“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” - Henry Ford.
Several years ago I saw a Facebook ad for an online coaching program for aspiring music producers.
It was exactly what I needed at the time, but I had no idea that someone had put something like this together, and I would never have independently thought of googling this. Instead, I relied on music production tutorials on the one hand, and generic productivity advice on the other hand, and assumed that was the best help available out there.
That is just my anecdote, but I'm sure everyone here has their "how could I possibly live without this before" product or service.
Advertising can be useful, and the more targeted, the less obnoxious.
It seems you're conflating innovation with marketing. It's perfectly legitimate for someone to invent a car. It's not, however, to cold call me or send me car catalogs or show me car ads on the web ad infinitum until I submit and buy one.
Several years ago I saw a Facebook ad for an online coaching program for aspiring music producers.
It was exactly what I needed at the time, but I had no idea that someone had put something like this together, and I would never have independently thought of googling this. Instead, I relied on music production tutorials on the one hand, and generic productivity advice on the other hand, and assumed that was the best help available out there.
That is just my anecdote, but I'm sure everyone here has their "how could I possibly live without this before" product or service.
Advertising can be useful, and the more targeted, the less obnoxious.