Andrew Wilkinson on Founders Talk
Andrew Wilkinson of MetaLab did a great interview Adam Stacoviak where he spoke about his experience of building a company, and particularly at the end of the interview, they discussed what it takes to be successful and happy.
Here's to the Crazy Ones Letterpress Poster
I would have purchased one of these straight away, but they only ship within the US. Something I find a little amusing as they describe the copy as “a mantra for artists, inventors, entrepreneurs and innovators around the world”.
Instacast HD
The premier way to receive and enjoy podcasts on iPhone is now on iPad and yes, it’s beautiful.
Instabuy. [iTunes link]
Innovative Food Shopping in South Korea
A lot is being said about the use of QR codes, but what I find most interesting is the placement of the ‘virtual stores’ in subways. Genius.
Carousel
Carousel is a neat little app that elegantly displays your Instagram feed on your Mac. It’s got some beautiful themes and looks right at home next to Twitter for Mac.
Highly recommended.
On Decision Making
Ben Brooks on an article by Clair Cain Miller about Larry Page’s management style being similar to Steve Jobs’:
I’m not a Steve Jobs expert, but I feel pretty confident saying that he didn’t make decisions that he thought were just “O.K.” — he preferred to try and make the perfect decision, even if that meant waiting. That much is pretty clear from reading just a handful of chapters in his new biography.
I’m going to have to disagree with Ben on this one. Sure, Jobs’ biography details the two week discussions on which washing machine to buy, displaying his perfectionist nature. But Jobs certainly knew when time was of the essence. Tom Reestman points out this episode from the autobiography wherein, streams of people were leaving Apple and Jobs thought the only way to stop that was repricing their stock options:
Jobs called for a telephonic board meeting and outlined the problem. The directors balked. They asked for time to do a legal and financial study of what the change would mean. “It has to be done fast,” Jobs told them. “We’re losing good people.”
When the board proposed a study that could take two months, Jobs exploded: “Are you nuts?!?”
Obviously, one could trade contradicting examples, but from my own experience and advice that I’ve been given, it’s best to make a decision while you still have options because the chances are that if you spend a lot of time deliberating them, they have gone and you’re stuck.
The Hobbit Production Diaries
I’m a sucker for fantasy. I loved The Lord of the Rings films and naturally, I’m excited about the release of the two Hobbit films. I’ve been keeping up with the production diaries on Peter Jackson’s Facebook page and they’re incredible. It’s basically, DVD extras before the film has arrived.
The fourth video, which I’ve linked to (on YouTube), details the RED cameras and the 3D setups that Jackson is using.
'It's not obvious exactly what to do here'
Meg Whitman says she needs another three to four weeks to decide what to do. I just think it’s too late. The ship sailed a long time ago and HP decided that they didn’t want to bored. They have no hardware, they have no interested licensees and a development team who have been dragged through mud.
All that is left of WebOS is it’s patents.
The Best Supply Chain in the World
When Apple asks for a price quote for parts such as touchscreens, it demands a detailed accounting of how the manufacturer arrived at the quote, including its estimates for material and labor costs, and its own projected profit.
And:
Apple’s retail stores give it a final operational advantage. Once a product goes on sale, the company can track demand by the store and by the hour, and adjust production forecasts daily. If it becomes clear a given part will run out, teams are deployed and given approval to spend millions of dollars on extra equipment to get around the bottleneck.
So many people think that Apple makes money by charging a high price. No, it’s a high price and a high margin.
Welcome to The Verge
Josh Topolsky and his crew have just launched their new site, The Verge. It looks beautiful. It’s great to see them venturing beyond consumer electronics, case and point: the feature on nuclear bunker refurbishment.
Self-Purchase at Apple Stores Coming Soon
According to Boy Genius Report, Apple are going to be rolling out a new systems that allow you purchase products without having to go through an Apple Store employee:
Here is how this will work: after you find the item you want to buy, like an accessory, you launch the Apple Store app on your iOS device and there will be an option to buy a product in the store. You scan the product with the camera on your device in the app, click purchase, and it will charge whatever credit card is associated to your Apple ID. You then just walk out of the store.
Over the next few years we’re going to see a revolution in the way be buy things. We’ve seen it to a lesser extent with Starbucks but imagine this scenario:
I arrive at the airport terminal having cleared security and I get a notification that my favourite cafe has a shop here and it tells me if I order in the next thirty minutes I can get a discount. I order right that on the phone, paying. I go to the shop and pick up my order, by having the QR code associated with my order scanned.
No hassle. No waiting. Pure convenience.
60% of PSP Owners Plan on Getting a VITA
This is PR bullshit.
Sony are clutching at straws here. They’re being mauled by the fact that consumers are gaming on their phones or iPod touches. We’ve seen it with the 3DS. The VITA is going to be a flop.
As you might guess, I think that in the same way the MP3 player became redundant pocket space, so has the mobile gaming device.
A Sister’s Eulogy for Steve Jobs
As you might expect, the best thing written on Steve Jobs.
Android's Terrible Support History
Michael Degusta:
In other words, Apple’s way of getting you to buy a new phone is to make you really happy with your current one, whereas apparently Android phone makers think they can get you to buy a new phone by making you really unhappy with your current one. Then again, all of this may be ascribing motives and intent where none exist - it’s entirely possible that the root cause of the problem is just flat-out bad management (and/or the aforementioned spectacular dumbness).
Most of the time, these phones are going to be held onto for over two years, and for such a high percentage to stop receiving support updates after one year tells me that this is nothing but a misguided strategy for increasing profit.
And don’t get me started on how pretty much no Android phone runs the latest version of the OS.
The Nest Thermostat
From Wired:
The Nest is the iPod of thermostats. A simple loop of brushed stainless steel encases a chassis of reflective polymer, which encircles a crisp color digital display. Artificial intelligence figures out when to turn down the heat and when to jack up the air conditioning, so that you don’t waste money and perturb the ozone when no one is home, or when you’re asleep upstairs. You can communicate with the Nest from your smartphone, tablet or web browser.
