When I interviewed at my current job (many many years ago) one of the interviewers asked me what I thought about ads. I told her I thought ads were evil, but a necessary evil. I still stand by that statement. Though I’m trying to modify how evil I think they are. It’s hard to work with ads everyday and still…
When branding works
We went out of town last weekend. On the drive I saw a billboard like the one on the left. This simple billboard communicated a whole mess of information. In two words and one logo. There were no pictures of hamburgers, fries, shakes or anything else. Just the logo. But from this simple communication I knew they were just off…
The Road Not Taken
In high school we examined “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost. I think I was obscenely bored in that class. I remember reading and processing the poem (yellow wood = fall). I remember wringing every bit of meaning out of the poem. I remember the class consensus that the poem was exalting the idea of taking the least traveled…
NPR: iPods Edge Out Home Stereo Systems
I heard this yesterday on NPR: NPR: iPods Edge Out Home Stereo Systems My first thought yesterday was “it was inevitable”. My second thought (on rethinking this today) is “it’s still inevitable.. but I think their story is misleading”. The story says that “the popularity of digital music players … is reshaping the home-stereo business.” I can agree with that…
Innovate or die
“The arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow.” – William Pollard.
Eaten by Alligators
When I was a kid we used to play the “Alligator” game. We’d pull all of the sofa cushions off onto the floor. Then we’d leap gleefully from one cushion to another all the while cautioning each other that if you fell in the alligator pit you’d be eaten alive. Web browsing has become a lot like the “Alligator” game.
Tripping down memory lane…
Somethings really don’t change. I pulled up the homepage for the web design company I ran from 1997-2001 on the “Internet Way Back Machine“. I was one of the very few web designers in Montana from 1997-2001 (when I relocated to California) Anyway, back in the day I was a cheeky young college student (and then College instructor) with visions…
Calendaring
I want an online Calendar. Currently I use a paper calendar and the calendar in Outlook. I don’t print my outlook calendar. I just use it for the reminders and for inviting people to my meetings. It’s a work thing. Work standardized on Outlook so who am I to argue? The paper calendar is convenient because I can take it…
Approaching Infinity (or at least the speed of light)
Bandwidth Storage Space Processing Power As these become limitless it changes the way we work with computers. I suppose that’s the premise of Web2.0 (assuming there’s a premise beyond the hype). The elimination of these three bottlenecks promotes Time-Shifting, Place-Shifting and People-Shifting.
3.5″ Floppy disks
Today, I got the following call from my boss: Boss: At the all-hands meeting today I want you to discuss {big proprietary feature that was just completed}. Me: I thought {co-worker} was going to discuss that? Boss: She’s not in today. Me: Oh. So this is for the meeting in [check clock] 16 minutes? Boss: Yup. But it doesn’t need…