June 2011
40 posts
May 2011
33 posts
“Now it’s being reported that Google offered $100 million to the labels, and a key sticking point was that the labels wanted Google to wave a magic wand, figure out who was “pirating” music, and stop it. In other words, $100 million vs. Fantasyland. And the labels went with Fantasyland.”
—With A Choice Between $100 Million In Cash & Fantasyland, The Labels Choose Fantasyland (via Techdirt)
“Look at PayPass, for example…Any time I’ve attempted to use it at a store/food spot/cab, the person initiating the transaction looked at me like I was off my damn rocker and demanded that I just swipe the card.”
—Is Google Wallet Really the Future of Money?, Gizmodo
Peter Thiel Gives Whiz Kids $100K To Quit College, Start Businesses →
fastcompany.com
Peter Thiel gives an official “fuck you” to higher education, and I think it’s awesome.
Most people go back to school because they don’t know what else to do. They think a master’s will give them direction, much like they hoped their undergraduate degree would and typically hasn’t. Instead, they end up with massive debt and only a marginal improvement in their hireability due to a degree that’s often far too general.
Imagine what that same person could do with two years of concentrated effort on a goal and 1/100th the money. They could start a business, read everything there is to read about their field of interest and network with all the necessary players.
Education is overvalued right now because there are too many aimless 20-somethings soul-searching their way into masters degrees. Indeed, a professor of mine once told me that being a student is the only respectable way to be unemployed. But that doesn’t make it right.
Thiel’s idea challenges an education system that’s bloated, stagnant and overpriced to compete with a new form of vocational training. Competition is healthy in this regard, because it disrupts and breeds change. Further, these kids are all likely to leave school early to pursue an idea, so it’s unlikely that Thiel’s grant changes their fate. It just helps accelerate it and helps him prove out a hypothesis that many of us have. He may also make some money in the process, though he doesn’t really need it.
Why Apple Is Cooler than Nike
Much to my amazement, I sat through a branding discussion yesterday at a large b2b client without a single mention of Coke or Nike. Impressive. Long the gold standard, these two have now officially been eclipsed by Apple.
(Design dorks shaking your heads smugly—yes, they’re design driven, but there’s more to it.)
However, today’s discussion was monumental because it didn’t focus on a logo, or even a recognizable shape. In fact, no one could really pinpoint what exactly makes Apple so great. So here are my reasons:
Consistent (and great) design language - Product form and materials are similar across the line, as is the UI. Products look and feel premium.
Simplicity - Everything is simple, from the design to the experience. No wasted steps or materials.
It works - You pick up an Apple product and it just works. Period.
Customer service - The Genius Bar has revolutionized the arduous repair process. (This is way overlooked.)
Education - They teach classes at the stores for beginners to get up to speed.
Advertising - Iconic, familiar, simple.
Focus on user experience - Their primary motivation is to create an awesome user experience. From product design to advertising, it’s all focused on how you use the object and how their product will improve your life. And it works like you think it should, even if it’s your first time using it.
Things they don’t do:- Worry about social media campaigns
- Conduct focus groups
- Confuse people
- Create market subsegments (e.g. premium phone, mid phone, cheap phone)
- Waste money on flashy acquisitions
To me, Apple is great because they built a core competency and have focused on it obsessively. While other companies chase cars, they continue building great consumer products and experiences.
Did I miss anything?
“Apparently the conference room that I had been standing in just a few minutes before was now obliterated. Had I decided to stay up on 78 instead of returning to my office when I did, I would not be alive today.”
—Jonathan Weinberg, What did it feel like to be inside the World Trade Center at the time of the 9/11 attacks, via Quora
“
It is no coincidence that geniuses like Einstein were skilled in multiple areas, or polymaths, as we like to refer to them. Geniuses are constantly seeking out novel activities, learning a new domain. It’s their personality…
Novelty also triggers dopamine (I have mentioned this before in other posts), which not only kicks motivation into high gear, but it stimulates neurogenesis—the creation of new neurons—and prepares your brain for learning. All you need to do is feed the hunger.
Excellent learning condition = Novel Activity—>triggers dopamine—>creates a higher motivational state—>which fuels engagement and primes neurons—>neurogenesis can take place + increase in synaptic plasticity (increase in new neural connections, or learning).
” —Andrew Kuszewski, You can increase your intelligence: 5 ways to maximize your cognitive potential, Scientific American
“All told, by the end of two weeks, the six-hour sleepers were as impaired as those who, in another Dinges study, had been sleep-deprived for 24 hours straight — the cognitive equivalent of being legally drunk.”
—Maggie Jones, How Little Sleep Can You Get Away With?
Nearly 100 Fantastic Pieces of Journalism from 2010 →
theatlantic.com
If you’re looking for an interesting read, or a great way to kill time, here’s you answer.
(by Conor Friedersdorf)
“Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.”
—Lin Yutang
“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage - to move in the opposite direction.”
—E.F. Schumacher
“The business schools reward difficult complex behavior more than simple behavior, but simple behavior is more effective.”
—Warren Buffett
My New Email Policy
Dear friends and colleagues,
I want my work for you to be awesome and make you look great. This means hitting deadlines and turning in top-notch work. While I believe in great communication, it ranks second to quality and timeliness. To do so, I’ve decided to make a couple changes to how I use email as follows (explanations below):
- Only checking emails at 11am and 4pm
- Reducing the length of my emails to no more than five sentences.
Email Batching
I do work that requires long, uninterrupted periods of concentration (better explanation here). Multitasking is a proven productivity killer. In fact, it makes you 10 IQ points dumber.
The reason is context switching. Your mind is nimble, yes, but it has a difficult time getting back on task after doing something else. I’ve read that it takes nearly five minutes to get back to the point you were at predistraction. Checking email 5x/hr means ~25 minutes of stupidity. 25 minutes!
As a result, I’m only checking emails at two times during the day: 11am and 4pm. Please call me if it’s truly urgent. If our email string goes past three per person (six total), I’ll likely call you. At that point, we obviously need to communicate in more efficient manner. Plus, I like hearing your voice.
Limiting Emails to Five Sentences (typically three)
We’re all busy. We all receive too many emails. We all hate email. It’s true.
Nothing’s worse than a huge block of text that takes the scenic route to the point. I don’t want to contribute to email bloat, so I’m reducing my emails to three sentences (for normal communications) or five in rare instances where a little context is necessary. If it requires more than that, I’ll call.
Again, my goal is to make your life easier. Reducing my text actually gives you more time to get things done, because you spend less time reading my emails. I’m not trying to sound magnanimous here, but I’d rather see you at home with your family or at happy hour than reading email.
This whole post could be summarized in these three senteneces:
In order to improve my quality of work and timeliness, I’m beginning a new policy where I only check email twice a day: 11am and 4pm. I need long periods of uninterupted concentration to be productive, and constantly checking email is a real time killer for me. I’m also limiting my emails to three concise sentences in an attempt to make your life easier.
I’m going to track how this goes as I’m doing it so stay tuned.
