I love Steve Jobs. I think he's brilliant: in one sense, he can envision things in the "correct way" to satisfy customers, even though they don't know what they want yet. He's a sort of personal hero, and I could definitely probably be classified as a groupie.
When I saw the book Inside Steve's Brain a few months back, I purchased and read it immediately. Here's something interesting on what customers are willing to pay for:
Take the iTunes online music store, which launched in 2001, at the height of the popularity of online file sharing. [...] Why would anyone spend $1 a song, when they could get the same song for free? Jobs's answer was the "customer experience." Instead of wasting time on the file-sharing networks, trying to find songs, music fans could log on to iTunes and buy songs with a single click. They're guaranteed quality and reliability [...] "We're going to offer you a better experiences... and it's only gonna cost you a dollar a song."
But the target here is clearly a Bobo audience (another book I finished recently). What's a Bobo? Bobos are the new upper class. And bobos don't like to spend money on "conspicuously consumption" (e.g. Donald Trump), which they consider consider vulgar. It's showing off. However, they are willing to spend significant money to prove their refinement of the "common necessities" of life (e.g. organic African dishware) -- here, it's alright to splurge.
From the back cover of Bobos in Paradise (David Brooks):
Do you believe that spending $15,000 on a media center is vulgar, but that spending $15,000 on a slate shower stall is a sign that you are at one with the Zenlike rhythms of nature? Do you work for one of those visonary software companies where people come to work wearing hiking boots and glacier glasses, as if a wall of ice were about to come through the parking lot? If so, you might be a Bobo.
After all, it is not conspicuous to shower; and if you're going to buy a pair of boots there's no point in buying something mediocre. And everyone listens to music -- but iTunes is elegant. ThePirateBay is crass.
I'm not sure if the majority of average America thinks like this. You might, but you're not average.
So who's your audience? I think that if your web application's audience is primarily bobo, customer experience is probably disproportionately important to your success. And if you're good at user experience, if you're a future Steve Jobs, then your sweet spot is affluent "bobo" buyers.
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