The Psychology of New Software Releases and its Parallels with Fashion

What the software industry and fashion have in common: a divinely discontent customer and excited competitors
business strategy
saas
sales
tech
Date

Tuesday January 2, 2024

Topics
business strategy
saas
sales
tech

What is it about a new release that gets people excited? Would you buy software that never changes? How about a hammer?

Why are we okay with buying a hammer, but not stagnant software? Our culture is addicted to new widgets. A/B testing.

Shipping software like fashion, every season

Software releases are free, but development is not. Therefore, research and development is constant, whereas the Hammer company hasn’t needed to update its product in a couple…millennia. That’s why they call it software. It’s not hard to make.

Is there a way to sell software like you sell a hammer?

No. Because per Innovator’s Dilemma, those who can out-do you will. And software is easy to alter and improve. I’m not convinced all “updates” done in the software industry are actually improvements, but people like change. Ever see a fashion line repeat itself?

Software is like fashion.

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Bryan lives somewhere at the intersection of faith, fatherhood, and futurism and writes about tech, books, Christianity, gratitude, and whatever’s on his mind. If you liked reading, perhaps you’ll also like subscribing: