November 2012
2 posts
Got Things Done
(This is a guest blog post by Ludvig Ericson.)
People seem so stressed out today, yet we live in the era of automation where you can actually buy a pair of shoes on your morning commute while taking care of business. Odd, isn’t it?
Think about three things you did prior to reading this, how did you end them? Chances are you didn’t properly, “alright that’s 90% of the job...
Four Devices Apple Doesn't Make Yet
Here’s the computer setup I wish I had. Too bad they’re all devices Apple doesn’t make (at least yet).
1. Retina 27” iMac.
Apple recently announced their lineup of new iMacs, but they’re non-retina displays. The 27” iMac display is 2560 x 1440. Apple usually doubles the resolution to make it retina. So, the retina iMac 27” should have 5120 x 2880 resolution and it would be a beauty to read...
October 2012
2 posts
Moving to where the puck is
Apple’s new iMacs (21.5” and 27”) are quite impressive - much thinner, less glare, much lighter. (I’m thinking of getting the 27” version.)
The most interesting “addition” to the iMac is actually the missing DVD/CD optical drive slot. It’s been a standard feature for years and Apple has decided to completely remove it. You’ll need an external drive if you want to access a DVD/CD.
What’s...
Why the iPad Mini Matters
Today Apple announced the the 7.9” iPad Mini (starting a $329). I want to take a few minutes to share why I think the announcement is a big deal.
First, it’s surprising that Apple didn’t price the iPad Mini closer to the Nexus 7 (which starts at $199). I was expecting the iPad Mini to come in at $299 or lower. But Apple pricing the iPad Mini at $329 shows that they’ve made a decision to...
September 2012
2 posts
Dear Tiny Post, please stop the shady practices.
I signed up for Tiny Post about 10 months ago. I created three posts and then haven’t gone back to the app. Just never found the use for it.
Then on August 31 TinyPost starts sending me emails. The first one is an announcement, “Brace Yourself: Filters and Fonts are here” and the second one on Sept 7, “Best Tiny Posts of the Week.” That’s alright. I’m not interested, so I just delete them.
...
I Respectively Disagree (with Jeff Bezos)
Jeff Bezos is a fantastic presenter and innovator. Yet, yesterday at the Kindle 2012 lineup event he made two major arguments that I have a difficult time agreeing with. (Watch full event on YouTube)
First, Jeff Bezos argued that Android tablets haven’t taken off because they’re “gadgets,” while the Kindle Fire sold well because it had better “services”. Bezos...
August 2012
5 posts
I propose an iOS AppStore Fast Track app approval...
Andrew Chen wrote an interesting blog post, Mobile app startups are failing like it’s 1999.
I think the root problem is that the AppStore review process takes too long to encourage rapid, iterative development. If you need to wait 10 days for your update to get approved, it breaks the feedback loop that you need to have to iterate quickly for new products.
I’d like to propose a Fast Track...
Ten million users is the new one million users
Insightful blog post by Chris Dixon.
I’ve been saying that the scale of mobile/social (ie., ios, android, facebook) has increased the distribution 10x for apps/services. It’s truly incredible what’s happened in the past 5 years.
But saying that, there are major challenges of mobilizing a non-transactional app… namely,...
Where is David Pogue’s iPhone?
Entertaining story of David Pogue (tech writer from NY Times) losing his phone in the NY Subway and Find My iPhone, Twitter and the police helping him to track it down.
“Questions are places in your mind where answers fit. If you haven’t asked the...”
– http://37signals.com/svn/posts/3225-what-are-questions
“Our goal absolutely at Apple is not to make money. This may sound a little...”
– http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/9438662/Apple-design-chief-Our-goal-isnt-to-make-money.html
July 2012
8 posts
“Some people seem to think that getting acquired should be the highest aspiration...”
– http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/13/khosla-the-silicon-valley-vision/?src=recg
Definition of Zynga Fatigue
Zyn·ga fa·tigue noun \zin-ga fə-ˈtēg\
1. When users spend an insane amount of hours playing Zynga’s addictive games but gain little or no meaningful lasting value; as a result, they are repulsed at the idea of playing another Zynga game or anything that resembles the dozens of lame games they’ve wasted thousands of hours on. Some people describe it as waking up from a bad dream.
The "Net Loss" Clause to Excellent Customer...
In order to give great customer service you need to be willing to take a net loss on certain transactions. For many this is difficult to accept.
Yesterday I dropped off my car at the dealer for a repair and they called today saying that the repair will cost an additional $300 because they broke a part. I thought, shouldn’t they pay for a part that they broke? After 90 minutes of back and forth...
The "Just look at it" hack to problem solving...
This past week I was faced with a difficult problem. A really difficult problem.
In fact, it was painfully difficult. And I was struck with a flood of emotions: fear, anxiety, despair, etc.
I just wanted to sleep and not deal with it.
But instead, I did the “Just look at it” hack.
The “Just look at it” hack is something I’ve been thinking about the past few weeks. The essence is that if you...
Empathy is what makes Amazon different
Slate.com ran an article last week titled I Want It Today: How Amazon’s ambitious new push for same-day delivery will destroy local retail. If you haven’t read it, it’s a good read. The gist of it is as follows:
But now Amazon has a new game. Now that it has agreed to collect sales taxes, the company can legally set up warehouses right inside some of the largest metropolitan areas in the...
Google as an "operating systems" company
Google is slowly but surely becoming an “operating systems” company.
You can understand Google as a search company. But I think that’s where Google was at and maybe is where they’re at currently. But it’s not where they’re headed. Sure, Google will be in search for many years (and maybe decades) to come. But what is more important than search to Google is the operating systems that will run...
The Timer Knows Best: Why I Love the Pomodoro...
(This is Part 5 in a series about My Productivity System.)
The Pomodoro Technique has become an essential part to my focus management system. If you haven’t used the Pomodoro Technique, I encourage you to do so. And if you’ve tried it in the past but have given up on it, I encourage you to give it another try as part of a more comprehensive focus management system like the one I’m writing a...
June 2012
5 posts
The Daily Focus Area is a simple habit that helps...
(This is Part 4 in a series about My Productivity System.)
A Daily Focus Area is an area of your business or job that you focus on for the majority of the day. It’s a great way to harness more focus for critical parts of your work.
I first started having a daily focus back in college where I would set aside one day of the week to study for each of my classes. For example, I would set aside...
Get in the zone by learning to say no....
In order to be exceedingly productive, you need to have extended periods of focus. Some people call this being in the “zone”. It’s where you’re focused on the goal at hand and that’s all that matters. 2 hours… 4 hours… 6 hours… 8 hours… (some people can go 12+ hours in the zone) and you’re making tons of progress. The deeper you go in the zone, the more you seem to get done. This is...
2 tags
Introducing the Week Chart
Update: Thanks Lifehacker for picking up this post.
(This is Part 3 in a series about My Productivity System.)
In this post I’d like to share with you the Week Chart. It’s part of my recipe to keep focused and release incredible amounts of creativity throughout the week.
Here’s what the Week Chart looks like this:
The Week Chart’s main purpose is to show all your Desired Outcomes and Daily...
GTD sucks for creative work, part 2.
(This is Part 2 in a series about My Productivity System.)
*(I made some changes to this post on 6/7 after receiving some input from tivaski on Reddit.)
My last blog post went to #3 at Hacker News, got picked up by Lifehacker, and to top if off… David Allen (the creator of GTD) replied to the post in the comments:
Hmmm… the whole driver of GTD for me was to optimize creative space....
GTD sucks for creative work. Here's an...
(This is Part 1 in a series about My Productivity System.)
A friend asked me this question about what system I use to manage my todo list:
Your todo list is probably like mine, a million items long and constantly growing… Do you use a system or systems to manage your todo list? I’ve been loosely following GTD, and currently using a text document to handly my todo list. The text file is...
May 2012
3 posts
The law of exponential return (Productivity Tip...
I’ve recently discovered the law of exponential return as it relates to focus. In certain areas, the more you focus and go deeper the more you gain in return. And the rate of return increases as you increase your focus. It’s easy to have a “respond mindset” and to think we’re accomplishing a lot. We respond to an email. We respond to a coworkers request. We respond to...
2 tags
It's not about the tasks. It's about focus....
Too many productivity apps center around tasks. I’ve been using Asana and Basecamp, and I’m not happy with them because they’re all about the tasks. Too many tasks make me confused and unproductive.
I’ve found that it’s helpful to move away from the task-centered approach to getting things done, and move toward a focus-approached method. Rather than listing out...
re: The default state of a startup is failure
Chris Dixon wrote an interesting blog post titled The default state of a startup is failure that got me thinking.
Startups are tough because it’s hard to get noticed. Even established companies need to spend tens of millions of dollars to promote a new product, just to get noticed. But a startup doesn’t have millions to spend on advertising so it must rely on guerrilla techniques....
October 2011
12 posts
Apple's upcoming TV
John Gruber posted an interesting article about his thoughts about “Apps are the New Channels”. I have to agree. I posted some comments on the Hacker news thread discussing the article:
Gruber’s article makes a lot of sense. TV content providers are already creating iOS apps, so why not pull them altogether into a Newstand-like app folder called iTV. And that would appear on...
Instapaper: send compilation to Kindle now
Just got the $79 Kindle, and it’s really awesome. I had the 2nd gen Kindle but it was too heavy and bulky to use much. This 3rd gen Kindle is light and tiny. It’s great. I’m planning on reading the Steve Jobs biography when it comes out next week on the Kindle.
Anyway, I was trying to find a good way to send articles over to my Kindle to read, and it turns out Instapaper has...
China could account for 1/3 Apple revenue in a...
I posted this Bloomberg article on Hacker News and posted this comment:
“China accounted for 16 percent of fourth-quarter sales, or about $4.5 billion, Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said on a conference call yesterday. Quarterly sales in China were up almost four times the year-ago level, he said.”
This is staggering....
How Siri can open up to 3rd party developers
I found this post on Hacker News… Rob Cortez says Siri will never open up the 3rd party developers. I think he’s grossly underestimating Apple and the power of Siri. Siri is the coming of the 3rd generation of human-computer interaction interface. First was keyboard. Second was touch (iPhone, iPad). And now third is Siri (and other competitors). - sure there was touch and voice...
Thoughts on Amazon
Here are all of my posts about my Thoughts on Amazon.
Thoughts on Amazon #1: Bezos announces Kindle Fire
Thoughts on Amazon #2: I Respectively Disagree (with Jeff Bezos)
*Also, check out a list of all the series on my blog.
Thoughts on Apple
Here are my posts about my Thoughts on Apple.
Thoughts on Apple #1: iPad: The Dawn of a New Era (Part 1)
Thoughts on Apple #2: iPad: The Dawn of a New Era (Part II)
Thoughts on Apple #3: Steve Jobs, the problem solver
Thoughts on Apple #4: How Siri can open up to 3rd party developers
Thoughts on Apple #5: China could account for 1/3 Apple revenue in a couple years
Thoughts on Apple #6:...
Productivity Tips
Here a list of all the Productivity Tips from my blog.
Productivity Tip #1: It’s not about the tasks. It’s about focus.
Productivity Tip #2: The law of exponential return
Productivity Tip #3: Get in the zone by learning to say no.
Productivity Tip #4: The “Just look at it” hack for problem solving
*Also, check out a list of all the series on my blog.
All Series
Here’s a compilation of all the series on my blog.
My Productivity System - my alternative system to be super-productive with creative work
Productivity Tips - tips to keep focused and keep the creative juices flowing
Thoughts on Apple - reflections on what makes Apple great
Thoughts on Amazon - the rise of Amazon as a tech giant
Thoughts on Startups - entrepreneurship, you gotta love...
Thoughts on Google
Here are my posts on my Thoughts on Google.
*Also, check out a list of all the series on my blog.
Thoughts on Startups
Here are my posts about my thoughts on Startups.
Thoughts on Startups #1: re: The default state of a startup is failure
Thoughts on Startups #2: The “Net Loss” Clause to Excellent Customer Service
*Also, check out a list of all the series on my blog.
My Productivity System
Here’s a list of all the parts to the series on My Productivity System.
Part 1: GTD sucks for creative work. Here’s an alternative system.
Part 2: GTD sucks for creative work, part 2
Part 3: Introducing the Week Chart
Part 4: The Daily Focus Area is a simple habit that helps you focus better.
Part 5: The Timer Knows Best: Why I Love the Pomodoro Technique
*Also, check out a list...
September 2011
4 posts
WatchJeff Bezos announced the new Amazon Kindle Fire tablet. A 7” android-based tablet for only $199. I placed an order right away.
Watching Bezos reminded me of a bit of Steve Jobs. Focused on user experience and simplicity. Jobs had user empathy… and Bezos has it too. It’s what drives extraordinary design and products.
The tablet market is getting crowded… the iPad is...
A Better Letter from Netflix
Matt Drance has written a better letter that Netflix should have sent. It’s genius.
In the 14 years since we started Netflix, we’ve gained more than 25 million customers worldwide by providing the best DVD by mail service anywhere. Along the way, we’ve built an unrivaled streaming service that continues to grow every day. Today we want to tell you about some big changes at Netflix as we...
Netflix: What's going on?
Reed Hasting, CEO of Netflix, sent out this email to all Netflix subscribers. I was disappointed to say the least. Just a couple months ago Netflix announced they were increasing prices and charging separately for streaming and DVDs. My wife and I were on the fence, debating whether to keep Netflix or not. But it’s good to have just in case (Currently, Apple TV is our preferred method to...
Fred Wilson on the Economy
This morning Fred Wilson of avc.com wrote in his daily blog his thoughts on the economy.
We are undergoing a big time technological revolution that is disrupting big industries and big companies all over the place.
And he writes further:
We are crossing a huge chasm from an industrial society to an information society. And there is immense pain in that transformation. Obama can’t solve...
August 2011
1 post
Steve Jobs, the problem solver
This past week Steve Jobs stepped down as Apple’s CEO due to his weak health. I wish Steve Jobs and his family the best during this tough time.
I’ve learned a lot from watching and observing Steve Jobs over the years. I’ve been an avid fan - watching his every keynote speech for the past several years. It’s amazing that the iPhone has totally redefined the phone...
January 2010
2 posts
iPad: The Dawn of a New Era (Part II)
Now that we’ve had a few days to digest the iPad announcement, I wanted to follow up with more thoughts on the significance of the iPad.
1. The iPad is the beginning of the era of touch computing going mainstream.
The iPhone brought us an amazing and revolutionary way to interact with a mobile device. It removed the “distance” between the user and the phone by allow touch to guide the user...
iPad: The Dawn of a New Era (Part 1)
After weeks of pondering and discussing with our team about what the “Apple Tablet” might be, today Apple announced the iPad. It’s not what we expected. But after spending the whole day discussing it, I think the iPad just might be the dawn of a new era.
To understand the significance of today’s announcement, we need to focus on the OS and not the hardware for now. Originally, I was hoping...
