Mark My Words January 11, 2010
Posted by Chuck Musciano in Technology.9 comments
There’s been a lot of hype this past week coming out of the Consumer Electronic Show, centered around a couple of big technology items: tablet devices and 3D television. To save you all the trouble of figuring out whether to jump on this bandwagon, let me offer my prediction as to the future success of these devices.
Tablet devices: No.
3D television: No.
If you are pressed for time, you can stop reading now. If you have a moment, here’s why:
For both if these devices, the failure is not in the technology, which is admittedly sexy and clever. It is in the ergonomics and usability, both of which matter very little to the nerds at CES but matter dearly to real people that buy these devices.
Consider a tablet device. If all you are looking for is an iPhone on steroids, you may like this thing. But it’s too big to put in your pocket, too small to use as a real computer, and has limited usability for anything that requires real typing. For music, ebooks, and movies, it could be useful, but so is an iPod or iPhone. Web surfing would be lovely, but typing anything at length is pretty much impossible.
If you’d like to prove this to yourself, try this “tablet simulation” trick. Take your flat panel monitor and lay it face up on your desk, just above your keyboard. Type like this for a week. How’s your neck feeling? Now, put your monitor back, and attach your keyboard to its lower edge with duct tape. Any better? Those are your two typing positions for a tablet, so pick the one you prefer.
Tablets were all the rage about six years ago. After the excitement died down, tablets suddenly developed real keyboards attached via a clever multi-way hinge. This hinge had two primary uses: you used it show off your tablet to your friends for the first three days after you bought it, and then the hinge broke two years later, rendering your laptoptablet useless. In short, tablet PCs combined a $800 laptop with a $900 hinge. Oddly, this never proved very popular.
Those who forget history are condemned to repeat it. Thus, expect to see a bevy of tablets which will enjoy brief lives as overweight ebook readers and cumbersome music players, coupled with a short aftermarket of weird add-on keyboards.
What about 3D television? Please. Except for fulfilling the lifelong dream of Ralph Kramden, there is no practical application for 3D television. Who is going to put on special glasses whenever they want to watch television? And forget lying on the couch, or on your side. You’ll be sitting upright directly in front of the set if you expect to get the full effect, including headaches for some viewers.
Honestly, is there any content on television that is just crying out for 3D? Will Real 3D Housewives of Des Moines really be improved with this technology? Should we expect more dimensional ingredients on Iron Chef 3D? Barring a resurgence of 80s-style shoulder pads, I don’t know that Launch My Line 3D will provide the aesthetic bump that really extends the genre.
I find it ironic that, as content migrates to portable devices (like tablets!), we’re going to create proprietary display formats that only work on home-bound devices. Wait. I just realized what we really need.
3D tablets!
Who’s got the number of a VC? This will be huge!
Fixing Little Things January 8, 2010
Posted by Chuck Musciano in Leadership.6 comments
I like to tinker with computers. I especially like to make sure that my computer is running as efficiently as possible. This can be a challenge, given that more and more background tasks drain away precious cycles from the work that I want to do.
Recently, I noticed that my laptop was consuming 30-40% of its CPU while idling, instead of the normal 5-6%. I can tolerate losing a bit of capacity to background activity, but 30% is intolerable. After some analysis, I discovered (surprise!) that some obscure Windows process was cycling every second, doing something. But what?
It turns out that I had recently installed an updated sound driver. That driver enabled “enhanced features” like bass boost and surround sound that can be turned on and off on the fly. The driver was checking, once each second, to see if I had suddenly enabled an enhanced feature. Once I disabled all the enhanced features, the driver settled down and my machine returned to idling at 5% or so. Once again, man triumphs over machine.
In some cases, we get so accustomed to dealing with these things that we just accept them as part of our world. I put up with that driver issue for a while before I finally decided to dig in and fix it. Some people would have just assumed that having your machine run at 30% utilization is normal, and not bothered with it at all. Many of us are just too busy to find and fix these little things, even though we know they are negatively affecting us.
Much as this errant driver consumed a disproportionate amount of time on my machine, it is the little things in our world that do the same thing to our personal and professional lives. Few of us have giant, gaping problems that overwhelm us on a regular basis. Instead, we have a number of seemingly small items that ultimately limit our ability to succeed.
How many of these little things in our lives consume more of our time than they are worth? What aspects of our personal lives are less of a help than a hindrance? Similarly, are there little things in our business that absorb too much time and effort? Is there a process that needs tweaking, or a policy to be updated?
It is only natural to look for the big problems and tackle them. It may be more productive, however, to ferret out the tiny things that actually have a bigger impact. What little thing will you find and fix today?
Game Face January 6, 2010
Posted by Chuck Musciano in Leadership.4 comments
In the Autozone Liberty Bowl on January 2, Arkansas and East Carolina University were locked in a 17-17 tie as the fourth quarter wound down. ECU’s kicker, Ben Hartman, missed two field goal attempts in the final few minutes that would have sealed a victory, and went on to miss a field goal attempt in overtime. Arkansas then kicked a field goal to win.
My heart broke for this young man. Imagine missing not one, not two, but three field goals in five minutes, resulting in your team losing a bowl game. And no matter what words of condolence his teammates may offer him, I suspect Ben Hartman will blame himself for this loss for a long time. The truth, of course, is that a football game is lost over the course of sixty minutes, not in the waning moments of the fourth quarter.
As much as I agonized watching the kicker struggle, I was amazed to see how his coach, Skip Holtz, handled the situation. This would have been a big win for Holtz and his team. I’m sure there was bonus money on the table, and big career implications. And how did Holtz handle the tense closing moments of the game?
He laughed. He joked with his kicker. He kept the mood light, even after two missed kicks and an ice-the-kicker timeout from Arkansas. Understanding the pressure this young man was under, Holtz maintained his composure and did everything he knew to help his kicker succeed. Even the announcers were wondering what Holtz could possibly be saying to relieve the stress on Hartman.
I don’t know what Holtz said, but it was a classic example of a leader maintaining his composure during a tough situation. While very few of us will have to lead a football team to a bowl victory, we will certainly have to guide our teams through difficult times to achieve important goals. Understanding the stress and finding ways to distract your people from it are important parts of good leadership.
This aspect of leadership is important in both immediate and long-term situations. Sometimes, a sudden problem explodes. How you handle yourself on the spur of the moment will go a long way in helping your team confront and quell the issue at hand. A light mood, a firm decision, and an upbeat approach can make a big difference.
Other times, you are confronted with a long-term, difficult problem. A high-risk project can last for months, wearing out your team. A difficult business climate puts people under stress week after week. No matter what the cause, being able to sustain the right attitude as a leader is crucial. No matter your personal concerns or stress, you must put on your game face each day and provide unwavering support to your team.
Leaders need to be able to handle both the quick-hit and long-term problems. Your people will look to you as they form their own reactions to a problem. If you, like Skip Holtz, can manage a joke and a smile as kick after kick sails wide, you’ll be doing your people a huge favor.
Being Remembered January 4, 2010
Posted by Chuck Musciano in Random Musings.Tags: Relationships
4 comments
During lunch with a friend last month, she noted that everyone dies two deaths. Intrigued, I asked her to explain. The first, she noted, was the physical death that we will all encounter. The second, however, occurs the last time your name is spoken. After that point, you are truly dead and forgotten.
What a concept! It immediately brings to mind those timeless names that will never die, those rare few that have had an eternal impact on our lives and society. But it also leads us to reflect on the billions whose names have slipped into obscurity, and whose impact, however large or small, has stopped reverberating in this world.
This idea was brought into sharper focus for me last week when I learned of the death of Tim Hartselle, with whom I worked many years ago. I’ve written before about Tim here, but did not mention him by name. Tim once worked for me as a Unix administrator. He wasn’t very good at Unix but found great success in email administration. I often tell Tim’s story as an example of how seemingly difficult circumstances (losing his dream job of being a Unix admin) can lead to unexpected success in ways you never imagined.
Tim was a great, gentle man, with a ready smile and a sincere heart. His first death came at 47, way too early. So I mention his name here to do my part in forestalling his second passing. If you ever need a story that demonstrates success borne of adversity, you may wish to use Tim’s name as well, extending that second demise.
It may seem odd to start a new year on such a somber note, but I prefer to see the opportunity that is presented. With a fresh year spread before us, what will you do to make your name memorable? I’m not thinking of notorious fame, either criminal or celebrity, but the kind of fame borne of doing good things on a continuous basis.
Most of us start the year pledging to lose weight, exercise more, and to cultivate more good habits than bad. Most of those resolutions fall by the wayside, even with the best of intentions. This year, take a different tack. Resolve to do things this year in such a way that your name will be remembered, long after you are gone. Being remembered, in a good way, may yield a better year than any other resolution you can make.
Catching My Breath December 21, 2009
Posted by Chuck Musciano in Technology.add a comment
With the holidays fast approaching, it is time to reflect on the past year and anticipate the next.
When I started blogging in earnest, around this time last year, I made a commitment to write three times a week, every week. I had no idea if I could do this, or if it was even possible. I’m a bit surprised to find, a year later, that I met my goal. Even more surprising, I enjoyed doing it.
Along the way, I’ve met some wonderful people, built relationships, and found value in this exercise. I’ve learned a lot about social media and its impact, as well as new and innovative ways to learn and share. I am very thankful for all of you who read this blog, regularly or otherwise. I am doubly thankful for those who took the time to comment and extend the conversation, adding far more than my initial contributions.
Last year at this time, I reran some of my favorite posts to round out the year. This year, instead of peppering you with reruns, I’ve tagged some of my favorite posts. If you are interested, this link should take you to them. If not, no problem.
And on that note, I’m going to go offline for the rest of they year, to relax and recharge. I’ll be back next year with new content. I hope you’ll still be willing to listen and reply, and I look forward to seeing where it will take us.
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