The Replacement Ref

I often feel as though I’m more referee than father.

Today I threw an unnecessary roughness penalty on my 5-year old for, well, roughing up his older brother. This morning I whistled a delay of game penalty on my daughter after she was unable to find a suitable shirt to wear after staring at the laundry basket for 15 minutes. That’s when I step in and select a shirt for her which results in a fashion disaster only her mother can repair.

By the end of most days, I’m out of flags or just too tired to throw any more.

It’s not that I mind standing in as a replacement ref, but I assumed I’d have more time to coach my kids. I grew up as the son of a high school coach, and I watched how he encouraged and brought out the best in hundreds of young men.

And that’s how I pictured fatherhood. Yet, for the most part, it hasn’t played out that way with flags having replaced pats on the butt.

Occasionally, one of my children will approach me and ask for advice. Or help with fractions or spelling. It’s usually something very specific, but the questions could often be answered by anyone. I’m basically an extension of their school teacher or last resort when Google can’t pinpoint the answer.

Years ago when I was in high school I returned home late after a date and was surprised to find my mother still awake reading a magazine on the couch. We had a good relationship, and I knew she trusted me so I asked why she didn’t just head to bed and I’ll let myself in and tell her how my night went the next morning.

She said, “I stay up because I never know when you’ll need to talk.”

I’m beginning to understand what she meant that night.

Lincoln has been pestering me to make a YouTube video with him. So tonight I finally sat down and interviewed him about his Rubik’s Cube skills. Later Luca told me she was hungry so I made her favorite dish, pesto pasta, she she sat at the table and told me about her friends and teachers.

With both children I learned something that I didn’t know before. I doubt they learned anything about their father. But that isn’t what’s important.

Many a night I’ve turned down such requests, rationalizing they can wait till after dinner or tomorrow or the weekend.

But they don’t return. The opportunity is lost and the kids move on.

Mom was right.

Ryan Adams–Ashes and Fire

Changing of the Guard

In just two years, mobile went from about 5% of all Black Friday purchases to 24% according to a report from IBM. And of that traffic the iPad dominated with 10% of all shopping traffic and a whopping 88% of all mobile traffic.

Think about that for a minute.

A device that didn’t exist 3 years ago is now responsible for 10% of shopping traffic.

A few of my friends say the PC will be around forever, and they are probably right. Engineers, designers, and many professionals will still require the processing and graphical performance found only on a workstation. I work for a company that designs and builds these type of systems, and the demand continues to be strong.

But the following slide should scare the crap out of Microsoft and Intel. From the mid 80’s still 2009, they were the dominant computing platform. If you owned a PC during that time it likely ran a version of Windows and was powered by an Intel processor.

But today Android + iOS comprise 45% of all computing operating systems while Windows is down to a 35% share from nearly 90% just five years ago.

With the massive growth of smartphones, Windows is no longer the dominate platform, and this is the first chart I’ve seen that visually shows what’s happening. No wonder Microsoft is willing to spend billions to push their Windows Phone 8 platform into a market that has so far ignored it.

More people are now using a phone or tablet running Android or iOS than Windows. Many analysts see that PC sales are slowing, yet upwards of 350 million will be sold in 2013. That seems impressive until you hear that 1.5 billion smartphones will be sold during the same time frame.

We’re witnessing a changing of the guard.

Some will see that 24% mobile shopping traffic and disregard it. “PCs are still king!” they will say.

And they are right.

But for how long?

*Graphic taken from Internet Trends presentation from Mary Meeker.

Supercuts Tip Reminder

I took two kids to Supercuts today. I sat on the empty couch and opened up Reeder on my iPhone to get caught up on my favorite blogs while the stylists went to work.

The music playing over the store’s speakers was that mind-numbing pseudo-pop you hear in grocery stores with the lyrics removed. I barely noticed it until I heard a woman’s voice following at the end of a song:

“Please remember to tip your hair stylist.”

And then the next song began. I couldn’t believe what I’d just heard. Was Supercuts so tacky that they send reminders to tip over their speaker system?

Yes, they are.

I turned around to look at the stylists working on my kids. They must hear this dozens of times each day, but have probably tuned it out by now. If I were a stylist at Supercuts I’d be embarrassed.

Supercuts headquarters must believe some people need a public reminder to tip. But they offend the rest of us who don’t need a reminder. Let us decide if the service we received is tip-worthy. This isn’t a restaurant where tips make up a good portion of a server’s wage.

Maybe Supercuts could take it a step further and just tell us how much to tip. Being told to tip takes the joy out of the act. And it feels wrong and almost subliminal given how quickly the message was delivered between songs.

Is this really as tacky as it appeared to me today or am I overreacting?

Bus Duty

The rain is coming down so fast and furious that the windshield wipers can’t keep up.

The heater hasn’t had time to warm the car or clear the windows.

It’s almost 7 am which means the bus will arrive anytime.

And as much as I want to get back to my warm bed, I have a job to do, and that’s to keep an eye open for the bus.

As I sit in the drivers seat staring straight ahead waiting for lights to appear in my peripheral vision, my oldest daughter talks to me.

We’re only together for a few minutes, but I’ve learned more about my daughter before 7 am than any other time of the day. Maybe she’s more open and talkative in the morning. Or maybe I’m a better listener when I’m tired.

When I see the bus lights, I hit the button which opens the sliding doors to the van. My daughter leans over just enough so I can kiss her on the forehead before she grabs her backpack and cello and disappears into the dark morning air.

Occasionally I’ve taken this time with my daughter for granted.

But not today.

Siri: Google’s Worst Nightmare

Google rules desktop search, and has for many years now. I use the Chrome browser, and its integrated Google search is fantastic.

But once I move to my iPhone, Google basically doesn’t exist anymore. Searching on my phone has been such a pain that I tended to avoid it unless I had to. Like that time I stood in the automotive aisle of Fred Meyer searching for the right size windshield wipers for my car. But that all changed when Siri came to the 4S.

Siri has improved to the point where my search habits have changed, and that’s not a good thing for Google. I tell my phone what I’m looking for and it finds it. No typos. No ads. Works nearly every time. Not 100% but dang close.

This is bad news for Google, especially when you take into consideration the low engagement of Android compared to iOS. Example: Mobile devices made up 24% of Black Friday online traffic. But of that segment, iOS made up 77% of mobile traffic. In short, iOS users make better customers. Or maybe iOS devices are designed to attract better customers. And these customers using iOS are going to search and buy more products.

Google bought Android and continues to develop the platform because they can’t afford to miss out on mobile search spoils, and this keeps them in the game. So they have helped created a hugely successful mobile business for Samsung, but bear all development costs and see little return for their efforts.

In hindsight, turning against Apple instead of partnering with them could turn out to be one of the biggest boneheaded business decisions we’ve seen in while. Since Android’s inception, Google has earned 4x the revenues on iOS than it has Android.

If I were a Google shareholder I’d be scratching my head. Microsoft will probably make more off Android licensing deals than Google will this year. My friends running Android laugh when I tell them Google should sell off Android to Samsung and come crawling back to Apple.

But the train has left the station and Apple is well on its way to taking a major slice of mobile search and no longer needs Google. If Brian Hall is correct, expect to see Siri in a lot more places too. The game is far from over, but Siri is looking like Apple’s scalpel of choice in carving out portions of search market Google is trying desperately to protect.

Siri could turn out to be Google’s worst nightmare.

Diablo 3

When I want to escape I usually put on headphones and fire up Spotify. It’s easy to get lost in the sea of music for a couple of hours. Or I’ll check out ESPN or a while before switching over to American Pickers. I know, I know.

But lately, I’ve been playing a PC game called Diablo 3 from Blizzard.

I can’t recall the last PC game I got into more than a few days. It might have been Half Life 2 so it’s been a few years.

But Diablo 3 is one polished entertaining game. It tells a story along the way, but I really couldn’t tell you much about it because I skip it whenever I can to get back to the fighting and looting and often, getting my butt kicked.

A while ago I bought Skyrim for the Xbox and played it for a few days, but never got hooked. So I sold it.

Diablo 3 grabbed me right from the start. I’m sure one reason is that I prefer a mouse/keyboard to console controller. I also like that I can drop in for 15-20 minutes and still have fun without feeling I have to dedicate three hours in order to accomplish anything.

I’m hooked.

Butter Mints

The only time of the year mom bought butter mints was for Thanksgiving. She poured them into a crystal bowl that appeared far more fancy than needed, but no one can blame her since it was be the only day of the year the bowl would be used.

When mom placed the bowl full of mints on the table we knew the turkey was almost ready. No matter how early my father arose to start preparing the turkey, we always sat around the table and chatted about football and food, while waiting on that bird.

I spent many Thanksgivings with my grandparents. When I was younger, my parents hosted Thanksgiving, and my father’s parents were always invited. As my mother’s health deteriorated, her father would invite the family to Salt Lake for brunch at the Marriot Hotel.

But the hotel didn’t have butter mints, nor were we able to sit around the table and chat for hours. The early years were more about the conversations while the later years were mostly about the food.

This year we drove north to spend the afternoon with Kim’s brother and his family in Lake Stevens. As we left home, I handed Luca my phone and asked her to read aloud the tribute my uncle wrote about his father.

I hoped the others would find the stories of my grandfather interesting enough that they’d listen, but was surprised when it actually happened. I filled many summer days working alongside him on his farm he tended to after he retired from Hill Air Force Base, yet most of what my uncle wrote was new to me.

It’s natural to think about my extended family this time of year, and I still can’t get used to the fact that my grandparents have all passed away.

We’ve begun our own Thanksgiving traditions, like staying up late the night before making pumpkin cream pies. We made five of them this year and all that remains is a bowl of left over whipped cream.

I hope your Thanksgiving was full of conversation, good food, friends and butter mints.

Car Breeding Gone Wrong

If a Honda Accord Wagon mated with an AMC Pacer you’d end up with the Honda CrossTour.

Pictures alone can’t describe this Frankencar, but it’s the ugliest car I’ve seen since the Pontiac Aztec. I came across one in person last night and had to stop, catch my breath and take it all in because it’s far worse in person.

If you paid the nearly $30,000 asking price for this car, run, don’t walk to your nearest optometrist to have your eyes examined.

Someone at Honda has a very sick mind. Or very good sense of humor.

Can Microsoft create killer hardware and software?

What if Microsoft pulled a page out their early playbook and created software for the most popular platforms, be it desktop, tablets or mobile?

What if Microsoft was less concerned about owning the entire mobile ecosystem and instead was a player on all platforms? I can’t imagine owning an Android tablet or phone. But because Google brings apps to iOS, they have my businesses. I wouldn’t hesitate to pay for premium versions of GMail and Google Docs. I run Chrome and use Google Search multiple times each day. Too much of my life runs through Google apps. No way am I switching to a competitor at this stage.

I understand that Microsoft hopes to sway me into buying a Surface tablet and Windows Phone by getting me accustomed to the look and feel of those products through Windows 8. But the train has left the station, and I’ve already committed to another tablet and phone, that when combined, are used more often than my Windows PC. And that delta continues to grow each year as my tablet and phone perform more of my day to day tasks.

This year, Microsoft will get $39 from me for a Windows 8 Pro upgrade and $60 for an Xbox Live Gold account. That’s better than nothing but still a fraction of what I’ll give Apple for games, apps and music among two iPhones, two iPads and three iPod Touch.

Why does Microsoft continue to toss hundreds of millions into Windows Phone when the best they can do is take 3rd place? Why not create best of breed apps across Android and iOS and offer them to billions of customers instead of a few million Windows Phone owners?

Some may point to the success of Xbox to show Microsoft can make their own hardware and own the end-to-end experience. Sure, Xbox can be found in millions of living rooms, but it adds very little to the bottom line for Microsoft. Microsoft still derives most profits from Windows and Office. They dabble in entertainment, and search and business software, but if you look at what drives profits to the bottom line, it’s Windows and Office.

Unfortunately, Windows and Office take a backseat to tablets and smartphones in terms of growth potential, two areas where Microsoft had a head start, but got shoved aside by RIM, Apple and Google. They are trying to crawl back into the game with products like the Surface and updates to their Windows Phone platform. And, both seem like decent products, but they spotted Apple and Google a three to four year head start, and it doesn’t appear that carriers or customers are looking for a third alternative. Developers already have a huge audience developing for Android and iOS which explain why Microsoft is having to pay developers to build apps for Windows Phone and new Windows Store.

Why does Microsoft believe they need to become like Apple?

Some of my favorite software products came from Microsoft but have been abandoned like Windows Live Writer and Digital Image Pro. I used to love Windows Messenger and Live Mesh until they started changing their names, and morphing into other products.

I’ve been running Windows 8 Pro for just over and month. With one exception (older Creative soundcard), it’s been a easy transition from Windows 7. Microsoft can put an army of talented software engineers behind a product like no other company can.

I just wish they spent more time creating excellent software across all platforms.