Of course the point of the Devo song is that we’re offered many trivial choices to distract us from the reality that the larger, more meaningful choices have already been made for us. That’s not what this post is about. Or maybe it is.

This is about the choices one makes  – while shopping for shampoo. The Pantene brand alone sells twenty-five types of shampoo (and let’s not even get into their “2 in 1” shampoo/conditioner combination products). Shampoo for fine hair, thick hair, oily hair, dry hair, dyed hair. They do not, however, sell shampoo for dirty hair.

The choices are mystifying. This scattershot approach must be successful on some level, as it’s seen in so many domains. Apple moved away from the consumer/professional, desktop/laptop quadrant model long ago and has never looked back. In the 1980s, BMW sold the 3-, 5-, and 7-Series sedans and the 6-Series coupe. Now they offer too many body styles to count. I have always thought that cost/benefit peaked at a relatively low number of products given the overhead of R&D, manufacturing, and marketing. Perhaps lean development and production make it possible. Still, what if all of those resources were put into a single great product?You know, a shampoo for dirty hair?