Sleepy in Seattle

It was only a matter of time before I started using this blog as a forum by which to expose and exploit my inner nerd. So with profuse apologies and without further adieu, a few thoughts on Apple’s most recent unveiling – the iPad.

In short, I’m not sure I get it.

I was following a lot of the press coverage on the tech sites, and at one point I noticed that Steve put up the slide below.

According to Engadget (thanks for the image, guys), here was Steve’s talk track while showing this up on the screen: “If there’s gonna be a third category, it has to be better at these tasks — otherwise it has no reason for being.”

Basically Steve was pointing out that if you want to have a 3rd device in between the phone and the PC, it better do all of those things he listed there better than the other two. And therein lies the problem… I’m not sure it really does. Let’s take a few of them one by one.

Browsing. Well, I’ve found more and more that I’ve relegated to using my smartphone for casual internet browsing from the couch. The place where it falls short is not really the screen size so much as the lack of standards support. When I go to a page that needs flash or has to install a plug-in to be viewed, that’s when I go reaching for the laptop. But when I think about inserting the iPad into that scenario, I’m not really any better off. Sure it has about 3x the screen size and resolution, but it still doesn’t help me when I want to view that site that makes use of heavy flash, when I want to check out that band’s web site that has a built in player so that I can sample their songs – you get the idea.

Email. I have to admit, the email experience on the iPhone and iPod touch isn’t bad. But more often then not, email is just as much about authoring as it is reading. So when I think about inserting the iPad into my couch email reading, yet again it’s not really helping me beyond just showing me the mail on a much roomier screen. When it comes to pounding out some angry emails that I’ll regret in the morning, I’m still reaching for the laptop.

eBooks. Ok, they almost got me here. The eBook application on the iPad looks phenomenal – and as a Kindle owner I think they are really hitting on something that Amazon hasn’t delivered: the status involved with owning books.  It’s the visual way in which Apple shows your bookshelf – complete with book cover art that helps reduce heartburn for people that may be feeling squeamish about making the transition from analog to digital for their literature. But this all falls down when I think about the ways Amazon has helped re-create the book reading experience in a digital format but with an analog feel. For instance, Amazon’s e-ink display isn’t backlit and therefore is much easier on the eyes. The battery life lasts 3 weeks, and any book I download costs about $9.99 and I can get them anywhere without any additional service fees. Many a time have I downloaded an entire book on a recommendation from a flight attendant mere minutes before taking off. Contrast that with the iPad, which has a burn-your-retinas off LED display (not ideal for a long read), only 10 hours of battery, and books priced at $12.99 or $14.99 with the addition of monthly service fees (in case you want to download anywhere). Not exactly the best in class experience for books either.

So all that to say, I’m just trying to understand the play here. It feels a whole lot like an overgrown, expensive iPod that sort of does a bunch of things pretty well. But at the end of the day, I’m having trouble summizing what the one piece of unique value is that makes this a valuable product in real-life application.

I had coffee today with Eric Lin, and he suggests this is Apple’s setup toward the slow replacement of the MacBook. Over time he believes this could become the home PC. It’s an interesting thought, and if he’s right it makes sense for Apple to be somewhat shy on that point in the mean time. Steve Jobs is a savvy guy, so if he’s hedging his bet he’s certainly not talking about it.

It’s really interesting how time can make something that was really serious into something really funny. It was 2003 – my junior year of college. Starting a week before all the other students, the resident advisers (aka the cool kids, right?) would assemble on campus to participate in a number of training and bonding activities.

During the course of this week, we got to hear from our industrious residence life staff (mostly made up of grad students looking to get their tuition and board paid while going through school) on the importance of maintaining an image of leadership and responsibility at all times. I was among these people. I was one of the resident advisers of the freshmen dorm Nelligan Hall.

Nelligan was a fascinating place. It was the only residence hall that employed 2 resident advisers per floor (as opposed to the usual 1). These RAs were highly skilled in the necessary competencies: playing Halo, ordering pizza, and busting up parties. The busting up parties varied from RA to RA, but in general the system worked.

Think back to my earlier point about leadership and responsibility. As RAs, the higher ups expected us to set the example for others (read: don’t be drunk in public, morons).

Then came Matt. Matt was younger (I think a sophomore), and thus underage. He was co-RA of the 3rd floor with my former roommate (and co-RA from the previous year), Jordan Patch. Jordan would be best described as our campus’ Tony Soprano. You want to do anything, you better talk to the boss.

So back to Matt. Matt must have read the phrase “don’t ever change” in his yearbook one too many times, because when he got the job as RA – he didn’t. You see, Matt was a really thirsty guy. But the kind of beverage he drank always made him do really stupid things – and worse, in front of his residents. But not to worry, the system has steps and a recovery program for this kind of behavior (read: he was fired).

At any rate, here we are 7 years later and I genuinely do believe the statute of limitations on the Department of Residence Life being mad at him has passed. It’s college, and this is what college life is like. But that alone is not the punchline of this story.

Matt was let go about 6-7 weeks into the year, and the residents were still learning who we were. In the lobby of the dorm, you could find a “Meet Your RAs” board. It was a corkboard with photos of the RAs, taken in pairs. Natrually, the 3rd floor RAs photo showcased Jordan and Matt, standing outside our school’s pristine chapel.

And there was the problem. The seasons started changing, and we didn’t want to go out and shoot new photos. Besides, we were in shirts/ties which was an annual event for most of us. So I was tasked with “removing Matt from existence”. Yeah, you heard that right, just like Marty McFly’s family photograph at the end of Back to the Future.

What better time to learn Photoshop? And this is where the funny came in. Imagine Matt’s surprise (and others), when he tried to comprehend how all traces of his being on staff were carefully (and with swift precision) eliminated.

Within 24 hours of his termination, the new picture was up in the lobby. Like I said, something that was serious ultimately became funny. At least I think it is.

It’s Monday. And Mondays are usually an interuption to my regularly scheduled train of weekends. By Monday morning, enough time has passed that I can’t remember what items were still open from Friday (or lately, Saturday) – and I’ve found that I’m rapidly moving toward a 2 coffee minimum just to get in the door. So when the bright sunny light of a Monday morning comes at you, why not add some extra stimulation for your rods and cones? I do this by wearing the brightest shirts known to man. And if you could see me right now, I’d be putting air quotes around the word “man”.

I find there’s no better way to break the Monday morning ice, as it were, than to wear a shirt that leaves every co-worker wondering. Wondering if I’m playing for a new team. Wondering if I’ve accepted a new job at Express Men. Wondering if this is a new strategy to meet women (they love to share clothes).

The finance guys don’t get it, the engineers squak at it… but in the end, only the product planners get me.

Makes sense, these are very forward looking folks. And I knew I had found my people when I discovered Suzanne was wearing a scarf of the same shade. Here’s to the Orchid Twinsies, Suzanne!

In the wake of all of the despair in Haiti, I found out today about an initiative that could bring a lot of hope to an otherwise extradordinarily bleak situation.

At any given time, there’s a lot of adoptions pending between American families and adoption agencies in third world countries. Right now about 1000 kids in Haiti are in limbo as they were going down the long process of being adopted (takes 3+ years sometimes) but now all the paperwork and such is probably buried in the rubble of some demolished building.

So apparently, America has been known to inact something called Huminatarian Parole in situations like this, where basically US diplomats make the case to the government to have the soon-to-be adopted kids placed with their new families immediately, regardless of the adoption process status. While it doesn’t circumvent the adoption process, it instead allows it to continue while the kids are with their new families in the States (and thus out of danger).

That really struck me. Apparently people are becoming activists for this to happen (as it’s only happened twice before in Rwanda and Romania) by writing letters to officials, etc. I just sent mine in. Crazy that 1000 kids could be essentially rescued just by writing email and making phone calls.

My pastor’s brother’s family are personally affected by this, as they are currently going through the process of adopting a child from Haiti. In fact, his sister-in-law was on the ground visiting her (hopeful) soon-to-be son when the disaster struck.

If you want to read her story or send an email or make a phone call to help get this initiative in motion, definitely check out her blog post on the subject.

Last night I hosted my lifegroup Strings & Friends for some dinner. It was great seeing everyone, and it was our first time back together in the New Year. This lifegroup sesh came with Hybrid Synergy Drive, as we brought in some new friends to join. Here are some highlights in photos.

Carrie addresses Keira as “Girlie”

Andrew breaks out the closest thing to a combover without actually crossing the line

Anto asks guests a simple question, “If I were born Italian, do you think I’d be called Antonio, Tony, Tonio…?”

Wong attempts to run the table.

There’s a guy sitting 2 tables away from me at the coffee shop. He’s having a conversation with what seems like an interviewer. Guy A is talking loud enough that I know a couple things: a.) he’s a college senior about to graduate in the spring, b.) he considers himself a designer, but goes to a Christian college and apologizes for it and  c.) he wants this Guy B to give him a job.

Guy B is so not into it.

Awkward. Very awkward. I should tell Guy A to leave right now and enjoy what’s left of college before the real world comes.

Back in 2002, college was just getting rolling for me. At the beginning of that year, I was living it up in the second half of my freshmen year. My rooommate Josh was a one of the most interesting guys I had met at that time. He brought a lot of variety to our dorm room. His day consisted of 4 basic elements:

1. Class
2. Workout and protein shakes
3. Drinking your face off
4. Watching Fight Club

Every day. Rinse, wash, repeat. Occassionally a Taco Bell run would make it’s way between step 3 and 4, and you can guess who was Designated Derek. I actually was fine with it, though. Josh had a PS3 so by my count, our living arrangement was very synergistic- especially when Grand Theft Auto III came out that spring.

I don’t think we even played a single mission in the game, it’s just as much fun (arguably more) just running over women and children, chopping cars, and shooting rockets at helicopters.

Anyway, Josh was a fun guy – and rooming with him was a heck of a way to start peeling away my extreme type A behaviors. As I found out throughout the course of the year, maintaining one pile of clothes and conducting the “sniff test” can be just as efficient as using a closet or dresser.

Here’s a shot of us getting ready for one of our dances. Yeah, our college had dances… just like high school.

And for the record, I refuse to confirm or deny any rumors that suggest we had our tips frosted together.

This past week I was in Las Vegas for CES 2010. The interesting thing about Vegas is that you instantly feel dirty… literally.

After about 4 hours your eyes start to burn from the smoke and all the strange scents each hotel and/or casino tries pumping into their respective ozones. At the end of day 1 there is an actual layer of dirt stuck to you, and by the end of day 2 even the best shower (waterfall, double headed, what you have you) can’t get you clean.

The event itself had its usual charms -  mostly in the form of hoards of people crowded around the latest, thinnest, LED TVs. Meanwhile, booth babes try to smile at you, but take care to not put cracks in the primer layer of their shellacked high grade war paint. It’s a delight, truly.

That said, we had some productive meetings and it was good catching up with both old and new friends. The Herminator was in full swing at a fantastic party my friend Kristin hosted – complete with the look of desire as seen in pretty much any scene from Zoolander. I tried it myself in a shot with Kristin, to no avail.

It’s good to be back in Seattle. By my calculation I’ll be here for approximately 20 hours before shoving off once again. Getting 3-4 hours of sleep each night (at best) has taken its toll, so apologies to any incoherent babbling that may have made it into this post.

Goodnight, Seattle. Manhattan, stay classy and see you tomorrow.

Long before Flight of the Conchords were singing about it, six young men were bringing business time to the world. And by world, I mean the tri-county Central New York area.

In an effort to prove our existence with the ladies of Cicero-North Syracuse High School, six guys from the likes of the math league, glee club, and (d)orchestra joined forces to create an unstoppable musical force. That’s right people, 2001 marked the year of The Businessmen.

The best part of it all was that I had no business playing with these guys. As Kristen (Sciaruto) Embry would be quick to point out, I could barely use a sustain pedal. How was it that I found myself part of the group that would rise to the top of the local high school radio charts?

Simple. I had a performance spot at our high school’s Prevention Night, that’s code for ‘ambiguously themed talent show’.

I was going to form a band to perform a cover of the Tom Jones song, It’s Not Unusual. It was a brilliant plan, which worked basically like this:

1. Find trombone and trumpet player
2. Create band and play It’s Not Unusual at high school talent show
3. Take my pick of any girl in the school (like on The Bachelor)

Instead, my good friend at the time (and future lead singer) convinced me to do otherwise. He said that I should join their band and surrender my spot at the show. He would just hand me a guitar, saying all that mattered is that we would all be in a band together and that the “business would come”. Luckily I weaseled my way in as the piano player once their original member didn’t show up for a practice. Or at least that’s how I like to remember it.

It’s business time people, and my senior year of high school was never to be the same.

A new decade is upon us, and it got me thinking about how much can change in 10 years. I’d be willing to venture a guess that the last 10 years have held more than any other period every will. Just think about how much stuff transpires between the age of 16 and 26. Big stuff. Big life stuff.

In the last 10 years I’ve graduated from high school and college, got my first car, first kiss (because of the car), first girlfriend (because of the kiss), first job (because girls are expensive), and first home (because being homeless isn’t really popular right now). I thought it’d be fun to recap the highlights from each year in the last decade, in a new series called Ten Years in Ten Days. Buckle up, time for a quick trip down memory lane.

In the Year 2000…

The year 2000 was possibly the most over-hyped year ever to exist. People were busy buying powdered milk and canned food, all the while significant technology spending and the likes of e-commerce fueled the economy (sock puppets anyone?). Tw0-thousand was also when I started my senior year in high school.

I remember the first week of school it was all about the vests. Old Navy had been brainwashing us all summer with their Tech Vest commercials. Ah yes, the Old Navy Tech Vest. Truly technology at its finest. Remember kids, it was hip to zip.

Favorite memory? Zipping my way up and down the hallways of Cicero-North Syracuse High School, fresh with frosted tips and and some sort of beaded necklace from my cousin. Oh, and a Messenger bag too. Sounds about right.

Here’s a shot with my future r-blading partner and Summer 2002-03 BFF, Bridget Frio (Fredenburg) sporting said style.

Gosh, was I ever a sucker for those Lisa Loeb glasses.

Today was a pretty low key day. Contemplative. Spent a good chunk of time just recharging the batteries, and in the background of my mind I began to mull over a few things. Namely, how people approach a new year.

It’s strange, but I see so many friends putting a disproportionate amount of stock into the first 24 hours of a new year, as if this crucial first day sets the entire standard by which the following 364 will be counted. They get into new workout routines, grind the gorging on fatty foods to a near halt, and line their Facebook status updates with optimistic sayings.

Perhaps this is just the pendulum swinging back extra hard – we start out each year with the best plan and intentions, and we gradually start missing the mark. And by the end of a year, it’s so clear that were not even close to where we want to be that now only drastic measures (read: a ‘fresh’ start) must be taken.

And we know it’s coming. Family members gorging on food at Thanksgiving and Christmas often remark that it will all change after the first of the year. If we were seriously committed to changing our lifestyle, why couldn’t we just make the change instantaneously?

Maybe it’s systemic of a bigger problem, perhaps we just don’t feel like we’re in control of our lives anymore. What we know we should do and what we desire to do never actually match up with the things that we do.

One thing is certain. I’m going to be wading through layers and layers of office-garbed resolutionists at the gym. I look forward till the third week of January when they’ll be back at home falling into their 2009 routine all over again. I’m sure Idol will be on by then, right?