Some products make it to the top of their respective heaps because of their quality and sheer control of the market. When a company has something that gets this far and develops a strong reputation, it usually becomes the standard by which its competition is judged. This is good because it sets a bar, a level of quality or a number of basic features that have to show up in the product if it wants to be seen as a serious player in the game. This is also bad, because if the bar is set too high, it becomes very hard for a smaller company to break into the industry with a product that is lacking in features. There’s too much risk of being seen as “mediocre.”

Take, for example, office suite software. Microsoft Office is the undisputed king of this, being present in nearly every office, on multiple operating systems. It contains all the basic features, such as a grammar checker, the ability to alter the margins of the pages, auto-calculating formulas, and other obscure functions that most people didn’t even realize were there. Any office productivity suite that wants to compete on the same level as Office must have those features as well, along with whatever makes them unique and not just another clone. People will expect the basic features that they’re accustomed to, while expert users will want to know what makes it different from the “baseline.”

Of course, standards are set to not only be met, but exceeded. A product that isn’t challenged causes a company to become complacent in its work, lazy in its efforts to bring updates and upgrades. In that situation, companies that started out with “lesser” products find themselves in a position to catch up with the lead. It also gives people time to realize that the product is stagnating and is offering only more of the same. Granted, “more of the same” tends to be a good way to stay in business in many industries because people like consistency and repetition, but in others, the market demands more shiny new things to keep the buyers interested.

Having a high standard in any product line or niche is going to be good and bad. It gives a bare minimum for people to rely on and something to base their own products off of. However, it also sets a very high bar that new products will have to try and clear, usually in failure.