I love spotting B&O pieces in movies or seeing the Beolab in Friends. I’ve had a BeoCenter 9300 for ten years and one of my favorite things is turning it one by touching the glass and seeing the soft red glowing buttons underneath.
I’m trying to imagine what the equivalent “ CD will return to its original orientation” feature would be at Meta and if it would be anywhere in a roadmap. Highly doubt it since Meta isn’t a high end social media platform, but a fun thought.
Yeah, Meta's culture (in general) would never have produced the Beosound 9000. The #1 question people ask at Meta is "what's the impact?" -- and these design details are about attempting to attain design perfection - not driving measurable impact.
Meta and B&O just have very very different missions, goals, and philosophies. B&O is about exclusive, high-cost, low-volume products for high-disposable-income people with a passion for design. Meta's mission it to connect everyone - to be universal, almost like a utility. Meta's products are (mostly) free, B&Os are incredibly expensive.
Both are valid strategies, they just lead you to very different markets, products, and tradeoffs.
That said, FWIW, Meta is so big, there's not one universal product culture. Sure "move fast" and "focus on impact" is by far the dominant culture, but there are pockets of people building more niche things which are more about inspiring people. The Meta Quest Pro is a great example. It's designed to appeal to early-adopters, not the masses (and is priced as such). It's designed to be a technology demonstrator; to show what's possible. It's no Beosound 9000 for sure, but the people working on that product likely had a more design-first approach than Meta's traditional impact-first approach.
Wonderful article! I remember marveling at the BESOUND at the B&O showroom, dreaming of purchasing. There was nothing comparable on the market. Way out of my league at the time.
I love spotting B&O pieces in movies or seeing the Beolab in Friends. I’ve had a BeoCenter 9300 for ten years and one of my favorite things is turning it one by touching the glass and seeing the soft red glowing buttons underneath.
I’m trying to imagine what the equivalent “ CD will return to its original orientation” feature would be at Meta and if it would be anywhere in a roadmap. Highly doubt it since Meta isn’t a high end social media platform, but a fun thought.
Yeah, Meta's culture (in general) would never have produced the Beosound 9000. The #1 question people ask at Meta is "what's the impact?" -- and these design details are about attempting to attain design perfection - not driving measurable impact.
Meta and B&O just have very very different missions, goals, and philosophies. B&O is about exclusive, high-cost, low-volume products for high-disposable-income people with a passion for design. Meta's mission it to connect everyone - to be universal, almost like a utility. Meta's products are (mostly) free, B&Os are incredibly expensive.
Both are valid strategies, they just lead you to very different markets, products, and tradeoffs.
That said, FWIW, Meta is so big, there's not one universal product culture. Sure "move fast" and "focus on impact" is by far the dominant culture, but there are pockets of people building more niche things which are more about inspiring people. The Meta Quest Pro is a great example. It's designed to appeal to early-adopters, not the masses (and is priced as such). It's designed to be a technology demonstrator; to show what's possible. It's no Beosound 9000 for sure, but the people working on that product likely had a more design-first approach than Meta's traditional impact-first approach.
Wonderful article! I remember marveling at the BESOUND at the B&O showroom, dreaming of purchasing. There was nothing comparable on the market. Way out of my league at the time.