The Apple iPod and iPhone were breakthroughs in technology for one reason: simplicity.
If you remember what MP3 players were like before the iPod, you know what I mean. They were complicated. There were lots of buttons and it wasn’t easy to get the songs onto your device. Then the iPod came along. It had just one button.
Think about the old Blackberries compared to the iPhone. Blackberries were 60% buttons, 40% screen, while the iPhone had only one button and a touch screen. Not only that, the many apps on the iPhone made life easier and more interesting.
I’ve been thinking about a question Tim Ferriss has been talking about in interviews. He asks himself:
What would this be like if it were easier?
This is the question to ask when you decide to upgrade to a new tool or technology.
In writer groups I am in, the question that keeps coming up again and again is: what do you use to write books?
Microsoft Word is the most common answer. For most writers, this is all they need.
The reason I started using Scrivener, however, was that it made my writing process easier. I was writing drafts in Evernote and numbering sections then renumbering sections of my book to keep them visually in order. The ability to drag and drop sections rather than renumber in Evernote (or cut and paste in Word) made my life easier.
Here is another example:
I almost switched from MailChimp to ConvertKit for email marketing last year. Why didn’t I switch? Because right now all the incredible features in ConvertKit won’t make the process I have in place easier. MailChimp has everything I need and keeps it simple. If I were to focus more on segmentation, hosting more webinars for example, then it would make sense to switch to ConvertKit, which has features for segmentation that outperform any other email service provider out there without overcomplicating things.
The point is, whenever you go searching for a better tool or technology, be careful. Ask yourself:
Will this make my life easier?
If it does, then invest the time and energy to switch. If it doesn’t, then stick with what you have because it works just fine.
