The era of competing over technical specifications is over. Users want better experiences from devices, applications, websites, and the offline services they enable. It is no coincidence that interaction design is replacing technical prowess as the primary competency at startups.
I totally agree with the first part of the statement but fundamentally disagree with the last sentence above. Interaction design isn’t replacing technical prowess, it’s requiring startups to have even more of it. After all, those sexy interfaces aren’t going to build themselves.