# Why we all need to keep watching iThemes
*Published: 2013-11-11*
*Tags: wordpress*
*Source: https://chrislema.com/keep-watching-ithemes*
---Can I ask you a question? Now be honest, ok - because it's just the two of us here. No one even knows your answer but you. So there's no reason to lie.

*Do you enjoy your visits to Target?*

I'll confess. I do. Every time. Sure, I go to help my daughter get a dress for a big event, or my son to buy the new Wii game. But I never skip walking thru the homeware section.

You know, the rugs, furniture, serving bowls and lamps. That area where you see some pretty nice designs - all at an affordable price.

**Why am I talking about Target?**

Well, I think the main reason is because it's a universal experience. Most of us have been there. Many of us have bought a lamp there.

You know where else I've purchased a lamp? Home Depot. They also have some pretty nifty designs. All at an affordable price.

You're catching the theme that I'm cheap, right?

And here's the thing. I'm not, really. But I never go to a lamp specialty store. It's too much hassle and it costs too much. Sure, the designs they have there are often by the original designers. But they're at price points that I don't value.

So I buy lamps from Target and Home Depot and they look pretty cool.

**Why am I talking about buying lamps?**

Mostly because we've all done it. And I bet there's something else we all have in common. I have never, and I seriously mean it, never stepped up to a nicely designed lamp for $65 and wondered why they made it, when the original designer created something like it (albeit a bit more nuanced) for $650.

Never.

**But you know what I have done?**

And if you develop products, maybe you've done it too.

I've witnessed a company enter a market with a product and thought - "well, there goes that idea." I have literally closed off opportunities because someone else was there. Seriously.

*Have you ever done that?*

Thank God not everyone is like that. Thank God some people (like the designers for Target and Home Depot) get inspired by a new market entrant and then ask other questions.

- How can we create something similar that's easier to use?
- How can we create something similar that's easier to buy?

**Less Expensive & Easier to Use**

There's nothing wrong, and a lot right, with companies that don't focus on innovating new products as much as they focus on making those products more accessible.

You know I have to go there, right?

Consider the iPod - not the first product to use a hard drive for music storage in a portable device. Creative Labs created the Nomad almost a year before the iPod and I paid a lot of cash to own versions one and two.

But the iPod was easier to use and cheaper.

I wish more companies decided to go that route. After all, in the case of phones, it's not like we all didn't know that the OS on mobile devices sucked.

I complained forever about not being able to know who message #13 was from, until I got visual voice mail. And I was frustrated by having to write down phone numbers to call someone back, before Apple created iOS.

**Managing multiple instances of WordPress**

If you have multiple WordPress sites you manage, you've likely looked at ManageWP, InfiniteWP, or WP Remote. They all take slightly different approaches to solving that problem for people.

But today [**iThemes**](https://chrislema.com/Toolkit) announced that they're stepping into the ring. Just months after they announced that they'd be getting into eCommerce with [**Exchange**](https://ithemes.com/ithemes-exchange-new-home-exchangewpcom/).

And you know what? I seriously doubt anyone will wonder why iThemes is going to create a simpler, easier, and potentially less expensive way to do what others have been doing already.

Because we all love ease of use and greater access.

So I not only welcome them, but am excited to check out [**Sync**](https://ithemes.com/sync/).

**Keep Watching iThemes**

Every time you focus on taking something complex & make it easier, you're bound to find a great solution that lots of people will love. That's why every one of us should keep an eye on what they're doing.