The Roadmap Pitfall
If you run a company, do not release roadmaps or make future promises. You owe your customers nothing beyond what they're paying for right now. Your customers pay for what you sell today, not what you will be selling tomorrow.
I call this the Roadmap Pitfall. It is a common mistake and trap that many companies, especially startups, fall into. The tech landscape is littered with companies that have overpromised and underdelivered through their public roadmaps, hurting their reputations. Some infamous examples are Tesla's Robotaxi, Meta's Libra and Metaverse, Google Stadia. They are selling products that might become revolutionary tomorrow but not today.
Apple
The latest victim is, surprisingly, Apple – yes, the world's largest company. Apple historically not only avoided publishing roadmaps, but went to extraordinary lengths to keep upcoming product leaks and rumors at bay. In 2005, Apple sued people who leaked product details online, and famously forced the shutdown of Think Secret, a prominent rumor website, as part of a settlement in 2007.
Yet they've now fallen into the Roadmap Pitfall with Apple Intelligence – announcing features before they were anywhere close to ready and setting expectations they couldn't meet. Apple has started removing features from their iPhone 16 and Apple Intelligence page.
In a statement last week, Apple confirmed that it needed more time to finish developing the new Siri features. Apple said it aimed to begin rolling out the features "in the coming year," but it did not provide a more specific timeframe. from MacRumors
I agree with the widespread criticism of how badly Apple Intelligence flopped, not only regarding delays but also on features that were actually released. Notification summaries are so problematic that Apple had to disable them for news applications after generating inaccurate content. Writing tools are hardly usable in their current state, and Image Playground was fun for approximately 30 minutes – the total time I've spent on it – before my iPhone heated up significantly.
I still think the idea of Apple Intelligence – AI that lives and runs securely on your device – could be a massive life-changer. If I were to bet on the company that would deliver "AI in your pocket" well, with great UX without compromising security, it would be Apple. My issue isn't with the vision but with the over-promising of features that were nowhere close to being ready. In fact, I would have been perfectly fine with an iPhone 16 Pro with no AI. Let the competitors play the feature one-upping game with their gimmicky flip-phones and touchscreen-laptops.
Delight your customers
Roadmaps and projections are for investors, who might pay a premium in your company's valuation, counting on you being able to deliver the promised goals. Customers are not investors – they buy your current products and services, not your future promises.
The next time you see a company selling dreams and futures, with "coming soon" banners plastered across their website, proceed with caution. There are often significant problems beneath these promises – forcing them to sell what-could-have-beens rather than their products. If you're running a company, remember: it's better to surprise and delight customers with unexpected new features than to disappoint them with promises that never materialize.