{"id":2967,"date":"2021-02-10T13:47:17","date_gmt":"2021-02-10T13:47:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/?p=1338415"},"modified":"2021-02-10T13:47:17","modified_gmt":"2021-02-10T13:47:17","slug":"the-best-consumer-tech-always-sweats-the-small-stuff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/?p=2967","title":{"rendered":"The best consumer tech always sweats the small stuff"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This is adapted from Plugged In, TNW\u2019s bi-weekly newsletter on gear and gadgets. <\/span>Subscribe to it here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

There are plenty of bullshit sayings out there \u2014 they are<\/em> the force that powers Facebook\u2019s evil after all \u2014 but one of the worst is \u201cdon\u2019t sweat the small stuff.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, there are plenty of situations where this is true: if you spent all your time overanalyzing what the angry man at the vegan deli meant when he called you a \u201cjerky boy\u201d you\u2019d go insane. Some things just aren\u2019t worth the brain space to consider. (But what<\/em> did he mean?)<\/span><\/p>\n

Thing is, for every situation where \u201cdon\u2019t sweat the small stuff\u201d makes sense, there are a gamut of others where the phrase is about as relevant as Bon Jovi. Tell your mom I\u2019m not sorry.<\/span><\/p>\n

And one of those areas where, really, you should sweat the small stuff? Consumer design is one of them.<\/span><\/p>\n

This thought hit me particularly hard this week because of two specific things crashing headfirst into my sad, lonely life. The first was the news that <\/span>Apple will soon update the iPad boot screen so it\u2019ll appear in the correct orientation<\/a>. The second is I discovered that <\/span>Spotify searches don\u2019t sync across devices<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"consumer
<\/i><\/a>THIS IS THE FUTURE OF THE IPAD BOOT SCREEN LIBERALS WANT.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You could easily make the argument these two design issues are nothing to be worried about. Think of the iPad: it\u2019s a futuristic, Star Trek<\/em>-style hand computer on which you can complete tasks that, 50 years ago, would\u2019ve had you drowned in a bog for being a sorcerer. <\/span><\/p>\n

And Spotify? It\u2019s a service that has every goddamn song in existence <\/em>on it. How can I, a truly unexceptional man child, possibly have the temerity to quibble about such small things?<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s because they\u2019re important. Weirdly so. Tiny negative details in products you constantly use are like splinters: they may not look like much from the outside, but they\u2019re sadistic bastards that cause lot of pain.<\/p>\n

And, the more I think about it, the more I realize that because consumer tech is so mature these days, much of it, really, is all about the small stuff.<\/p>\n

Well, to a point.<\/span><\/p>\n

If a pair of headphones sound like they\u2019re constructed from bootyhole, no amount of attention to detail will save them. Generally though, that\u2019s not the case: manufacturers of all kinds tend to keep the butt out of the design process, unless officially required. <\/span><\/p>\n

The honest fact is the most popular consumer gadgets have been around long enough that you\u2019re more likely to level an accusation of them being boring, than useless. I remember when the first touchscreen phones hit the market and some of the devices I had were barely usable in 6 months. Now we get up in arms about notch size.<\/p>\n

Small stuff with a big impact<\/h2>\n
\"sennheiser
<\/i><\/a>The gorgeous Sennheiser Momentum 3.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Let\u2019s return to the headphone example from earlier. These are a technology that has been around for years now, and is filled with reputable companies.<\/p>\n

Imagine you\u2019re after a good pair of noise-canceling cans. You\u2019re inundated with options. There are the Sennheiser Momentum 3<\/a>, Bose 700<\/a>, or the Sony WH-1000XM4<\/a> \u2014 and that\u2019s just to name a few of the most popular models. There are many other brilliant companies making fantastic headphones, from Jabra to Master and Dynamic and beyond.<\/span><\/p>\n

But, for the sake of this argument, let\u2019s focus on that original trio I mentioned. What separates them? Technically, small stuff.<\/p>\n

If we\u2019re being brutal, the headphones I listed are the same thing: a quality pair of small drivers encased in an attractive blend of plastic and metal designed to make music sound great.<\/span><\/p>\n

All of them are totally different though \u2014 and it\u2019s because of the small stuff. The Sennheiser, Bose, and Sony models all display fine examples of fit, sound reproduction, noise-canceling, and aesthetics, yet you could potentially despise a pair of them. And your mate might adore the exact same model. The line between perfection and irritation is smaller than you\u2019d think, especially with mature technology.<\/span><\/p>\n

What I\u2019m saying is this: small stuff don\u2019t matter all the time, but when it does, it really<\/em> does. In other words, sometimes you\u2019ve gotta sweat the small stuff. (Ugh, I really am a jerky boy, aren\u2019t I?)<\/span><\/p>\n

Are there any seemingly insubstantial things you love or hate about your favorite gadgets or apps? <\/span>My Twitter is right here for you to vent<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Did you know we have a newsletter all about consumer tech? It\u2019s called Plugged In \u2013 and you can subscribe to it right here<\/a>. <\/i><\/p>\n

Published February 10, 2021 \u2014 13:47 UTC <\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is adapted from Plugged In, TNW\u2019s bi-weekly newsletter on gear and gadgets. Subscribe to it here. There are plenty of bullshit sayings out there \u2014 they are the force that powers Facebook\u2019s evil after…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2968,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2967"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}