Who are the customers?

The most basic question about any organization is:

Who are the customers?

In a small or midsized business the answer is straightforward. Customers are the people who pay for the product or service. A business that wants to succeed must please its customers. Simple closed feedback loop.

For larger organizations the obvious answer is usually wrong, and the loop specifically excludes the end users.

Insiders know who’s in charge. Outsiders don’t know, despite centuries of constant experience with every type of organization.

For the press or media, advertisers are the customers. True for 200 years. This plain fact wasn’t publicly discussed until 10 years ago in the new context of social media. You’ve always been the product.

For academic research, granting agencies are the customers. Before 1946, rich patrons were the customers. “Free debate” and “pursuit of knowledge” are wall posters. Global Warming and Diversity pay for the lab equipment, so studies always confirm Global Warming and Diversity. Outsiders still don’t understand this, still blame Horrible Other Party.

For US government, the richest men and biggest corporations are the customers. True for most of our history except the blessed sane period from 1933 to 1973. Outsiders still miss this point, still blame the Horrible Other Party for violating “free debate” or “constitutional norms.” Those wall posters don’t exist. The names of the billionaires change over time, and the few dominant corporations change over time, but government always knows who’s in charge.

Constants and variables prove the point. In 2022 the TSA finally gave up its torture devices, NOT because “citizens” were strangling and dying from its torture, but because the AIRLINES got together and acted in unison, ordering TSA to stop the torture. At that point the strangled “citizens” recognized who was in charge. The airlines pay TSA’s bills, so they’re the customers.

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Here’s a current and much less important example of the rule. Why does Microsoft ruin the experience of its retail customers with new versions and new updates, each TREMENDOUSLY worse than the last? We didn’t know why until the REAL customers acted in unison.

Formerly Microsoft was partly wholesale and partly retail. They licensed software to manufacturers AND sold it to end users. About 10 years ago the retail channel disappeared. Now we only get the software through the computer hardware makers. MS deals solely at the wholesale level. I didn’t recognize this gradual shift, so I didn’t understand why the retail customers were forced to endure a product that gets twice as bad every month. (Less’s Law on speed.)

As I’m trying to type these paragraphs, Windows 11 obstructs every move, freezing the mouse when it gets into certain parts of the screen, causing me to lose my feeble train of thought.

As with the TSA example, we’re finally seeing who the customers are. Dell, HP, Lenovo, and a dozen other makers of PCs and laptops are boycotting Windows IN UNISON. Microsoft is finally noticing the problem and trying to turn around. It might be too late.

This video was obviously made by AI, but the text gives us a clear and complete picture. Lenovo tried a classic controlled experiment, offering Linux and Windows versions of the same machine for the same price. Customers were vastly more satisfied with the Linux machines and blamed Lenovo for the poor performance of the Windows machines. Returns and support calls were hugely different for the two systems. Lenovo and the other makers have to pay for the returns and support.