But It Comes With A Bug Deflector

It’s not supposed to happen like this.

Especially in consumer electronics where new tech comes along and knocks the leader of its perch. Look no further than the gaming consoles pioneered by Atari and Nintendo which eventually gave way to the Sony Playstation. Until, of course, Nintendo regained its footing with the Wii only to have Microsoft waiting in the wings with its Xbox and hot selling Kinect.

But that’s not what we’re witnessing in the consumer tablet market. In fact, it’s not really a tablet market as much as it’s the iPad’s market where a few companies dabble from time to time.

Competitors like Samsung, Blackberry, Sony, Toshiba, and Motorola have had two years to produce something that gives Apple a run for its money. And, to date, each of them have created tablets which consumers find less appetizing than a turd sandwich.

I see these competing tablets each time I visit Fred Meyer or Fry’s Electronics because they stand out like a sore thumb. You’ll find them sitting on a table, screens covered in dust and seldom turned on. If consumers cared about them wouldn’t they be operational? Have Samsung and Sony executives never stepped foot inside an Apple store to see how real people interact with their products?

The new iPad’s most fearsome competitor is the iPad 2. Even the original iPad holds its own! Think about that for a minute. Apple is replacing the best selling iPad ever (that has no peer) with another iPad.  Honda used to do this to the mid-sized sedan market every few years. Just when the Camry or Taurus began to gain ground, Honda would release a new Accord that reset the bar. In a sense, Apple is doing the same thing except, in their market, they also make the Camry and Taurus.

At this point, anyone purchasing a tablet without the Apple logo is intentionally telling everyone, "I do not want the best tablet available". They may have philosophical differences with how Apple conducts business, but from a product standpoint nobody else is even in the game.

Imagine the cost of a BMW M3 and the Ford Fiesta were identical. The non-Apple tablet buyer is akin to the guy who, given that choice, selects the Fiesta and then tells everyone else that his car came with a bug deflector and rear spoiler.

Tossing Kettle Corn

I looked over to catch my son and his friend tossing kettle corn in to the air and attempting to catch it in their mouths. They were laughing, cracking jokes and clearly enjoying themselves as they waited for the hockey game to begin.

My fears had been proven unfounded, and the Zambonis were still laying down fresh ice.

Maybe fears is too strong a word, but I  had concerns how this night would go. My son’s friend lost his father to cancer the day after Christmas. And before you think that I possess the kindness and sensitivity to provide a night of escapism for this young boy you should know Kim is the one who made it happen. All I did was provide the transportation and kettle corn.

It’s a wonderful sight to see your child genuinely connect with a friend, and that’s what I saw tonight. They shared the same jokes, finished each others sentences and even joined in the “Portland sucks!” fan chant after the Thunderbirds scored their third goal.

On the ride home, I asked my son’s friend to tell me about his brother, who I found out earlier, is a Marine serving in Afghanistan. The reverence in his voice told me how much he admired him. He went on to explain that his sister had recently joined the Naval Academy.

“It’s just me, my other sister and my mom now.”

As I drove along the Green River that connects Kent to Auburn, I listened to this 8-year boy share details about his father. He spoke with a confidence and pride that belie his age. I suspect that having to deal with a personal tragedy this young age tends to accelerate the maturity process.

I thought back to my father helping me sculpt my pinewood derby when I was eight and wondered who will do the same for him? Who will show him how to grip a curveball, throw a spiral, or talk to him about girls in a few years? These things have a way of taking care of themselves is what I tell myself.

The game went longer than I’d anticipated. I hoped his mother would understand, but we weren’t far from his home now.

Given his brother and sister’s military service, I asked if he planned to serve when he got older. He didn’t answer immediately, and I wondered if he’d heard me.

“I’m going to join the Army because my dad was in the Army.”

We pulled up to his home, and Lincoln walked him to the door.

As I waited in the car I thought to myself how it was a good thing I was the only person sitting in the front seat tonight.

Nothing Better

I left work early to pickup Luca who stayed after school to participate in the math club. She hadn’t shut the car door before launching into one story after another. She told me how much she loves her teacher and her friends before pulling out her report card and giving me the run down of her grades.

She’s like a water faucet that’s either turned off or on full blast. There’s no in-between.

She’s not as talkative on the morning drive to the bus, and I understand that these opportunities don’t come around often so I turned off the radio and listened.

I can’t help but see that my influence with her is slowly being transferred to teachers, and friends, and and classmates. Then there are books, TV and music as well as others I’m not aware of yet. I’m still around, but my voice has company, and a lot of it.

Tonight she asked me to help her print pictures for a science fair project. We took turns trimming colored paper that would be used to frame the pictures. I showed her how to access documents on my computer from any other computer in the house. She showed me the chart she created in Excel. She was quick to point out that her principal taught her that.

Years ago had someone explained to me the amount of sheer joy I’d experience learning how candy crystals form from a little girl who still loves Scooby Doo, I would have thought they were deranged.

Days like today don’t come around often. But when they do, it’s hard to imagine a better day.

Summer Fishing

Before I could drive or was interested in girls, I spent many summer afternoons fishing at a small secluded pond about a mile from our home. My friends and I mostly fished for perch that we’d catch and release by the dozens

One afternoon we watched as an older boy cast his line far out into the middle of the lake and landed a pike which fought on the line for what seemed like an hour. He eventually brought the fish ashore while the rest of us stood around in awe. We’d never seen such an unusual fish come out of that pond, and we spent the two summers trying to land that elusive pike. Any firm bite was attributed to a pike, but none of us ever caught one. Perch were never quite as exciting again.

Those lazy summer afternoons spent with friends were a memorable time of my life, yet it’s hard to imagine a similar scenario repeating today. I’d like to believe that I’m not influenced by the never-ending media reports of missing children and abuse, but I am.  My mother and father kept close tabs on me as a young boy, but they also gave me the freedom to explore ponds, rivers, fields and tree forts  outside of our neighborhood. I’d like to my children to have that same freedom to forge their own friendships and enjoy outdoor activities.

With the internet and cable news reporting every missing child it’s impossible to know if anything has really changed since I was a kid. In the 70’s and 80’s we usually only heard reports of missing children if they were from our town. Today, incidents that take place thousands of miles away often feel as though they are one town or neighborhood away. 

I have no idea if I’m keeping my children any more safe then my parents did with their children. We didn’t have Nintendo, Xbox and iPods to keep us entertained at home so we were constantly looking for adventure, even when it took us a mile or two from home. 

I wonder if many of the outdoor dangers have been replaced by those online.

As we head into Spring I need to remember that my kids naturally want to spread their wings and explore. And that I don’t need to freak out if they happen to ride their bikes a little further down the street.

Narrowing The Search

The Aiwa portable cassette player I’d been saving for was smaller than the Sony Walkman plus it looked a lot cooler which was the main reason I wanted it. I hadn’t been out of high school long, but had saved the nearly $300 to buy my first portable music player.

The same day my pay check arrived, I headed down the the local Inkleys which sold mostly cameras but also carried a few higher end portable cassette players on the market. The owner recognized me from my many visits to the store to compare models and answer my questions. I had narrowed down my search to two models and had decided the more expensive model was the best choice. As I pulled my wallet out, the owner stopped me and offered to let me listen to both models.

I assumed the more expensive one would sound better but it didn’t. In fact, I couldn’t tell the difference. The owner explained that the more expensive model included a motorized antenna which added not only to the cost but to the complexity of the player. I mixed my own cassettes and had no plans to listen to the radio so I ended up saving about a hundred bucks that day. The owner had earned my trust and I continued to purchase a number of items from him over the years.

I’ve thought about this experience with the owner of this small camera shop a number of times since I’ve started spending a good portion of my day advising people what computer to purchase.

Each day I speak with people who trust me to help them find the right system. Friends and family call to ask similar questions because the choices are so confusing. I hope I don’t sound like the Verizon employee in the SNL spoof video below. And as much as I try, I know there are times I do.

Through much trial and error I’ve found a system that works well for me. That includes a mid-range Windows 7 desktop, an iPad2, and iPhone 4S. I have as many friends attempt to sway more over to an Android phone as I do Mac fans trying to get me to abandon a PC running Windows. Contrary to what some people, moving between Windows and iOS devices is painless. As much as I enjoy the “it just works” nature of my iPad and iPhone, I still enjoy building my own PC by hand, with components I’ve selected right down to the make and model of case fans.

What works for me may not work well for you and vice versa. I’m fine if someone asks for my opinion on a computer, but decides to go with another model. Where I get frustrated is when my opinion is followed with a “But the guy at Best Buy liked this one..” or “Ya, but my brother doesn’t like that one…” type answer. My standard reply in those rare instances is “Then it sounds like you already have an answer” because it’s impossible to debate the imaginary Best Buy employee.

Maybe that’s why I enjoy building PCs for my father. He does his homework before asking my opinion and then we discuss options that give him the most bang for his dollar. I’ve lost count how many computers I’ve built for him over the years, but it’s quite a few.

And he even carries an Android phone.

http://www.nbc.com/assets/video/widget/widget.html?vid=1384573

Next Tuesday

Each Tuesday morning I get up early to drop my daughter off at the bus stop. We don’t say much to each other as we wait in the dark for the lights to peer around the corner. When I see the lights, I push the button to open the van’s sliding door. Luca grabs her backpack and cello. I pat her on the head and tell her I love her before watching, what looks like a large cello with small feet,  cross the street to the bus.

I won’t be there when she gets home from school so I rely on Kim to share how her day went. The same goes for our three other children. Monday through Friday I’m a part of their lives in short bursts lasting but a few minutes here and there.

I had no idea how I’d take to fatherhood. In all honestly, I didn’t know if I’d have children. I recall telling my mother a few years into my first marriage that I didn’t need children to be happy. I’m certain my answer was, in many ways, a reflection of how I felt about myself twenty years ago. What I tried to convey to my mother was that I was already happy and having children wouldn’t change that.

What I didn’t realize twenty years ago was how much joy children would bring into my life.

Last night we piled the kids in the van and drove around town without a destination in mind. Lincoln and Anna were reciting lines from Napoleon Dynamite. Kai tried his best to join in while Luca was telling us about the latest book she read. It was pure chaos. I can’t imagine the 20 year old me getting excited about spending a couple hours in a van full of kids driving around Seattle in a rain storm.

Kids have a way of recalibrating my priorities. Balancing my personal hobbies, my career, and my friends occasionally comes at the expense of spending time with my family. I’m blessed to have married a woman who loves being a mom to our children. We’ve both learned to recognize when the other needs a breather and not take it personally.

Most of my friends around my age are watching their kids go off to college. Our oldest won’t head off to middle school till next year. That used to bother me because I was jealous they’d get to travel, purchase smaller cars and do all that fun stuff financial planning commercials tell us empty nesters are doing.  Maybe I’ll feel the same way after my kids hit their teens and begin dating and driving.

But next Tuesday morning those same friends should be jealous of me.

We Still Have Office

Patrick Rhone from Minimal Mac recently shared his thoughts on “Microsoft’s Biggest Miss” which he believes happened with Office:

Then, she explained, the iPhone came. There was no Office. People got things done. Then the iPad came. There was no Office. People got things done. Android came. People got things done. All of those things that they, just a couple of years ago, were convinced they needed Office to do. They got them done without it. And thus, the truth was revealed. Like the curtain finally falling from the Wizard of Oz to find just a small, frail, man pretending to be far more powerful and relevant than he really was. Microsoft’s biggest miss was allowing the world to finally see the truth behind the big lie — they were not needed to get real work done. Or anything done, really.

I’ve had love/hate relationship with Microsoft for the past 17 years. When I moved to Seattle I desperately wanted to work for them. It didn’t take long before I got a chance working as a product manager for two smaller products that were eventually merged into other products. I eventually landed on the Office team which felt like moving from T-Ball to the New York Yankees, but within the same company.

It was as true back then as it is today that the Windows and Office divisions sit atop of the product group food chain. Mess with them, and you’ll get eaten.

They are the Microsoft cash cows while most other products are but a tiny blip on the radar. Exchange, SQL Server and even Xbox have made some noise, but Windows and Office are the popular jocks kicking sand in the eyes of every other product group.

When the Justice Department began its investigation into Microsoft’s anticompetitive and exclusionary practices in 1998, few employees seemed concerned. I was working as a contractor at Microsoft at the time and was interviewing for a full-time position. While at lunch one afternoon with a Microsoft recruiter, I asked if he was worried about could result from of the DOJ investigation. His answer reflected the general attitude at the time:

“Are you kidding, we still have Office.”

While much has been written about the varying degrees of quality with each new version of Windows, such was not the case with Office. It was the gold standard within Microsoft and every employee knew it. Compared to Office, the Windows division was frat boy who was late to class because he was out partying all night.

And yet here I write this on a PC running Windows using the free Windows Live Writer instead of Word. As good as Office is, I stopped using it about four years ago when Google Docs arrived and suddenly made sharing my work dead simple. My needs were not so advanced that I felt like I was giving up anything. When I bought my first iPhone, the transition to Google Docs made even more sense. No more updates to install, PST files to manage or Outlook contacts to sync.

I hear Office360 is comparable to Google Docs. For all I know, it may have more features and offer more storage. But it’s all too little too late. Simplicity won out over sheer number of features.  Is there anyone still in Redmond who understands that a tablet or phone with a few features implemented perfectly beats one with dozens implemented poorly? This lesson appears lost on Microsoft.

I may not need Office, but plenty of businesses still rely on it and continue to line Microsoft’s pockets. It’s going to be around for a while. Putting it on the web is a move in the right direction, but it’s baffling why a software company wouldn’t build a version for the most popular smartphone and tablet.

Then again, we understand why they don’t.

Microsoft appears to be sacrificing one cash cow to save the other. And maybe it will work. But they could end up injuring both cows.

Timberland 3-Eyelet Lug

I bought my first pair about twenty years ago, and my sixth pair from Zappos last week. It’s the perfect shoe I can wear year-round in Seattle without having to worry about my feet getting damp.

Every few months I’ll grab a soft cotton rag and rub mink oil into each shoe which brings back the burgundy tint and helps to waterproof the leather. Once the leather laces get worn in, they stayed tied unlike leather laces in my other shoes.

Tip: running the mink oiled cloth over the laces helps speed up the process.

I’ve paid $120 for every pair I’ve owned, and I’ve never seen them discounted.  I don’t know why that is, but I’ve purchased less expensive similar models of Timberland and seldom been happy with them.

When Kim and I were in New York about 13 years ago, we wandered into a tiny shoe store not far off Times Square. Kim bought a pair that she still has today. They look brand new because she only wears them a few times each year. That was the year I bought my third pair.

I can’t imagine my closest without a pair of Lugs on the floor.

timberlands

Living On Faith

Time has a way of romanticizing the past.

I was reminded of this recently as I walked down the avenue, not far from the University of Washington. Bulldog News was still doing a brisk business as was the shoe cottage only hipsters could appreciate. Overpriced parking lots are all that divide one business from the next. 

I crossed the street so I could take in the aroma of  the walk-up gyro joint. I recall the gyros being as good as the service was poor. The Tower Records was gone as were most of the panhandlers. My friend tells me the police have cleaned up the area. I can’t helped but think they chased  some of the personality away as well.

My first apartment in Seattle was a block off the avenue. I didn’t have much money, but I did have a lot of free time to explore. Twice a week I’d hit the avenue and spend hours listening to music in the used record shops. On my way out one afternoon, I asked the guy at the counter what album was playing over the speakers. He tried to ignore me, but when he realized I wasn’t leaving without an answer he said, “That’s the Velvet Underground, and how does anyone not know that?”

I’ve since gained a better appreciation of that band to the point that I realize the scolding I received that day was deserved.

As I returned to my car I passed the ATM, and a nervous empty feeling hit me which makes no sense since I seldom use at ATM anymore, and haven’t used this particular one for over 16 years. But I can picture my much younger self standing in a line of students praying to God that I have twenty bucks to last me till Friday.

My life sucked but I was too dumb to know it. I was living on the faith that tomorrow would be better than today. 

And in hindsight, it usually was.