one from another brand, she wanted another white Vaio. The look and feel were as important to her as choosing the right pair of eyeglasses -- this personal computer was an extension of her personality and that trumped the "speeds and feeds" that marketing types are always leaning into, no matter what actual real-world computer shoppers are telling them.
I always ended this story by telling whatever computer industry execs I was speaking to, "The moral of the story is: she wasn't wrong, you were." They usually saw an undereducated customer not knowing what was best for them. I saw it as a savvy customer who saw the value in not only the CPU and other specs, but also the look, feel and overall vibe of the machine.
The second story that sticks with me on this topic involves a prototype of a laptop I saw from Toshiba, another brand no longer making consumer PCs, at least for the US market (the brand evolved into something called Dynabook).
A marketing exec showed me a nice-looking slim laptop with one striking feature. The lid was raw aluminum. It had the marbled, imperfect, industrial look that people shell out for in their downtown live/work lofts or retro-inspired industrial furniture. It was still slick and professional, but also bold and unique for a laptop design. I loved it. I raved about it. And anyone who has seen me in product demo sessions knows I play my cards pretty close to the vest and rarely tip what I think in advance of writing a review.
Oh no, the marketing exec told me. This was just an unfinished prototype. The final version will have the same generic shiny silver/gray lid as the dozens of other laptops I had seen recently. I offered a rare bit of unsolicited advice. Keep the raw aluminum look, and you've got an iconic design on your hands that just might break through in a crowded market. Make it look like every other laptop, and it'll disappear into the sea of identical products.
I never saw that prototype again, and not long after, Toshiba got out of the consumer laptop business.
I could tell a million stories from my time as a product reviewer, but most of them boil down to the same couple of things. Innovate, but honestly. Commit to supporting new ideas until they find their feet. And pay attention to what your audience is really saying, not just what you think you can talk them into buying.
After all, no one wants an impersonal personal computer.
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