The Fun Factor

I’ve been drawn to innovative technology since the mid-’80s, when I started pounding out high school term papers in a friend’s basement on his Macintosh. That beige, all-in-one box from Apple Computer was a vast departure from my family’s Commodore desktop, which required the operator to know a software language just to type out a story. Apple’s version had a keyboard, a mouse and a revolutionary user interface that not only made it easy to use, but also made it, dare I say, fun.

There wasn’t much fun at Apple Computer after 1985, though. Co-founder Steve Jobs was forced out, and the company’s culture and product line began a drawn-out downward spiral. Apple wasn’t far from bankruptcy when Jobs returned as interim CEO in 1997. Many people say he was a horrible manager — and a bully, to boot — but his return serves as an example that, left in the wrong hands, even the most innovative company can lose its soul. He brought it back with the “Think Different” ad campaign, the all-in-one iMac in 1998, the titanium PowerBook G4 in 2001, and, later that year, the iPod, which launched Apple into the stratosphere.

In 2005, I picked up some part-time work at our local Apple Store. I didn’t need the money — I was an editor at Waterway Guide at the time — but I craved the creative and innovative spirit I found in the company’s products. Sharing that product passion with people who came into the store was the juice that made the job enjoyable.

Seeing the look on someone’s face when I showed them how easy it was to use an iMac, or how much fun (there’s that word again) carrying around 10,000 songs in your pocket could be — those were the moments that made the late nights at the mall worth it. I worked for the company on and off until 2012, long after the iPhone was introduced in 2007.

I thought a lot about my time at Apple while working with our other judges to choose the winners of this year’s Soundings Trade Only Top 10 Most Innovative Companies Awards. We had a clear set of guidelines for judging, but what I quickly discovered was that all the highest-scoring entries offered products or services that, in some way, make boating more fun or enjoyable.

As you read through the winners starting on Page 30, you might wonder how a raw-water strainer that automatically maintains its own foul-free environment creates a feeling of enjoyment on the water. But if you’ve ever hung upside down in a bilge at 2 a.m. because the air conditioning filter is clogged, you get it.

You might also wonder how customer relationship management software helps boat owners get more out of their boating experience. If you’ve ever dealt with an ill-prepared salesperson while in search of a new or used boat, well, you get it.

And what does culturing a thriving oyster reef have to do with a fun day on the water? Try motoring through a foul-smelling algal bloom, and you’ll understand why clean waterways with thriving ecosystems matter.

Other winners offer more tangible enjoyment. Silent electric drives? Yes, please. Set-it-and-forget-it trim adjustments to control roll and pitch underway? Sounds good to me. Assisted docking that works in a pinch and will probably save more than a few marriages? A game-changer.

At Apple, the company motto is “enriching people’s lives.” To be honest, I thought those words felt hollow when company management introduced them. It took our team at the store a long time to embrace the phrase. But eventually, we came to understand what it meant: The products and services we offered enhanced how our customers lived their everyday lives in the best ways possible.

In the marine industry, we are all learning a lesson from Apple. Making boating more fun is at the heart of our leading innovations. 

This article was originally published in the November 2022 issue.