Snippet: How Apple’s Lightning-Plug Guru Reinvented Square’s Card Reader ☇

Kyle Vanhemert for Wired takes a look at the process for making Square’s card reader even better—thinner, no battery, and more reliable:

The Square Reader has one job: swiping credit cards. Any new version of the device, then, had to improve on that single, simple function. We might take a card swipe for granted, but getting every detail right takes extreme care. You have to make the swipe feel satisfying; you have to make it ready accurately enough that it works the first, every time. Those two factors help convey something in the moment about Square itself: That the company is trust worthy, rock solid, and easy.

Although I think the now-prior card reader was pretty amazing for what it did with Square’s service, the attention to detail and drive to improve on arguably a “good enough” product really makes Square a fun company to watch.