Common sense is missing in consumer electronics.

Manufacturers needlessly complicate products and marketing.

Devices get new features that a tiny percentage of customers will ever use only because manufacturers need a new product update, product numbers, and additional revenue.

Manuals either don’t exist, or are impossible to read. (Your manual is a huge missed marketing opportunity.)

Marketing is too technical, too complex for consumers to understand quickly and easily. It focuses far too much on the product, and not nearly enough on the consumer.

And public relations does you no service — press releases remain poorly written and nearly impossible to follow. Almost. Always.

To me, it’s common sense that more revenue can be generated focusing on one terrific product instead of pumping new mediocre models to market every six months. It’s common sense that a clear manual with consumer examples and stories can increase customer loyalty through sheer shock alone. It’s common sense that marketing should tell consumers’ stories, not products’. And it’s common sense that when you’re sending press releases to people who write for a living, your releases should be clear, concise, interesting, and helpful.

But then, common sense is missing in consumer electronics.