Unleashing the Ideavirus

Unleashing the Ideavirus
97
 www.ideavirus.com
PayPal.com is another example of an extremely virulent idea that spread because the medium
was so powerful. PayPal.com is an online service that allows customers of eBay—and other
auction site—customers to transfer money online safely and securely. Now, when you pay
for something you buy on eBay, you can just PayPal.com your money to the person.
Here, the medium is the money. People care a lot about money, and since, in this case, it
solves a time-consuming problem (sending checks and waiting for them to clear), it’s
particularly welcome. And, just as we saw in the Sticker Station example, the act of using the
medium causes us to teach others about the idea.
In both cases, a focus on the medium led to the ultimate success of the virus.

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Unleashing the Ideavirus
98
 www.ideavirus.com
SMOOTHNESS: It Would All Be Easy If We Had Gorgons
The goal, of course, is to have an ideavirus so smooth that once someone is exposed to it,
they are instantly hooked. A virus so powerful that all it takes is one guitar lick on the radio,
one phrase in a book review, one glimpse of a website and you completely and totally “get
it.” And not only do you get it, but you want it. Now and forever.
One of the talents of the great Steve Jobs is that he knows how to design Medusa-like
products. While every Macintosh model has had flaws (some more than others), most of
them have had a sexiness and a design sensibility that has turned many consumers into
instant converts. Macintosh owners upgrade far more often than most computer users for
precisely this reason. We 
have
to own that new flat panel display. We 
must
have the new
color of iBook.
Vindigo is Medusa-like in the way the virus spreads so smoothly. It only takes one look at a
friend’s Palm in order to get hooked (and one file beaming to get it forever). The Nextel
phone has that power, and so (for some people) does Britney Spears.
Alas, it’s not going to happen for you. While you can aspire to make your product more
Medusa-like, it’s a mistake to spend all your time wishing for it to happen. The odds are long
indeed, especially if your product is not groundbreaking. The longer it takes someone to get

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