Happiness

A book I still have to read is [ed. I think it was called] The Science of Happiness whose author was interviewed recently on NPR.  The interviewers discussed the emerging branch of psychology that is studying happiness.  It got me thinking about how perceived happiness is a major market factor and how people now days are more willing to pony up extra cash and make an effort to buy your product or service if it causes them some happiness beyond the satisfaction of having a need met.  

There are so many examples of this:

Apple is the most obvious candidate.  Sure, you can buy and build a computer using the same parts Apple does for half the cost.  You can install Linux for free or pay for Windows and get your work done.  Why are people paying more for Macs?  The Mac OS and Apple’s software suites offer a more user-friendly and, ultimately, satisfying experience.  Apple’s users (like me) are happier.  

37 Signals recently posted about Zingerman’s deli in Ann Arbor and the philosophies they follow that make them a great company.  Yes, you pay $20 for a reuben and a root beer, but the experience of going to the deli outshines many other casual eating experiences.  Customers are showered with free samples of exotic foods and the staff are very personable.  The selection of products is also far beyond what you’d find in many other places.

This also brings to mind Ruby on Rails.  There are plenty of other MVC frameworks out there that do the same exact thing as Rails.  But there are so many positive externalities that Rails offers that put it above the rest: the community, the Ruby language itself, and the way agile development is baked into the framework and its related plugins.  It really makes for a pleasant development experience.

The bottom line is that Americans are becoming more willing to pay for products that make them feel better.  This has positive repercussions where a product can benefit the natural environment or society as a whole.  The challenge is to build a brand that offers that extra bit of happiness and (ideally) really does change the world for the better.

Coworking and Collaboration

Today I read an interesting post on coworking – where small companies and individuals rent a desk or simply a key to access shared office space.  It’s a really cool concept that fosters collaboration.  Over the past year, I’ve been going to some Ruby user group meetings and Lansing’s own Web Design Meetup.  It’s been great throwing ideas around and learning things you’d be hard pressed to find in a Google search or have show up in your RSS reader.

After reading the article, I realized that I’m already involved in coworking to a certain extent – my own company shares office space with a small web company.

Recently, the city of East Lansing announced a plan to convert some old office space above Barnes & Noble into a “tech incubator” that sounds a bit like a coworking site, although perhaps not one that’s open to passers-by.  If anything it might be nice to have a space for when I can’t commute all the way to Ann Arbor.

Another idea that started in Germany and Austria and has spread to some large cities in the US is that of a hacker space.   It’s basically a rented space where tinkerers and artists can work.  I think it’s mainly attractive in large cities where people don’t have space at home to work on “messy” projects or for those who just want to collaborate.

In my dreams I’ve thought about turning the abandoned thrift store across the street into a hacker space…