Greg Ebbecke

Hi Greg! Great piece! I have been planning to get the new iPhone with the holiday deals approaching. I truthfully I did not consider the features of the phone to be part of my buying processes since the iPhone is very advanced in each software update rather than physical features. Yes, you can get the ios16 on most newer devices so the purchase of a newer model is absurd for some. however lagging battery life, slower loading and 4G should be enough to switch my iPhone 11 Pro Max in for the next version. Regardless, I do not believe mobile device features have finished their grasp on society. Phones can be versatile in their use as a “handset” and a visual component to AR. Many devices are being made to adapt your mobile device into the AR screen with the download of an app. I think Apple should expand on this idea making it an accompanied feature within their software entirely to monopolize on the versatility of their iPhone in the tech forward world.

Hi Greg, I loved reading this article. I recently just upgraded to the series 8 Apple Watch from the series 3. I mainly wanted a new watch because of tall of the new features. Such as EKG, Blood Oxygen Levels, new displays, and having the ability to use my watch without having to have my phone on me. I loved that feature the most. I personally do not think that we have maxed out the avenues of the iPhones or any smart phones in general. They continue to add updates every few months and I love that. Nothing is going out of date and that is exactly how it should be.

Over the years every time I have proposed the idea of getting a new iPhone my dad has asked me what the difference is between the new one and the one I already have. To which I usually don’t have an answer that he’d understand. Even tho the device’s structure has been the same for the last couple of years iPhone has had some major upgrades just for its structure. With the pro having not just the usual 1 but 3 HDR camera lenses, completely removing the circular home button that allows users user fingerprint to unlock their phones. They also removed headphone jacks from iPhone X and forward. Even though the physical features keep altering over the years the IOS upgrade keeps enhancing and adding features from time to time.
I think there are always issues that will need to be fixed and features that need enhancements.

Hey Greg!

I love your Apple analysis. I completely agree with your points! And Olivia’s follow-up comment: the features don’t change, they improve. I’m a longterm Apple user, but I’m strict about how often I upgrade. My attitude is that they’re always going to be (slightly) improving on their amazing features so what’s my rush? I don’t remember every single one I’ve owned, but I only upgrade after a few models have passed and then I’ll buy the newest one — that way the jump feels dramatic and worth the cost. I currently have an iPhone 12; I don’t plan on upgrading until after the 15 is released. I think my current phone camera is excellent and unless I break it, I’m happy to stick with the current model for a while longer! Like Olivia mentioned, I can’t really imagine switching to a Samsung brand phone at this point given how many Apple products I have. It’s insanely convenient to have everything synced up.

Disney generally hits the mark, despite my intense dislike for Be Out Guest.

That being said, the lesson I hope you all take from here is that a good idea on paper does not always equate to a good idea in practice. To the Imagineer who envisioned the ultimate dining experience, this was a slam dunk. To the people paying for that experience, maybe less so.

This is why I have stressed anchoring in your customer’s POV. When you “live” in their world, you see things differently than the vacuum of the lab / your imagination.

After Covid-19, markets shifted into the world of contactless everything! We now can order food and have it dropped off at our houses without one human to human interaction. Even with QR codes, the need for a server to bring one menu’s seems obsolete and bypassed the need to use a paper menu that someone else used that day. It seems as Disney has taken it a step further and is diminishing the need for both employees and human interactions with everything being automated before hand and with a wristband.

While the technology is great, dealing with human imperfections is will always be what slows it down. I believe Tesla is having somewhat of the same problem when automated cars are having trouble accounting for human errors. It seems as if the unpredictableness of humans still posses as a problem for even the smartest of computers. But we are definitely getting closer!

Hi Professor Ebbecke,

It’s a bummer that this didn’t work, it’s such a great idea. That’s the thing with technology is when it works, it’s great but when it doesn’t, it can be disastrous. I think it’s important for technology to always be able to take human error into account, like being late. They can put something in place where if families are late, they unfortunately lose their reservation. But they have to make sure this is communicated effectively during booking. Many restaurants do this, and I think it’s fair. The kinks can still be worked out. I don’t think all is lost here. They need to work on constantly improving based on issues reported by customers and staff. Any new adopter, when it comes to technology, should expect that they may be the guinea pigs as developers are likely still working out some of the kinks.

There are pros and cons to repurposing what works for small children for adults, but that is an entirely different story.

How much of what we “know”, specifically what we get from social media, reflects the headlines we can rather than the content it teases?

When it comes to the ads we place on the page, 5 seconds may be a sever overestimate. People intuitively know an ad when they see one, making banner blindness a very real thing! How do we, as marketers, overcome this?