Like many modern households, we’re managing a lot of moving pieces. Three kids w/ activities, brother & family living nearby, grandparent visits, travel — it adds up to some “complexity”.
We depend on a number of technologies to make it all work. I’m pretty technical and have been labeled a geek. Kellie’s very comfortable with technology, but would never get that accusation!
Here’s what we use:
The only thing missing is the iPhone — when (if?) Apple figures it out with Verizon, we’re there.
A few days ago, I wrote about the problems with metered/capped broadband in the US.
Then I read this article, which said:
Basically, the cable internet usage quotas have nothing to do with the internet, they are all about protecting the cable companies TV business. With any quotas in place, it is basically impossible to watch TV in an ‘average’ way over the internet. You can’t even get half of average at barely acceptable quality.
The article goes on to point out that the cap/metering issue is mostly coming from providers with a large, established proprietary TV cable network to protect (e.g. Time-Warner, Comcast) vs phone companies without any substantial TV network (e.g. Verizon).
This is the heart of it.
My Twitter feature requests (for the Web interface):
I’m sure these features exist in the various Twitter clients. Twitter should be more aggressive about pulling in the best third-party innovations, as Google, Facebook, Amazon, and other platforms do.
(My friends know I can’t help myself from “product managing” others’ products).
Driving home today, the FastLane toll (E-ZPass for the rest of you) flashes “Call FastLane”.
So I call and am prompted for entering my account number “from my statement”. There’s no option to bypass, but after three failed attempts, it gets through. Then I’m put on hold for a while, and then eventually it says “we’re closed”.
Unbelievable.
Truly great designs are hard, but rookie design mistakes are usually easy to avoid. In this case, most FastLane users will learn there’s an account problem when they get a “Call Us” flash at the toll lane. As such, it’s reasonable to assume that many (if not most) users will be calling from the car, without statements and without account numbers. Therefore, an IVR menu that requires an account number is an incredibly poor design.
This stuff drives me nuts. It’s so avoidable.
I thought Krugman’s Op-Ed about compensation in the financial sector was interesting. The one-sentence summary: “I question the value of these financial innovations, and why are they getting paid so much?”
Financial innovators have a huge advantage: they build their compensation right into the innovation itself. Find a place to take a percent or two (as risk-free as possible), and at scale you’ve got real money.
Compare this to (say) technology innovation: getting paid is frequently as much work (if not more) than the original innovation.
Since it’s launch, I thought iPod Touch was underrated and under appreciated. The iPhone’s got the glory, and it’s easy to dismiss the Touch as a “fancy iPod”. But it’s a lot of computing in a small and cheap platform: 8-32GB of flash memory, 128Mb of RAM, a great display and a 522 Mhz processor. It’s got more power than many PCs from 10-12 years ago!
It was interesting to read about the Army’s use of the Touch for solider applications. I think we’ll see the Touch in more cases where the economics of a general-purpose, mass-produced hardware platform enable an app that wouldn’t otherwise work. Could you imagine the Army making a custom-hardware Arabic translation device?
Also, my prediction: Apple’s “netbook” competitor will be a large-format Touch with Bluetooth support. Add Apple’s little wireless keyboard, and you’ve got a fine laptop replacement for many users.
A classic “mobile app” company has a CEO or busdev person plugged into the carriers, a marketing person that knows about getting “on deck”, and a tech team facile in BREW and Symbian.
Now, with the iPhone, Android, and Palm Pre, those specialties are becoming less relevant. These new platforms are more open and Web-based. There are platform-specific elements, but existing HTML/CSS/JavaScript/Canvas development skills translate over just fine.
Also, many apps need access from both desktop and mobile screens. Point an iPhone to any top Web site and you see functionality formatted and tuned for mobile users. Even game developers (a key category on mobile) will want desktop Web access for player rankings, game info, new game content, gamer forums, etc.
The result of this convergence is that we’ll see fewer pure-play “mobile” companies, and more “just” app companies developing across desktop, mobile, and living room screens. Old-line mobile companies will find their proprietary skills and relationships less relevant as things open up and become Web-based.
I’m wondering if in-flight Internet is going to lower demand for redeye flights, since you can get a “working day in the air”.
With the recession, inbound requests for “networking” have gone up quite a bit. (If I’ve been hard to reach, I apologize: networking time demands currently exceed supply).
I frequently get pings from senior folks, some hoping to find an opportunity at an early stage startup. In many cases, the qualifying question is: how long can you afford to work with no salary? Here’s why that’s key.
For many software technology projects, the initial costs are all salaries (especially these days). More and more, entrepreneurs are scrapping it out and coming to the first investors with a prototype or beta, in some cases with initial market uptake. By the time of first funding, the key roles are usually already covered by that founding team, especially for product or technology positions. (Sales/marketing positions are one exception: that leadership may come on board later, as the company grows).
In other words, senior folks looking for paid positions at early stage startups may find the train’s already left for key roles.