Thinkcorps

This post happened to catch my eye today, and I thought I’d trace it’s origin—for reasons that shall become clear below. :)

BoingBoing: Shower-tablet for writing down good ideas – Monday, January 2, 2006

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Popgadget: Erasable shower note tablet – 01.2.2006

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CNet Asia: Erasable shower note – 29/12/2005

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OhGizmo! – Erasable Shower Note Tablet – 12.09.05

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Gadget Review – Erasable Shower Note Tablet – December 08, 2005

Which is where the “via” link trail ends. Gadget Review does link to online items in other posts, so I’m going to assume that maybe the idea came from a non-linkable source. Perhaps a magazine? Oh, but which one?

Now, I’m going to insert myself into the story, purely on speculation. I am in no way implying that Gadget Review plagiarized anything, nor do I even care. I am only hazarding a guess—a guess that, of course, includes me in the story.

As editor (now ex-editor) of Business2.0 magazine’s Favorites section, I included a diver’s slate in the November Favorites section, in an item from Alex Hart. (B2’s “integrated” web site sucks *ss, btw.)

But I will admit freely that I had heard it even earlier than that (probably around May/June) from Merlin Mann of 43folders.com. There’s actually an item on the scuba slate in the 43 folders wiki from March 2005 created by an unknown author (IP address only).

And if I remember correctly, I think Merlin mentioned that he had heard about the slate on Kevin Kelly’s Cool Tools, where it appeared in February of 2004.

And that, my friends is about as far as I think we need to go. I’m not sure what my point here is exactly. Maybe it’s a notion of recyclable content, maybe it’s a mapping of the flow of good ideas through the blogosphere. Maybe it’s a pat on my own back for being vaguely relevant for once in my life.

From the NYT: Over the last few days, the length of bowl games has reached its annual state of temporal silliness. The triple-overtime Orange Bowl lasted 4 hours 49 minutes, the Fiesta 3:45, the Sugar 3:57 and the Rose an even 4 hours.

This explains how 2006 was probably the most frustrating bowl series for Tivo owners ever. I myself, am kinda pissed. See, I set my Tivo to record 30 minutes over the “end” of the Rose Bowl, which netted me an amazing game—up to the 5:15 min. mark in the 4th, at which point my recording ended.

So I missed the final two Texas drives and USC’s 4th and 2 gamble. Thanks a lot, Tivo. You suck.

(Note: My Comcast DVR neighbor did the same thing as me, also missing the end of the game.)

Maybe, just maybe, the networks will stop trying to screw us like last year (fiddling with show start/end times) and put some kind of flag in the feed, letting your DVR know that a particular show is not, in fact, over.

Until that time, the life of my 40 hr. Tivo (which is essentially worthless these days), will continue to depend on the whims of my favor—‘cause I’ll tell you, right now I’m seriously considering running over the damn thing with my car.

Folks, I am pleased to announce the birth of a new magazine, SMITH, for your online reading pleasure. I have been working on this, among other projects, for fits and starts across several years now, and it’s nice to see the effort bear some fruit.

SMITH magazine is about exploring the personal stories that inform our collective cultural narrative. Everything from bloggers to the almost famous (both of which often overlap), from lotto winners to local characters. It’s about framing our personal stories and perspectives so that they resonate in a larger context. It’s about being a uniter, not a divider. :)

Check some of these stories out:
Personal Investigation: So I Married a Mortician
Back Home with Paul Reickhoff (an Iraq War vet and veteran activist)
15 Minutes: Mario Puzo, the Dalai Lama, and Mick Jagger
Close Encounter: Got Calf?

SMITH is also going to be a lot of fun. We’re starting with an online Web zine, which is built on Wordpress, and will be moving into print soon. A lot of what we do requires reader feedback, and not lame polls either, but features that are wholly comprised of readers’ stories. So drop on by when you have some time, and share a tasty anecdote with us. We will definitely publish it. We’re that nuts.

I’m also hoping to make the blog a public record of much of our behind-the-scenes efforts. Usually, magazines are very secretive about their plans. Not us. We’re going to put our experiences up online as much as we can. Hopefully, we can add something interesting to the conversation.

Here’s a few of Larry’s anecdotes on meeting with many of NY’s media elite: Graydon Carter (Vanity Fair), Doug Peabody (Health, Saveur, George), and Isolde Motley (Time). Larry’s doing press for SMITH this week (today is National Smith Day, you know), and I think he’s going to have some fun stories to share.

There’s a lot more to come—another magazine and hopefully a better way of doing business—so I hope you’ll follow along, especially if you’ve only stumbled onto this post. We’re going to have a big year.

... Tim was killed by the Undead, but brought back to life by their leader, the Graverobber …
... Tim was killed by an act of barbarity committed by a fellow human being in the name of his ancient cause …
... Tim, was killed by a terrorist bomb in 1993 …
... Tim was killed by a drunk driver …

(Google “[yourname] was killed by”)

Quick note to myself. There’s been a flurry of articles on digital TV and convergence from the provider (TV networks) angle, and if anything shows “Web 1.0” thinking is still kicking, it’s this. First, companies are still trying to replicate pre-Net businesses on the Web. Second, there’s this idea floated by reporters that the young generation is Net savvy and companies better make their media components “converge” so they are “simple”, in order to capture their attention. I honestly haven’t read all the articles, but I think that’s more or less accurate.

Simplicity is an extremely difficult beast when it comes to software and digital systems, and most old-school business folk will never get it. For a typical business, “simple” means less options, less confusion and less control. But in a digital system, simplicity hinges on the user experience: your power to get things done. Simplicity in software is achieved not by subtraction, but by addition: Creating several paths to a function based on user contexts, for example. The end result is a happy and productive user.

This is the great lesson of software: users are naturally complex; there are many kinds, with different skill sets and different objectives.

I’m not sure media companies will ever get this. For them, simplicity is a way to view the world. Convenient, for sure, but wholly inaccurate. And it creates a massive and growing gap between themselves and their users, who are gaining more power and skills every day.

If there’s hope in the world these days, it’s going to come in the form of an API. The only company I know that’s doing anything here is the BBC. Maybe somebody gets smart and follows them, maybe Cuban’s HD.net.

Convergence equals complexity and diversity. It means finally recognizing that there’s 100 million different people at your door—and addressing them individually, one by one.

No sooner do I finish writing my little convergence post, then I stumble upon this: PricewaterhouseCoopers Recommends ‘Lifestyle Media’ as a Key Growth Driver for Media Companies in the Digital Convergence Era

Some gems (with translations):

Consumer needs are expanding beyond mass and segmented media to “Lifestyle Media.”

Sound awesome? We just took one in each hand and smashed ‘em together! Insight, baby!

Knowledge of consumer behavior will become the basis for competition.

Since when is this news? Since we made it seem complicated, of course!

The media marketplace provides a platform structure to capitalize on “Lifestyle Media.”

Yep, you can sell ads.

Early movers in establishing media marketplaces will build sustainable advantage over late entrants.

So not true, but it’ll make you feel better about paying us.

Media marketplaces will be economically viable only if operational efficiencies can be realized through consumer behavior measurement capabilities and supporting systems.

Insert escape clause. Look, we’re not promising anything here.

Convergence will require increased collaboration between value chain partners to drive new products and services to consumers.

Seriously, you really need our help. Just sign the check and leave a blank one here—just in case.

Understand and serve consumers’ “Lifestyle Media” desires by researching behaviors and needs. Assess readiness for the converged future.

Don’t worry about that one. Hey, that’s what we’re here for, buddy!

Develop strategies for owning social networks to capture consumer activity information, while meeting privacy requirements. Assess and build competence in alliances, partnerships and joint ventures.

Imagine your a pimp, right? You gotta work those bitches to get your money, no? Users are your bitches! Get it? Awesome!

As video consumption expands to many devices, understand the impact of one outlet on another and know the complexities of content security controls, and incorporate them into systems and processes.

This part is kinda hard, but we rock at it. Hey, wanna see a cool card trick?

Build advertising models for new consumer behaviors, especially video browsing, and establish standards for advertising and audience measurement metrics.

I told you already! Work them bitches! Now get your ass outta my sight ‘fore I bust a cap in your ass! Figuratively, of course, sir.

Sometimes, I really regret having to leave the Bay Area. Today, I am reassured I made the right choice.

I just read Wired editor Chris Anderson’s column, The New Boom, and it smacks of the same boosterism (which, admittedly, is the reason for Wired’s existence) that spoiled the area in the late 90s, despite his measured reassurances that the current resurgence is not a destructive “bubble”. (disclaimer: I was an editor at Wired/Wired News from 94-98, and admittedly partially responsible for creating bubble1.)

In recent months, the breathtaking ascent of Google has lit a fire under its competitors, which include practically everyone in the online world. The result is all too familiar: seven-figure recruiting packages, snarled traffic on Highway 101, and a general sense that the boom is back.

What gets me about all this, and it may just be a personal prejudice, is the reality distortion field that never fails to be raised once money is on the table. On one hand, everyone is railing against the “bubble” and hailing the virtues of open source, cheap hardware/bandwidth, and techno-ubiquity (the unhalting spread of tools and the knowledge to use them), while the other hand is quietly snapping up investment on the promise of exit strategies, intellectual property and first-mover advantage.

Companies are once again minting millionaires, but venture capitalists are investing less than a fifth of what they were at the 2000 peak. About 50 technology companies went public last year, but more than 300 went public in 1999.

Anderson cites a lowered IPO rate, but let’s compare apples to apples. 1999 was the height of the bubble, not the beginning. So, what was the IPO rate in the early years of the bubble, say 1995? Second, given increased techno-ubiquity, making it easier to birth cool new startups, wouldn’t it be natural to have less investment? You don’t need it like before, plus everyone’s still scratching from their bubble burns. So, again, I don’t buy it.

So how do you justify a boom? All I see is the Yahoo/Google effect: the two companies left standing and strong, for whom it’s easier to buy up good technologies than build themselves.

In this “boom”, you’re either salivating about selling your company to Yahoogle, or you’re an investor looking to pump up a hot little startup so it’s attractive enough to bring Yahoogle a-callin’. Either way, everyone’s banking on winning the lottery and cashing out. Anderson says it himself:

Today, the typical exit strategy is to sell your startup to Yahoo! for a few million, not to maneuver for a rowdy IPO and an appearance on CNBC. Highway 101 is jammed with Prius-driving engineers, not biz-dev guys in Beemers.

Same song. Different lyrics. It’s a buyer’s market, since there’s really only a few companies (Yahoogle, M$) with open wallets. But without really knowing what Yahoogle’s future plans are, and discounting the curves of rising techno-ubiquity and falling costs, which are working against your ability to “own your market/niche” for anything close to the long term, you’re still operating irrationally.

And when you’re operating irrationally, I think that’s fertile ground for a bubble.

In the end, it doesn’t matter what model car you’re driving. You may save a few bucks in a hybrid, but the road signs are all still pointing to Bubbleland.