When you are the "Big Dog", you must consistently deliver!

Everyone, big and small, strives to be the best at what they do. Right? Only a select few ever reach the status of the "standard", "best of the best" or the "Big Dog" in their market. Look at Microsoft, Apple, Google etc.. I think we can all agree that they dominate in their own right.

But look at what happens when you become so big that you are are constantly criticized for not delivering -- Microsoft. They are still doing well for themselves, but becoming more and more vulnerable. Not to mention, losing market share. Google is new and young enough that they are doing great, but things can quickly change if they slip, even once. Take Chrome, for example, people jumped all over some of the inefficiencies. Personally, I like it, but will stick with Firefox for now.

Now, let's take a look at Apple. I have always been a fan. In fact, I just returned from the Apple Store with my 6th ipod. (I recently dropped my shuffle in the ocean). In general, I have always been happy with my ipods. I use them constantly and some have stopped working over time or I just wanted an upgrade.

But let's take itunes. Where to start.. For an application that updates itself more than any other application I have ever seen, it leaves ALOT to be desired. Sure it is functional, but for the core product of their music business, I expect way more. Some people argue, 'well, it is free'. Totally bogus excuse as it is the front-end of the money making machine for Apple.

I am sure that many of the issues that I have are operator error, but.. I don't care. I have GB's of music that I purchased on itunes as well as the above mentioned box of ipods. I have purchased countless songs on itunes that I already had on CDs simply because it was easier. So, I consider myself a good consumer for Apple and have the right to rant about itunes.

Here is a quick list of the things that irritate me...

1. User interface is becoming old and outdated - medium irritation
   
2. Play list management is clunky - minor irritation
3. Randomly, it creates duplicate songs in my library - huge irritation
   
4. Switching my library from one computer to another is a nightmare - HUGE irritation
   
5. No way to access previously purchased songs - online backup -- medium irritation
6. Loses path to external drive; resets to default -- huge irritation

I am sure that there are simple fixes to the above, but to me, I don't have the time or the patience when it comes to this sort of stuff. I expect it to be as close to perfect as possible and want you to continue to WOW me every time. If you don't, I will then begin to look for the next big thing. Major expectations on my part, I know. But that's what you should expect when you are the "Big Dog".

This relates to all markets. As a member of a fairly small company, we live and breathe thinking we are the standard. We work each day "earning" your business. Are we perfect? Absolutely, not. But we strive everyday to exceed your expectations. My point here is not to brag, but simply state the facts. I think everyone should work each day as if they were the standard and strive for perfection. In the software world, there will be bugs and imperfections. But the harder we push ourselves to deliver the entire package each day will result in happy customers.

The idea here is that someday you might be the next 'Big Dog'. The catch is that it doesn't get any easier. The bigger you get, the higher the expectations.