Engineer2Entrepreneur

Forbes.com: Apple Seen Building Entertainment Servers

Link: Forbes.com: Apple Seen Building Entertainment Servers.

It is rather obvious that Apple will likely make some kind of home media device at some point, if the financial press is coming out with this.

It should not be all that hard for them just combining the iPod photo with their Airport Express add a remote control and you'll have the Airtunes JukePod. It could connect to the TV just like the iPod photo does now to show photos and maybe even do visual effects like iTunes, and the stereo system like the Airport Express does now, it can also connect to the Internet via the Airport Express it could even be a web surfing device like WebTV at the very least it should be able to connect to the iTunes Store to download more tracks. Even if all it did was connect to the iTunes Store that would be good enough for a lot of people.

All it needs is a good remote control, Apple is really good at Human Interface stuff so it would be very surprising if the remote wasn't good. Wether they good with IR or Bluetooth is a question, but I would think Bluetooth is the most likely way for them to go.

I would say after they work out the bugs and get feed back on the iPod photo I would see them bring something like this to market. So most likely summer 2005 or certainly before Christmas 2005.

iPresent It v1.0 Released :: iPod Hacks :: The Latest and Greatest for Your iPod

Link: iPresent It v1.0 Released :: iPod Hacks :: The Latest and Greatest for Your iPod.

Well, that didn't take all that long.

The Occupational Adventure (sm): Tacking toward your goals

Link: The Occupational Adventure (sm): Tacking toward your goals.

This sound intriguing. Steve Covey in The 8th Habit talks about how an airplane is off course most of the time, but lots of little corrections get it to the right place at the right time.

Forbes.com: Peter Drucker On Leadership

Link: Forbes.com: Peter Drucker On Leadership.

There are some very powerful ideas in this interview. This one is particularly meaningful to me as an engineer.

Use technology--it is cheaper than traveling. I don't know anybody who can work while traveling. Do you? The second thing to say is make sure that your subsidiaries and foreign offices take up the responsibility to keep you informed. So, ask them twice a year, "What activities do you need to report to me?" Also ask them, "What about my activity and my plans do you need to know from me?" The second question is just as important.

I have done a lot of traveling and it is expensive and exhausting. I have never really gotten anything useful done on an airplane. It always needed to be redone.
I found that hearing protection helped a lot on the exhausting side of the problem.

Anyway back to the reporting problem. Something that is a major drain on productivity is the piles of reports that management ends up getting that don't help them make decisions but just burn into their time. These are really good questions to help cut that down.

gapingvoid: cities are dead?

Link: gapingvoid: cities are dead?.

Watch those offhand remarks, they take on a life of their own.

This comment came out of a conjunction of things. On the one hand I am reading Covey's The 8th Habit and in it he talks about how universal access to the Internet has changed dramatically the way people talk to each other.

A Discovery channel show on Mega-skyscrapers that would be combined use buildings with office, residential, and retail space all in one building.

And remembering some pundit saying how the replacement for the WTC is a win for OBL because it was a lot smaller then what it replaces.

With email, IM and cellphones people are not going face to face much anymore. IMing conversations between people who are just down the hall from each other is no longer surprising.

Then there is outsourcing, not all of it is going off shore, some of it is just heading to lower cost of living states.

A lot of people are moving here from California because it is a lot cheaper here.

We are still at the very leading edge of it, the reasons to have cities is not the same as it used to be, mainly because of the Internet which only became popular in the mid 1990's. It will take a couple of generations before things sort themselves out and it will be interesting to watch.

Bloodletters - Hack Yourself

Link: Bloodletters - Hack Yourself.

This resonates with me. I am reading Covey's The 8th Habit right now and he talks about balancing the Leader of People and the Manager of Things. But I think he forgot something, Creator of Ideas. You cannot lead people to create nor manage them to either. Without all three you are not living up to your full potential.

Design as Communication

Link: Design as Communication.

This is a good way of looking at how you can design something.

People want things easier rather then harder, faster then slower, cheaper to more expensive.

Presenation iPod

The new iPod photo is really great device. Not just can you take your music with you and have a backup of all your data, but you can use it as a presentation device as it can output to a projector.

I have gone to a number of seminars lately and given the number of technical problems I saw having a backup device would be a very good thing. I do know that lots of people tinker with their presentations until the last minute but have something to show is better then nothing.

Some people like to talk on a slide for several minutes, I am beginning to feel that is not such a good idea. You have a large number of people in a darkened room that is getting warmer all the time. that induces sleep like nothing else. I found the presenters that kept up a fast slide show were easier to pay attention to as things changed often.

The best presenter used quite a bit of humor to keep us attentive and active.

Trader Mike: Carnival of the Capitalists Rolls Through Atlanta

Link: Trader Mike: Carnival of the Capitalists Rolls Through Atlanta.

Went to a seminar. Here is something interesting.

Why Demonstration Compels Customers to Buy

Link: Why Demonstration Compels Customers to Buy.

A very good thing to remember.