Put your cell phone in your pocket. “Lock it” if it has that feature. Now walk around for a little while. If your phone has dialed three people and text messaged two more, then your phone has failed the Cell Phone Pocket Test. Just for full disclosure, my phone has failed this test miserably. What…
Devices are going through an incredible period of experimentation on form factor. Some examples: Kindle: Super lightweight, fits in my wife’s purse. Highly targeted functionality. EeePC: 10″, lightweight, long battery life, Windows 7 laptop. iPhone: Fits in your pocket, uses your finger as stylus. Specialized OS favoring apps. Tablets: Swivel screen that folds to reveal/hide…
<rant> Last night, I upgraded to Windows Mobile 6.5 (from 6.1) on my HTC Touch Pro2. I have to say that I am getting really annoyed with this operating system. I don’t understand how they could achieve so little in so much time. Droid and the iPhone are so much better than Windows Mobile that…
It’s been a couple of weeks with the new car. I am still trying to get over the idea in my head that this car is too fancy for me. It’s a nice car and I like driving it. It was a good deal (I think) and we can afford it. Still, I just wish…
My personal philosophy is that at the end of one’s life, you have approximately an equal division of good and bad things that have happened to you. This means that when something bad happens, I feel better knowing that a good thing is due to me in the future. My balance sheet will turn out…
I’ve seen this in every company I have ever worked on. It starts with a meeting. The agenda is about cooking dinner (for example). You are invited to the meeting because you are going to be driving the car to the supermarket. Most of the meeting is about the ingredients and the preparation and the…
One of my favorite values is transparency. The other day, I saw an example of this from Balsamiq, as they reviewed their year. This is probably the most powerful example of transparency I have witnessed on the web. They give complete disclosure including financials, hiring, problems and anything else they thought of. How many companies…
I’ve heard this story many times. The big boss is right in front of you. Normally, you never see him up close. You are in the middle of the organization somewhere and he is the leader. You start to feel butterflies in your stomach. Then, he asks that incredibly insightful question: How’s it going? Arrghhh. …
This was the most stressful purchase I have ever made. Buying a house was nothing in comparison. My jaw is aching…throbbing. Hopefully, it will subside now that the battle is over. Why was this purchase so stressful? Because we tried to Maximize vs. Satisfice. Read The Paradox of Choice for more detail. Basically, in my…
Made to Stick has a great concept called the Curse of Knowledge. (Highly recommended reading) Here is a summary of the curse: Imagine a song (not Happy Birthday) in your head. A common familiar song. Then ask someone listen while you tap out the song on your desk. See if they can understand it. They…
It aint cheap, but plunk down a bunch of money and you can have a new xBox with extra controllers, a cooling fan and a brand new Rock Band 2. Our 3 boys are between 5 and 10 years old and have never practiced an instrument. Katie is musical, so I am hoping they inherit…
On NPR they were interviewing a humanist rabbi from Harvard. He pointed out that, for most people and most aspects, Christmas has nothing to do with religion. Nothing in the bible talks about trees in the house and lights and presents and Santa Claus. Clearly much of this tradition has to do with Europe and…
I am not a “car person”. I see people all the time comparing this horsepower and that alloy rims and the other sunroof. I wish I could converse with them, but I just don’t care enough about cars to get into it. I appreciate a nice car as much as the next guy, but there…
I remember when Kokopelli (company I ran from 1994-2002) moved offices. It was a short move just across the street. While we were checking it out, we looked out the window and there was our crew waving at us. I almost started crying. The new space was extremely nice and very big. At Marketo, we…