ATTENTION: This session requires advance signup to attend. For Online Schedule: Please utilize the RSVP link below the description to reserve your seat. For SXSW GO App: Use the RSVP 'Find a Timeslot' link. You must have a SXSW Interactive, Gold, or Platinum badge to attend, and, you must have an activated SXsocial account (social.sxsw.com) to reserve a seat. If you have any issues with signing up, please email support@sxsw.com. VERY IMPORTANT: Because of the limited space, we recommend you arrive at least 15 minutes prior to the published start time of this session. If you have not checked in at the room you RSVPed for at least five minutes prior to the session start time, you may lose your seat to an attendee in the waiting list line.

Great hardware is hard. Great software is hard. But without great software, the hardware will never be anything more than a gadget.

Hardware creates the tangible and tactile brand experience consumers desire, while the software communicates the core brand message and delivers the equity-building relationship that exists in the consumer's online and digital brand experience.

Hardware success is often short lived, but software can create consumer relationships that can last beyond a company’s first great product. Software is what the consumer experiences between different versions and platforms of hardware products.

In this talk, experts from R/GA and Techstars will discuss how software can make up for hardware shortcomings, evolving to improve the benefits of hardware without requiring a service visit.