According to Jeff Jarvis the answer is no, you can’t. The answer is interesting to me because I work for a successful, profitable service company that is attempting to create a software product. Jarvis nails my primary concern when he says:
You can’t be a software company and a service company under one roof, for you will inevitably end up competing with your customers.
Over the next year we’ll see if we can prove him wrong.
Stewart Alsop details how his new Prius treats him like an idiot. I can’t imagine how Alsop went from driving a Mini which is such a fun car to driving the homely Prius. If I were him I’d sell the Prius to some tree-hugger on Craigslist and pull the Mini out of the garage and get back to driving a fun car.
A few reasons why I’ll never own a Prius:
1. Next to the Aztec, it’s the ugliest car on the road.
2. It’s built by Toyota, the maker of some of the most bland cars ever made
3. The people who drive them can be a bit too preachy. We know you’re saving the planet but enough already.
4. Stars like Donny Osmond, Natalie Portman, Angelina Jolie and many more stars drive them to make us think they care about the planet. They don’t.
It doesn’t feel like it’s been six years ago since Grandpa Nordquist passed away.
It’s hard not to think of Grandpa whenever I watch an NFL game and hear Pat Summerall’s voice. When we’d visit his house on a Sunday he’d be kicked back in his La-Z-Boy recliner watching football. I’d run downstairs and open the door to what felt like a cold dark cave. I’d find a seat on the couch and watch football with Grandpa while he’d ask me questions about the last game I’d played. I don’t remember him having a favorite team but he knew a lot about the Dallas Cowboy and SF 49’ers. He’d follow the careers of those players that went to the the University of Utah or BYU and would know how they played that week.
The game would eventually end and I’d we’d watch All in the Family before Grandma would call for us to come upstairs. Whenever I hear Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton belt the first few lines of the theme song I’m reminded of Grandpa Nordquist and those fun times down in the basement.
“Boy, the way Glen Miller played. Songs that made the Hit Parade. Guys like us, we had it made. Those were the days!
Before I was old enough to land a real job I’d take the bus from Ogden to downtown Bountiful to mow his lawn. From there I’d run all the way up 5th south to Grandpa’s house where he’d be waiting for me in the shade on those teal colored outdoor chairs. I could always count on Grandpa to be a bit antsy if there were even a single cloud in the sky. I’d better fire up the mower before the rest of the clouds moved in.
When I’d finish mowing, edging and sweeping grandpa would have grandma retrieve a Coke from the basement. This was a real treat and I loved feeling like a bit of rebel knowing I was downing a full days supply of caffeine. Grandpa was a good man whose heart softened in the later stages of his life. He had a vulnerability mixed in among an, at times, tough exterior. I’ve thought about him often over the past six years and remember the good times we had together.
My grandfather once told me that “a car is an appliance that gets one from point A to point B and nothing more”. He gave me this advice as I was showing him the new Acura Integra I had just purchased. To my grandfather, whether or not a car was fun to drive played no part in the purchasing decision. Every 7 to 10 years he’d pickup a used Toyota from a local mechanic and drive it until my grandma urged him to upgrade.
Each time I’ve purchased a car I’ve thought about my grandfather’s advice. If a car is merely the device to get from point A to point B then nearly any old car will do. Just find a reliable used Camry or Accord and call it good for the next 10 years. According to many personal finance books and magazines like Consumer Reports this is sound advice, especially when you consider that most cars depreciate at such a swift rate.
But here’s my dilemma: I enjoy driving. In fact I enjoy it so much that oftentimes I don’t have a point B to reach. When I first moved to Seattle, I traded in a red Mazda Miata (spare me the “chick car” emails) for a new VW Passat GLX with sweet VR6 engine matched to a 5 speed manual. This car was an absolute blast to drive and become the only car I ever reached 100 MPH in while driving from Salt Lake to St. George, UT. When I think of this car I recall so many good times driving home late at night from Redmond over the I90 bridge cranking “Champagne Supernova” till my ears hurt.
But the Passat also turned me on to German cars and their impeccable road manners and driver involvement. I’ve had an Acura Integra and Subaru Outback that were more reliable and less costly to maintain. But they didn’t put a smile on my face during a down shift around a sharp corner like the Passat would. They were practical, reliable and just not very exciting. I never found myself looking to take the long way home. They were all about getting to point B.
Well, this week the fun is back as we purchased a BMW 325i sedan. I test drove a number of cars many of which had more room, more power and more features. But none were as outright fun to drive as the BMW. Everything about this car is geared toward the driver. I love how the dash it angled towards the driver. I love how the only knob on the door is to adjust my outside mirrors. I love the *thud* sound the door makes when closed. It’s as if a bunch of driving enthusiasts got together and created a serious driving machine and intentionally excluded any features that took away from the driving experience. I’m surprised it has two cup-holders.
If my grandfather were still around I’m sure he’d be giving me the point A to point B speech. Then again, he never had the opportunity to throw a BMW hard into a turn and try to wipe that grin off his face.
Google rocks most of the time. But sometimes you’re looking for a result that’s hard to express in words. Maybe the lyrics to a song, an actor in a movie you can’t recall or even the appropriate birthday gift for your spouse. This is where a new type of search comes in called ChaCha. If you can use Google, you can use ChaCha so the learning curve isn’t a problem. The main feature of ChaCha is that when you type a word or phrase into its engine, a small pane off to the left shows up and you’re assigned a “guide” who will assist you with your search. The pane resides in your browser so it’s easy to chat with your guide while the results they locate show up in the center pane. As you see results show up, you are able to start searching immediately while the guide continues in the background. This allows you to give feedback in real time which can help the guide drill down to what you’re after. They have done a nice job with the UI.
I’ve been trying this service out for a few days and although I feel like I know many tricks for getting the best results from Google, I was surprised at how helpful these guides can be. I did a search for “2002 BMW 325i reviews” and a guide took me to several that were better than what I’d found on my own. I also found the guides to be very friendly and fast.
Give it a try the next time Google isn’t spitting out what you’re after. If you like it you may want to install the ChaCha toolbar which makes it easy to start up a session with a guide. Once your sessions is finished you’ll be asked to rate your guide. From what I understand, guides are paid between five and ten dollars an hour. Both guides I’ve used where very helpful.
One last item: I had trouble getting the guide results to show up when using Firefox the first time I tried it. I didn’t have the same problems using IE 7.
I took the kids to Baskin Robbins last night. Anna liked having her own chocolate cone while Luca wanted rainbow sherbet. When we walked into the store there was a young man behind the counter with his back to us. As we approached the counter he didn’t turn around. He just kept cleaning the stainless steel counter. I wondered for a second if they were closing and checked the sign on the door to make sure. It was 8:30 pm and the store closed at 10 pm so we were fine.
I didn’t think much of it until we sat down to eat our ice cream and another couple entered the store. It was pretty clear they knew what they wanted as they walked right up the counter to order. The young man continued to clean the counter. The couple was getting antsy. Finally the young man turned his head and said, “I’ll be with you in a minute” and immediately went back to his cleaning. He then started to organize the cups and cartons. I could not believe what I was seeing.
The couple waited another 2-3 minutes. The entire time this employee had his back turned to them. He couldn’t see how frustrated they had become. The couple turned around and walked out the store. Funny thing is it wasn’t for another minute or so before this employee noticed they had left the store. At which time he pulled out a broom and began sweeping the floors.
Two younger kids entered the store shortly after the couple left. They too went right to the counter to order. But it wasn’t’ going to be so easy. There was sweeping to be done! This Baskin Robbins employee made them wait another few minutes while he swept around the counter before he took their order.
I’ll bet this Baskin Robbins has some of the cleanest counters and floors around.
Unbelievable.
Update Feb 26: I’ve been back to the same store twice and was treated well both visits. The last visit we were helped by the young man in question and he was nice. I’ll chalk it up him having a tough day on that first visit to the store.
Joel on Software puts together a primer on how to keep your customers happy.
Last night we took the kids to a restaurant called Cucina Cucina. Earlier in the week I had mentioned that this place probably wouldn’t be very kid friendly. I was wrong.
The hostess asked if we needed a booster chair. Anna hates them so we declined. She then asked if our kids would like to play with a Magna Doodle. Why yes, they’d love it. She grabbed three of them and guided us to our table which was covered in white butcher paper. She gave each kid their own cup of crayons. Our kids had a great time coloring and making designs on the Magna Doodle. I think I had more fun with the Magna Doodle than the kids did and will ask for my own next time.
Having a few things for the kids to do while they wait for their food to arrive can make the difference between an enjoyable dinner and one that’s not very fun for anybody.
A neighbor was having difficulty making sense of his router that Qwest sent him. He was moving from Comcast to Qwest DSL and decided to save a few bucks by attempting the setup and installation on his own. This is a guy who’s an engineer for Boeing. He’s a bright guy but was completely baffled by this combo router/wireless DSL modem.
His two sons tried to make sense of this contraption without any luck so they called me to see if I’d stop by and have a look which I did and eventually got them up and running. This is the part where I return home and make a comment to Kim about how I’m not worried about my job security.
The more technology permeates our lives the more we can’t live without it. Yet the makers of all this high tech stuff continue to make setup/configuration/maintenance as difficult as possible. Imagine you’re excited to have high speed internet at your home. You pull the Qwest provided router out of the box and plug it in. You then fire up your web browser to begin the setup process and you’re met with this screen:
How many people does Qwest think will understand a single concept on this page? I’ve worked on computers for the past 15 years and I have no idea what half this crap means. I know enough to just leave it alone and move on to the next screen. But if I were a regular computer user like 99% of the population I’d probably try out a few settings and foul things up. Or I’d become frustrated and call my son or daughter in to have a look. If that didn’t work I’d call a friend or neighbor who works with computers.
Why does it have to be this difficult? I know that Qwest doesn’t expect all its customer to become router experts, and, in their defense, they provide a workable instruction booklet with each kit they send out. The problems come in when things doing go as planned or you try to add another machine to your network, or you want to share printers or files. The process to make all this work is daunting to most folks and is seldom covered in the set of “QUICK SETUP” instructions that don’t require a CCNA certification.
I guess I should feel some sense of job security because people are going to need the services that I can provide. But I can feel their frustration and wonder if there isn’t a better way. It shouldn’t be so difficult to add another computer to your cable/DSL connection. Qwest should teach their customers why they should change their SSID and why they may not want to broadcast it. Why do companies continue to assume we all know the difference between PPPoE and PPPoA? Does it really need to be this difficult?
Six months ago I was addicted to Coke. I’d have a Coke or two at lunch, another on the way home and maybe a couple at night. On the evenings I’d play basketball I’d stop at 7-11 and grab a Double Big Gulp after the game. I’m not sure when I become so attached to Coke, but it was probably when I was in Jr. High and I’d sneak up to some apartments behind our home and plop 25 cents into the machine. I’d drink the can empty as I walked home. It didn’t matter if it was summer or winter. There just wasn’t a time when a Coke didn’t sound good so I kept drinking it for any occasion. I never needed an excuse.
But last July I decided to lose some weight and kept a journal of everything I ate. I quickly realized that half the calories I was consuming came from Coke. So I decided I’d substitute water or Diet Coke for all that Coke was drinking. The first few weeks were terrible. I’d go into work with a headache as my body tried to ween itself from all that caffeine and sugar. But I eventually made it over the hump, and I’m proud to say I’ve not had a single ounce of Coke since the end of last July.
I created a quick spreadsheet to see how many calories I’ve saved over the last 6 months by not drinking Coke. I’ve lost over 50 lbs. since July and I’m certain that much of that is due to giving up Coke. I’m not sure how many ounces of Coke I averaged per day but I’m guessing it’s easily in the 40-50 oz. category. But even a conservative estimate of 32 oz/day Coke habit has saved me over 55,000 calories or nearly 16 lbs. (3600 calories = 1 lbs weight). This assumes I replaced Coke with a non calorie drink like water or no calorie diet beverage which I’ve done.
**Nutrition info pulled from Nutrition Data website
Nordquist Blog 