Write Hemisphere

A new adventure

2013-04-17T14:06:00.001-07:00

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. - Helen Keller

Today was my last day at Nokia. I remember getting a call from Rich Green almost three years ago, asking me if I was interested in helping turn around one of the strongest worldwide brands. I was blissfully working on my startup, Lootworks, at the time, but the opportunity to work on a new hardware platform and MeeGo was appealing. Rich was one of the best bosses I'd ever worked for, so the opportunity to build a team with him was the tipping factor.

Nokia turned out to be a tumultuous ride. Not long after I joined saw the arrival of Stephen Elop and his famous "Burning Platform" memo. Stephen was right in that analysis, though the decisions it forced will be second guessed for many years. Working for Nokia's CTO afforded me a unique vantage point into this and many other Nokia decisions, and while I didn't agree with everything decided, I laud Stephen and the Nokia leadership team for facing the rapidly changing mobile landscape and making tough calls.

While Rich left after the Microsoft decision, I ended up staying almost three years. I was afforded the opportunity to build an amazing team in Advanced Engineering, and over time finally started to (partially?) understand the Finnish culture and its profound influence on Nokia. Henry Tirri, Nokia's current CTO and my boss, sheltered my team and me as we focused on rapidly prototyping differentiation for the coming mobile revolution. Henry, you are quite OK ;-)

A surfing analogy turns out to be the best way to explain why I had to move on from Nokia. Surfing for me is about patience, timing, and placement. You can feel and see the ocean start to swell when a big wave is coming. You patiently wait for the right swell, then have be at the right place at the right time to get up on the board and ride a big one all the way in. Your gut tells you when to start paddling, and my technology "gut" says a big wave is on the way…

I believe a profound change in technology is happening. A hardware revolution has started and its impact will be as profound as the Internet revolution that started in the mid 1990s. Hardware prototyping costs have plummeted. The cost and difficulty of moving from duct-tape prototype to mass production, while not insignificant, is now approachable by small teams of dedicated Makers. 3PL and 4PL (logistics) is so much easier, thanks in part to Amazon and FedEx, which translates into products getting from factory to customer in days, not weeks or months. Customer validation and acquisition is now much easier, facilitated by KickStarter, IndieGoGo, and a myriad of web tools. It no longer takes tens of millions of dollars to go from first idea to hardware product at Best Buy. Think an order of magnitude less cost.

What the Internet revolution did to bits, this Hardware revolution will do to atoms. As we embed intelligence in the billions of "mundane" objects in our world, it will have as much impact as other revolutionary hardware technologies that will simultaneously disrupt entire markets. Using the word "hardware" to describe this renaissance is a bit misleading, as the coming wave of innovation builds on the software and services created by the last innovation wave. We're finally able to economically add hardware into the mix, which in turn allows us to address efficiency plays rooted the physical world.

I could not miss the opportunity to ride this wave. And to ride this wave I needed to be in a startup environment. I started working on a few of my own ideas, focused on the connected toy space. While I was burning the midnight oil, I was introduced to a hardware incubator, Lemnos Labs, in San Francisco. Started by Jeremy Conrad and Helen Zelman, two kick-ass MIT alum, Lemnos Labs takes the best ideas from software incubators like TechStars and Y Combinator, but adapts and adds what is necessary for a hardware company to grow. I had never seen anything like it, and started hanging around "The Forge", as they call it.

You can imagine what happened. What started as an occasional visit turned into a weekly stop. Henry and Nokia graciously let me become the EIR (Entrepreneur in Residence) there, knowing Nokia and Lemnos Labs don't compete. I was the EIR for almost six months, and in that time knew that Lemnos Labs was in the sweet spot to catch the hardware wave. It will be an epicenter for the hardware revolution.

I remember when Stephen Elop asked the 200 senior leaders of Nokia if they were ready to profoundly change Nokia. He asked that they answer a simple question, "Are you all in?"

I'm all-in at Lemnos Labs. I really liked Nokia. I loved my hardware startup idea. But those pale in comparison to the potential and fun associated with Lemnos. I'm passionately, 110% fired up about what Lemnos Labs is doing. And I'm excited to say that Helen and Jeremy have accepted me into the Lemnos family as the third partner.

Lemnos itself is a startup, growing and learning each day. When people ask me what my role entails, I say "whatever it takes." I'll change the toilet paper as much sit (hah!) in engineering or business reviews with our partner startups. I'll primarily be focused on our startups and helping them transition from duct-tape prototype to a production ready company with the capital and "A" talent needed for the next step in their journey. My goal at some level is to help them avoid the common mistakes we all make in our first hardware endeavors so they can make new, exciting, and game changing discoveries and mistakes on their way to greatness.

It's always a bit sad and scary to leave behind your friends, hand-picked teams, and cushy salary and benefits to return to startup-land. But it feels so good to be hungry, passionate, and have nothing but blue skies in front of you. So I say goodbye to one, shorter adventure, and embark on a new, longer one.

Hang Ten, Baby!

MakerBot Replicator2 Out of the Box (OOTB) experience

2013-03-13T23:04:00.001-07:00

One of my CES highlights was visiting the MakerBot booth and getting some time with their CEO, Bre Pettis. While I've toyed with an earlier MakerBot at work, I wanted to interact with a Replicator2 in person and I wanted to geek with its makers. I got to meet Bre and members of the MakerBot team, and by the time I left CES, I knew it was time to take the plunge. In the middle of the desert driving back from Las Vegas to the Silicon Valley, I placed the order for my own Replicator2.

The MakerBot team are very nice, BTW. A big selling point for me.

So a few days ago, after an eight week backlog/production period, the box arrived!

The future in a ~50lb box ;-)

This was my first 3D printer, and it wasn't cheap. Unboxing this had the nervousness of new, unexplored territory combined with the "no one reads the f*$cking manual" attitude of a seasoned tech geek. I was more slow, more deliberate in my unboxing, because I've heard horror stories about assembling 3D printers, leveling the print plate, dealing with arcane software, etc. Let's see if the MakerBot Replicator2 is really the "Macintosh moment" of 3D printing, eh?

Opening the box put the printer in plain sight for me, wrapped in the biggest cloth shopping bag I've seen outside of Ikea.

What I will do with that bag, I have no idea. If the MakerBot team thinks I'm taking my Replicator on field trips to friends, etc., they must be nuts. I don't want to risk breaking a very expensive printer, let alone re-leveling it every time it is bagged up.

Bag aside, the printer's vitals are tied down with some serious zip ties. I broke a pair of scissors trying to cut those zip ties, and scratched the paint on the Replicator in two places. And this was while being very careful. This printer was seriously protected on its cross-country voyage to me. Speaking of the packaging, here is what the packaging looks like when most the printer parts are out of the box.

Outside of the "printer in a bag", there are two removable sections in the box with printer parts.

One was obviously the external power supply, and I guessed (accurately) that the bubble wrap held the print plate.

Another section had the manual, a bag-o-parts and tools, and a spool of clear PLA material. It wasn't clear to me when I ordered the printer that the Replicator2 shipped with PLA filament, so I ordered another spool in a cool blue color.

The manual has a significant addendum page inserted that you simply must read. This printer installation is not a "f*$ck the manual" scenario. After looking at the parts, I figured out how it was going to come together, but a lay person pulling this out of the box would not have a Mac moment. Even if you follow the manual's steps, there are some "huh?" moments and some things that should be documented that are not.

As I mentioned previously, cutting the zip ties keeping the printer's vitals strapped down requires a feat of Herculean strength. I actually had to remove the side panels, not documented, to get better cutting points for some of the zip ties.

Speaking of the side panels, what are they really for? This picture is after I removed side panel, cut the zip cords, then re-attached the side panel. They are super easy to remove (6 hex screws), but have no glass or material in the middle. Remove them and you have the bare metal frame, which does the structural support work. The side panels make it harder to stick your hand into the printer at an un-opportune time, but if you are going to do that, you are not the smartest person to begin with. It almost seems like they are there to be replaced with cooler, personalized versions you make yourself? Or a legacy from a sealed design where the side panel was not so "ventilated"? I do not know.

Following the instructions on hardware setup is quick and easy. I was ready to power on the device within 15 minutes of un-boxing the parts and finding the manual, and 10 of that was trying to figure out how to cut the zip ties without damaging the printer or stabbing myself.

The leveling process for the print plate initially had me super worried. I've heard so many horror stories about this. On the Replicator2, once you power on the printer, the on-screen LED walks you through this process. You turn three screws underneath the plate and you are done. Sounds easy, right? My two comments on this process are:

You can follow the on-screen instructions or the manual, but when you try to do both at once, it gets confusing. More than once I followed the manual instructions first, only to realize I was "ahead" of where the on-screen process wanted me to be because the on-screen instructions were going to take me through the same process. Ugh.
Level is so freaking subjective. There is no automated printer test to tell you everything is ok. For it to be level, you are supposed to fit a small card between the print plate and the print head with some friction, but no damage to the card. Ok, what is some friction?! It took some time for me to get the process of leveling figured out, and I winged it when it comes to "is there the right amount of friction"

After about 10-15 minutes of wondering whether I was level, my geek courage kicked back in and decided to say f**k it. If it wasn't level, the first print would be all messed up and I'd relevel. Onward and upward. This picture is the MakerBot while I was leveling the print plate.

One massive tip. MakerBot wisely ships the Replicator2 with a few sheets of 3M painters tape in the correct dimensions for the print plate. Every person I've ever talked to says to not print directly onto the print plate. So the manual has you putting the painters tape on the print plate before either installing the print plate or leveling it? NOPE! So I leveled it first, then put the tape in, even though the instructions don't say to do this (or say not to). Guess what putting the tape on after leveling does?! Changes the leveling, simply by cutting down the distance between the plate and the print head!!!

Skipping ahead, my first print stuck massively to the print plate (tape), in part because the printer isn't properly leveled. Reading the "FAQ" section, it says to then put in the painters tape because things might stick to the print plate?! Argh!

I'd recommend MakerBot change the manual and document the user recommended sequence of installing the painters tape then leveling the printer.

After that, the preparation sequence was pretty clear. I had the same problem of manual versus on-screen when it came to loading the filament. I read the manual, jammed the filament in position, only to find the on-screen instructions telling me to start that sequence from the beginning. By now I decided to only follow the on-screen instructions, and the rest of the voyage was easy.

One small point. MakerBot puts the required SD card into the Replicator2 SD card slot, but it is not fully inserted? Are they worried about damage during shipping if inserted. One little push and some sample models are ready to be printed. The following photo is the printer working on my first 3D print, Mr. Jaws.

In roughly one hour I went from closed box to printing my first 3D model. The manual was mildly helpful, but the on-screen instructions do most of the heavy lifting without any need to read the manual. Once the manual says to power on the printer, I'd suggest mostly just following the on-screen instructions from that point.

My first 3D model looked ok, but it was massively stuck to the print plate. I found some great advice on YouTube about tools to pry underneath the model to pop it off without damaging the model. Think very thin but strong food spatulas, which luckily my wife had.

I can't honestly tell if there is a big problem with my first 3D print because I have no frame of reference, but it looks quite OK and now I can start to experiment!

I'd give the overall experience a B to a B+. For something as complicated as a 3D printer, this is a pretty good score. I think MakerBot could get an A in this out of box experience if they grabbed some good CE folks who know OOTB and tighten some of the documentation and actual packaging (zip cords). The docs are better than geek documentation but not meant for a lay person.

My next post will be on the 3D software side of things, using Thing-a-verse to get new models, and how things are going after I've printed ~10 different objects.

Why 3D print?

2013-03-13T21:59:00.001-07:00

I believe that 3D printing will be as revolutionary as the personal computer was. Even more so. What the personal computer did for the accessibility of bits, 3D printing will do the same for atoms.

Bre Pettis, CEO of MakerBot, recently said that 3D printing was "having its Macintosh moment", which I'm going to interpret as the inflection point at which the technology becomes accessible to the early edge of the mass market, who begin to spread the virus of efficiency, productivity, and innovation afforded by said technology. I lived the Apple II moment as a geeky teenager and joined Apple shortly after the Macintosh moment. I have to know if Bre is right!?

I recently had the opportunity to attend a Singularity University Executive Program, and spent nine days having my mind blown by the likes of Ray Kurzweil, Peter Diamandis, Dan Berry, Neil Jacobstein, Ralph Merkle, Jonathan Knowles, and countless others. The experience is worthy of a post that will come someday. But the net result was a complete re-enforcement of my notion that 3D printing is an important step towards the Singularity event. It, combined with other equally important technology accelerations, fundamentally change the world we live in for the better.

So what to do about this? Make, of course. Whatever success I've had was afforded to me by three things:

Access to personal computers at the very beginning of the revolution
Access to smart, experienced, and kind teachers
Curiosity

For the next hardware revolution, I want change only a few words to continue to thrive:

Access to 3D printers and electronics at the very beginning of the revolution
Be the smart, experienced, and kind teacher
Curiosity

For this revolution, my focus will be on building hardware muscle mass. Focus on atoms. I added a small electrical bench to my home lab, and now my "curiosity" time is more saturated by Arduino, LED strips, and small motors. I still write software, but now firmware as much as client or server code. And these things I'm making need a shell, an approachable physical expression. Brad Feld has been famously quoted as saying that hardware is "software wrapped in plastic", so to make hardware I guess I need a 3D printer ;-)

I can't wait to learn this emerging art and science, joining the 10K+ people with 3D printers around the world today. I can't wait to think and design in 3D. I have a few projects in mind to guide my learning, and if those are successfully prototyped, maybe I have the beginnings of a few products. We'll see. The journey is the reward...

Amazing look into the past

2013-02-17T12:54:00.001-08:00

I had the great pleasure of working with Brian Greenstone when I was the Game Evangelist at Apple. Little did I know that his game company, Pangea Software, turned 25 years old. This amazing video tells the story of Pangea, and by inference the early days of Macintosh gaming. It might feature a few friendly mentions of Brian's work with me ;-)

Brian is a dear friend and I'm so happy Pangea turned out to be such a prosperous and fun adventure for him!

Pre-empting the audio alert (Android issue?)

2013-01-28T17:13:00.001-08:00

Listening to podcasts and music on my Android phone (Galaxy Nexus, 4.2.1), I've noticed an issue with audio mixing that is fairly annoying. When I get an email notification, I'd expect a fairly smooth, quick ramp-down of foreground audio accompanied by the audio alert mixed in at an appropriate volume. Ramp the foreground audio back up after the alert is played, and everything is copasetic?

Not so, I'm afraid. What I get a nearly 100% drop-off in foreground audio, followed by a perceptible pause, then the alert sound, then the foreground audio returns to its previous volume. It's the audio equivalent of falling off a cliff. It's so jarring as to almost be scary. If this is how the audio manager handles mixing, it might as skip playing the alert itself, because now I'm trained that when I hear audio drop out, I know I'm either getting an alert in a second, or my phone has crashed. The audio manager's mix handling has become the alert itself.

Anyone else seeing this?

Daily inspiration

2012-07-01T23:39:00.001-07:00

I had the good fortune of watching the USA Olympic Gymnastics trials over the last few days here in San Jose. These people are athletes. Their strength, energy, and focus were awe inspiring. I don't know how they do it, but whenever I think my work is hard, these Olympians remind me that I have it easy.

To spend 16 to 20 years of your life preparing for ~ 2 1/2 minutes of combined action that determines whether you go to the Olympics seems insane. Yet ultimately inspiring.

Good luck in London! Go USA!

Eric's travel tech, Part 1: The Accessories Case

2012-07-01T23:25:00.001-07:00

The Verge has a great set of articles called "Whats In Your Bag" that document what their writers, as frequent travelers, carry with them. I fly well over 100K miles per year, so optimizing my travel bag for function and weight is a never ending battle.

The Verge articles have contributors take everything out of their bag and document it in one article, but I'm going to take this from the inside out. I'll later highlight everything inside my travel bag and what I add for international travel, but first off is the tech accessories case inside my travel bag:

Amazon Essential Carrying Case - I bought this after several recommendations to keep many of my accessories organized as opposed to floating loose in my travel bag. It was cheap and I use it, but I don't like it all that much. I use the left side to hold my mobile devices (2,3, and the not shown Galaxy Nexus), and they just float around in the large pocket, ready to fall out as soon as I open the case. I need to find a better accessories case at some point. Suggestions?
Nokia Lumia 900 - Nokia's flagship Windows Phone in the USA. My first LTE phone. I'm an game addict, so ratcheting up my Xbox Live Gamerscore while traveling is a strategic advantage!
iPod Touch, latest generation, 32GB. I think the iPhone 4(S) screen is too small, so I don't like it as a phone. I'm not a screen size junkie, but 3.5" is just below what my eyes and hand prefers. I still need a iOS device to test apps and accessories. And control my Romo ;-) Hence the multi-purpose iPod Touch.
Screen cleaner - because clean is cool.
Assorted memory cards - I have a cool Hans Solo MimoBot and SD cards of the regular, mini, and micro flavors. Problem is, I never use them. I have a nice LaCie iamaKey on my keychain that I use for quick transfers, etc, so soon I will deprecate these from the accessories kit.
Assorted travel cables - Ethernet (spooled), USB to mini USB, USB to micro USB, USB to iPod, USB to Ethernet, and MiniDisplayPort to VGA. I use these all the time. I rarely travel with power chargers, as I use the USB ports on my MacBook Air as a portable charger when traveling. The USB to Ethernet adapter will soon get swapped for a Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet adapter, as I rarely simultaneously use external video and wired Ethernet, and when I need wired Ethernet, I typically need maximum data throughput.
SIM card adapters - While most new WLAN devices use the micro-SIM format, I still work with devices that need full size SIM cards. Problem is, all of my SIMs are now the smaller format. I know adapters are bad. My friends in the standards world will kill me when they read this, but "it works" = "I'll use it".

So what's in your accessories pile? And how do you keep them organized within the greater travel bag?

Sorry for the less than great picture quality. I'll submit this in the "Galaxy Nexus has a crappy camera" category and promise to shoot with something else next time!

Daily Inspiration

2012-06-30T10:45:00.001-07:00

I had a work colleague who I still consider a friend. He's one of those rare people who is honorable and takes care of others as a matter of principle. A prince amongst men. Recently his employer let him go, but the real travesty is how they handled it. The company aspires to be people focused and take care of its employees, but in this case the company didn't follow its own ethos.

My friend is now employed in what can only be described as a dream role, one that is personally fulfilling and helps so many others in his community. He makes a difference in the world and is having a blast doing it.

Good things do happen to good people! There is karma in the world and it's inspiring to see it in action.

Tech I use daily : Jaybird wireless headphones

2012-02-23T20:48:00.001-08:00

About six months ago, I discussed my initial experiences with Jaybird's wireless headphones. These headphones have joined my "daily use" rotation. They are lightweight, very reasonable sound quality, fit well in the ear, reduce my cable clutter, and have ~ 3-4 hours of battery life between charges.

Why these over higher quality wired earbuds? It's all about exercise. It is so much easier to exercise without the clutter of cables inhibiting mobility. I've got great wired eytomics earbuds, but lack the frequent need to enjoy them. When I'm exercising or out and about, I like the physical freedom afforded by the Jaybirds. When I'm traveling on long flights (a frequent occurrence), I need the noise cancellation afforded by my Bose QuietComforts. When I'm at home listening to lossless digital audio, I use a high quality USB DAC and great over-the-ear headphones. Wired in-ear headphones have lost out in the great user scenario race.

Two things I'd wish for in future incarnations of these Jaybirds? Longer battery life and higher audio fidelity. I'm sure the upper limit on audio quality is gated by BT A2DP, but improved battery life might be possible?

EK rating : 4/5 stars

The annual foursquare roundtrip

2012-01-22T13:10:00.001-08:00

At the beginning of each year I renew my checkin ritual with foursquare. Each year I hope they have found a reason for me to checkin. Each year to date I've been disappointed.

... and this year was no different.

2011 continued the gamification of foursquare. While I annually hope for an economic reason to use foursquare, this year foursquare decided that competition would keep me motivated to use their service. And for a few days it did. I valiantly tried to check into more places than my friends on the service, only to determine that foursquare primarily rewards checking into new places. Great for travelers; bad for the majority of us who have a daily routine within fifteen miles of our homes.

I like the addition of competition, but it is still icing on a hollow cake. foursquare doesn't help me with the fundamentals. It doesn't improve my interaction with friends and it doesn't create a tighter economic bond between the businesses I frequent and myself. For better or worse, groupon does a far better job creating an economic reason for me to visit local businesses. Perhaps a reactive economic model of offering me discounts for places I've already committed to visit isn't viable, but foursquare and other checkin services have to find a better way to both proactively and reactively entice me to visit nearby businesses. And better facilitate me interacting with nearby friends.

So today I stopped foursquare checkin and add it to my 2013 todo list.

As a footnote, I'm still trying to figure out how Jenn Winger gets the checkin score she does. She regularly has 2-3x the checkin score of my other friends. I guess that is what makes her a social maven?!

Cool jobs I would love to do?!

2011-12-19T16:39:00.001-08:00

Enjoying a mellow vacation! Decided to think of fun careers I'd love to do:

- writer (science fiction, crime)
- sword maker (Japanese kitana)
- race car driver (F1 or dirt)
- bartender
- personal fitness trainer
- sheriff
- video game developer
- DJ (electronica)
- tech commentator
- professional investor

I know I've forgotten a few cool job ideas, and some of these are quite achievable. Quite indeed ;)

Great brainstorming exercise to see what really excites you. You don't always have to turn a passion into a hobby, let alone a job, but it's an interesting thing to noodle on!

Your thoughts on fun jobs?

The "where the f*** is my cursor" gesture

2011-09-20T09:35:00.001-07:00

Multiple monitors, large yet dim projection screens, insanely high resolution computer monitors. They all conspire against the poor little mouse cursor. How many times have you been delivering a critical presentation or working on a time sensitive task and are stymied by the cursor's apparent disappearance? Oh, it's somewhere in that sea of pixels, but where o' where?! Cursing, while quite cathartic, doesn't seem to surface the missing cursor. It's time for my newest idea, the "where the F*** is my mouse cursor" gesture.

I believe this gesture has a flat learning curve, since many of us do it quite regularly by instinct. If you rapidly flail your hand in random directions on your Magic TrackPad, or move your mouse like there is a localized earthquake within your desk, you've successfully learned the new gesture. To prevent folks being tasered from accidently activating this exciting new function, I think you have to flail about with the mouse or trackpad for roughly 3 seconds before triggering the gesture's action.

Cursing at the screen, while cathartic, is an optional parameter and is discarded in this version of the feature. I have some ideas for the Kinect version that utilize this cursing and the associated middle finger gesture that come later, but that's for 2.0.

Successfully activating the gesture's action causes your mouse cursor to grow 3x in size and blink like a Las Vegas slot machine for roughly two seconds. Think the annoying "Wheel of Fortune" slot machine that assails your senses at Caesar's and you get the idea. Mouse cursor found!

I think Windows might have a function that helps you find your cursor, but I don't want anemic assistance. I want the screaming metal version.

Cursor Running Amuck Periodically (CRAP) is a serious problem worthy of a gesture in this touch interface era ;-)

The end of dedicated portable gaming devices?

2011-08-31T11:24:00.001-07:00

As a early adopter, I was intrigued by Nintendo's 3DS and its 3D screen that doesn't require glasses. There have been many articles written about whether 3D is a fad or a disruption in the short timeframe, but either way 3D's general requirement around dedicated glasses is a show stopper for mass adoption, especially in social scenarios. Could the 3DS be the tip of the 3D disruption as it doesn't require glasses?

I had another reason for trying out the 3DS. I used to game on a Nintendo DS, but my use of the DS had fallen to near zero with the emergence of mobile phone gaming. Within a short time, smartphones had better hardware, screens, and (gasp!) games than the older generation DS. Could the 3DS regain the crown?

The test for me was last week at PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) in Seattle. If there is one place on Earth where the 3DS has "home field advantage", it's PAX. 40K+ gamers, many of them long time Nintendo fans, crowd into one small convention center for the weekend and geek. There are dedicated areas for DS/3DS owners to gather and play multi-player games over WiFi, and it appears the 3DS focused significantly on improving multi-player gaming and inter-personal interaction. If I didn't find the 3DS compelling in this environment, that's a bad sign.

And I didn't. While the dedicated 3D screen on the 3DS is novel, it isn't overwhelming. It doesn't make the gaming experience so much better, so much more immersive, that you want to carry another device, another charger, and more accessories. The off-axis viewing is acceptable, but I found it to cause eye strain relatively quickly. 3D, at least in this incarnation, isn't the tip of a disruption for me. Instead, I wonder if it is a marketing distraction, designed to distract you from a more disturbing trend: you don't need a dedicated portable gaming device.

I'll defend that statement with the following logic:

People like to travel with as little stuff as possible: When mobile, it's all about weight and comfort. Everything you take with you has to be best in class for the task at hand or be a great hybrid that lowers weight and complexity when traveling.
Smartphones now have the hardware to be the best mobile gaming devices available. Dual core processors, modern OS platforms with gaming extensions, amazing screens, powerful GPUs, and other affordances make smartphones excellent gaming platforms. More importantly, brutal competition between smartphone manufacturers ensures rapid device innovation for the foreseeable future. The Achilles heel of smartphone gaming is still input for certain game types, but the Playstation Phone highlights how that can be addressed by demographic targeted devices.
Smartphones are not only at least equivalent to the best dedicated portable gaming devices from a technology perspective, they are also critically relevant. They are your phone. When people leave their homes, they always bring keys, wallet, and a phone. A phone will always qualify under the "little stuff as possible" rule. How does a dedicated gaming device compete when it is redundant and competing with a device that has critical mobile relevance?
Games run as easily on a smartphone as on a dedicated mobile gaming device. The Nintendo 3DS doesn't have any must-have, exclusive platform content. And if it did, it would be an illusion purposely created by Nintendo. The 3DS is no marvel of technology with hardware specifications so powerful or different that compelling games could only be written for it. Nintendo shareholders have already started asking the intuitive question; "Why not release the Nintendo first party game library for the big mobile ecosystems (iPhone, Android, Windows Phone) and become the dominant and immensely profitable game publisher for mobile?"
3D is a gimmick in the short term. It's clear that as time progresses, screen technology will improve, content owners will start creating content in which 3D presentation is critical and compelling, and techniques will be discovered to make 3D a social experience as opposed to a single user experience. Gimmicks don't sell gaming platforms. Great content and differentiated experiences create gaming platforms, and it doesn't appear there is a short term technology that will differentiate a dedicated gaming platform that in turn could not be immediately incorporated into a smartphone?

Rational and emotional investors driving Nintendo's stock price appear to agree with this logic. Nintendo has to ask itself over time if it believes it can create massively differentiated hardware to craft a unique vertical gaming experience. I for one don't think they need to, and I'll vote with my wallet. I can't justify carrying another mobile device with me when I travel. I'm now enjoying the Xbox Live integration on Windows Phone 7.x (can you say mobile achievements!?) and the huge breadth and depth of games on iOS.

I'll leave you with the following questions:

How well do you think Mario Kart would sell on iPhone and Android?
Does Mario Kart need dedicated Nintendo hardware to create its compelling gaming experience?

-------------------------

Same argument for point and shoot cameras and smartphones? Nope. Point and shoot cameras still significantly outperform the embedded smartphone camera for the basic task of taking pictures. When that tipping point is met, we can start to have the same conversation as above ;-)

What is important? (re: documents)

2011-07-31T08:57:00.001-07:00

I'm staring at a large pile of paper documents, trying to decide what to do.

I few years ago I was proud of myself because I scanned hundreds of filed documents. I saved a ton of physcial space and had all of my records at instant recall. I also switched most of my correspondence from paper to electronic. All great, right?

The paper keeps on coming. No matter how hard I try to stop it, some companies believe I can't rely on electronic versions of their materal. Receipts arrive, etc. So I stare at a new pile of documents, trying to decide whether to re-invest in the somewhat ardous scanning process?

Here is a great example. Car documents. I've scanned every document I've ever received on my eight year old Acura. Everything. Reasons:

Because I can
You never know when you are going to need those documents, right?
The next owner of the car would really like to have this information

I've bought a few used cars, and in one case, I received a similar packet of all the work done on the car over the years. Invaluable information when you are in turn debugging problems.

But I've been thinking of the process by which I buy and sell cars. I have almost never sold a car to an individual. I always go to the dealer with my oldest car, having sucked the majority of the value out of the vehicle, and ask them to deal with it. Guess what? They apparently find my fastidious record keeping to be useless. They don't ask for it. Even if they asked for it, would you give it to them? They'd probably send an adjuster in to review the material with the express purpose of lowering the value of the trade-in.

I'm now going through the process of trying to determine what is really important in terms of document retention. What do I really need to keep, and what can head for the shredder? What processes work for you?

At the macro level, I cringe when thinking about the amount of paper filed in drawers in the millions of American homes. Is it needed? For whom? and how often?

Random tech that amazes me

2011-07-30T23:05:00.001-07:00

I've saved these photos for almost a year and every week or two I scold myself (lightly) for not posting them as an example of subtle, cool technology that makes a difference.

I've seen plenty of examples of car back-up cameras, using the LCD screen now so prevelant in the mid front dash. Excellent safety addition, and with the large screen, you gain a full perspective of what is behind your car. The thing I always found interesting is that your focus has to transition quickly between that screen and the review view mirror. Your eyes are drawn to the rear view mirror first due to muscle memory and the wider perspective that mirror provides you.

I rented a Chevrolet on a trip to the midwest. Not a anchor of technology, but then I put the SUV in reverse.

Figure 1: Chevrolet SUV rear view mirror with rear view camera view embedded!

Someone finally figured this out! Put both reverse views into the logical place our eyes are drawn to as we transition a car into reverse.

After using this integrated view, I put the car into Drive, and the rear view camera insert seamlessly dissapears. Awesome!

Figure 2: Put the car into drive, and the embedded rear camera view dissapears

Simple functionality in the right physical position that transitions seamlessly based on need. Love it.

Review: Jaybird Wireless Bluetooth Buds

2011-07-24T17:19:00.001-07:00

I've been questing for a great set of stereo Bluetooth headphones for some time. I'm looking for:

Light weight
Stereo BT for music, with AVRCP to control the remote music player
Full headset functionality
Long(ish) battery life
Great fit

Great fit is the most important characteristic, as I want to use these when I'm cycling, running, or working out at the gym. They simply have to possess a comfortable fit while staying in my ears during exercise.

I believe I can declare victory in this quest through the Jaybird JF3 earbuds. I first saw Jaybird at Macworld 2010 where they promised they would deliver ear buds with the above characteristics. I waited patiently throughout 2010, but no product. I almost gave up hope, but saw a random tech mention of them recently saying they had finally released the JF3s. Might have happened sooner than two months ago, but I was reminded then so ordered a pair.

The packaging is beyond amazing. Overkill is the correct word. I've enclosed a somewhat blurry photo of the packaging and accessories. The box build and material is high quality, and the box is closed via a magnetic connector. Wow. Great sign as I went to use the actual headphones.

The headphones did not disappoint. Audio quality is more than acceptable, the pairing process was painless, and they delivered full music and phone calling handling capabilities. I've paired them with a iPhone 4 and a Windows Phone 7 (Samsung Focus) with nary an issue.

The key advantage over other BT earbuds I've tried, however, is physical fit. Jaybird includes a myriad of ear canal size adapters, and a newish (based on the paper insert) additional rubber attachment to keep the JF3s firmly and comfortably in place. I've had the earbuds for a few weeks now, and they've stayed comfortably attached to my ears ~ 20 hours of exercise and travel. Running, cycling, weight lifting, nothing seems to significantly disturb them once you select the right combination of ear canal size and optional additional ear fit "thing". The limited Jaybird documentation didn't help me significantly in making these selections, but a bit of tinkering with different pieces and I was good to go.

Battery life has been more than acceptable. I believe I got ~ 8-10 hours on a single charge, and have only had to recharge twice since I got them, inclusive of the initial charge.

Negatives? Not many. It appears the charging cable uses a proprietary or little used USB standard connection, but that is negated by the fact I can charge them anywhere using the standard USB ports on my Mac. The packaging is overkill, as is the oversized carrying case they give you for the JF3s, but I suppose a hard case is in order to protect your investment? Minor niggles in a great overall experience.

The best recommendation I can give a CE gizmo is the "I use it everyday and love it", and the Jaybird JF3 wireless Bluetooth buds have joined that club. They go everywhere with me now. It's liberating to finally have great music and phone handling capabilities out exercising without the hassle of wires. I finally have that!

Great job, Jaybird!

Why blog?

2011-06-26T09:24:00.001-07:00

I've decided to blog again. I use the term as a verb rather than a proper noun, though in this case I am using Blogger. As a verb, I mean long form writing intended for the web.

Why? I'm tired of being exclusively limited to 140 characters via Twitter. Fitting into 140 characters is fun and all, and forces a clarity of statement rare in email. The challenge is that no matter the mental or character compression algorithm, some thoughts, ideas, or questions need more than 140 characters to be introduced.

To the question of tooling, I still use Blogger, but I think a change is in order. Blogger doesn't appear to have a relentless team innovating it, and I'm hopeful there are next generation tools more in tune with multimedia blogging, mobile clients to quickly create events, and a richer suite of editing and "blog" formatting tools. I've contemplated WordPress, but want to create rather than spend the majority of my time administrating. Tumblr gets some buzz, and I've been interested in Path, but Path's own tagline scares me away because I want to share with more than just family and close friends, no matter how compelling their solution is. Suggestions?

I use MarsEdit to create entries on my Mac. I like MarsEdit, and will love it when they add Twitter notifications to blog entry creation events. Hint, hint ;-) I don't have a good mobile client solution, but I'm sure they exist. If anyone knows of a better desktop or mobile client solution, please let me know. I found MarsEdit through Ken Wallich.

I definitely want to improve the quality and quantity of comments, so I'm considering Disqus. Since I'm an investor in Vanilla Forums, I've more seriously considered adding a forum to my site because comments are just the beginning of discussion, IMHO. I should really get on that ;-)

Clean up time

2011-06-07T23:30:00.000-07:00

(late) Spring cleaning before posts flow freely again...

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Currently playing in iTunes: Disarm Yourself (Club Mix) [feat. Emma Hewitt] by Dash Berlin

Atari Dreams

2011-02-02T09:03:00.000-08:00

This is beyond awesome!

Video from the recent Churchill Club panel

2010-09-07T21:13:00.000-07:00

Phil McKinney posted videos from the recent Churchill Club panel on the Future of Mobility. The event was well attended; I'd say about 150 Bay Area professionals attended. The panelists were amazing, representing Intel's smartphone endeavors (Mike Bell), HP's CTO (Phil McKinney), myself, and Hakan Eriksson, Ericsson's CTO. The funny thing is that Mike used to be at Palm (2.0) and Apple, I used to be at Palm (1.0) and Apple, and Phil's employer now owns Palm. We had some strong Valley heritage on the panel, and that came out in the discussions.

It's great work in the Valley with such smart folks. Competition thrives on smart companies pushing each other...

Traveling Lite

2010-06-27T12:18:00.001-07:00

I recently returned from a business trip to our corporate HQ in Helsinki, Finland. Spending 10 days in Helsinki, I tend to bring far more items than on a quick business trip. I spend hours before traveling trying to decide what the right gadget payload is for a longer trip. At the end of this trip, I decided to do a post mortem and determine if I pack too much or little. Maybe there is a bit of wisdom you can use in this post mortem or some advice you can give me to lighten future payloads.

Gadgets making this trip:

Mac Book Pro with Power Charger, airplane power adapter
- Original justification
  - I just got this Mac Book Pro 15.4", so I didn't have time to configure it before leaving. I took an additional external hard drive with all of my apps, movies, etc. to install while traveling. I justified bringing this gear because I never know when I'm going to have to do information creation while traveling.
- Worth the weight?
  - Only if the trip is information creation oriented.
  - If I need to create presentations, answer a tremendous amount of email where a keyboard becomes useful, or write code, this device is a "must travel with". If I'm just reading email, watching movies, listening to music, etc., then this is a un-needed, 5 lb+ addition to my bag
iPad with Power Charger
- Original justification
  - This is just my second trip since I got my iPad, so I decided to again test the utility of this device. I wanted to listen to music, read books, view the web, and quickly scan email while traveling.
- Worth the weight?
  - My new primary travel device for trips focused on information consumption.
  - I can read my email, respond to issues, view the web, play games, watch movies, and listen to music in a less than 2 pound package with a 10 hour battery life. I didn't purchase the iPad with this role in mind, but it seems to perform well. I need to add a Microsoft Office viewer, but that is the only modification I need.
  - The iPad and Mac Book Pro appear to be a binary selection depending on what I have to do on a particular business trip.
  - I don't think I'll ever carry paper books again unless it doesn't exist in the Kindle book store. iPad is a fine book reader.
  - I really wish this had a front facing camera for Skype calls.
Phone (iPhone on this trip)
- Original justification
  - Listen to music, international phone calls, SMS
- Worth the weight?
  - Absolutely
  - My only advice is to get an international pre-paid SIM in the country you are visiting, because AT&T engages in highway robbery in terms of their international voice and data rates, even with their special plans. I now have a local Finnish SIM for my visits there. I'll be taking my new Nokia N900 on my upcoming trips
  - I really wish this had a front facing camera for Skype calls
  - I charge this via either my Mac Book Pro or the iPad charger.
3 pairs of headphones
- Original justification
  - Bose Quiet Comfort noise cancelling headphones for the flights, etymotic hf5 earphones for music, and Adidas (sennheiser) sport headphones for the gym
- Worth the weight?
  - One pair too many!
  - Who carries three pairs of headphones on a trip. The Bose are mission critical for 16 hours of flight time. The Adidas headphones are critical for the gym, where their form factor keeps them on my noggin and off the floor. But the etymotic, no matter how good, seem like a lightweight but un-needed addition to my bag
Travel mouse
- Original justification
  - I carry for the Microsoft Wireless Presenter 8000 because it has a laser pointer in it. Enough said?!
  - In all seriousness, I get serious hand fatigue using the trackpad of a Mac Book Pro. If I have a lot of work to do on my portable, I like a portable mouse
- Worth the weight?
  - If I'm bringing the Mac Book Pro, this gadget is a must carry accessory
Nintendo DS Lite with charger and games
- Original justification
  - I bought this well before the iPhone and iPad came out, and I now ask myself it it is worth carrying this because of the games on the iPhone and iPad. So I took my best games (Mystery Dungeon, Pokemon Heart of Gold, Civilization Revolution) and challenged the DS Lite to delight me
- Worth the weight?
  - Headed for eBay after this trip ;-)
  - Nintendo, I'd be cowering in fear about mobile phones. Today's smart phone has better graphics, great games, and additional functionality to justify their existence. The DS Lite has exclusive titles and better game controls to justify its existence. For me, I'm switching to iPad games ;-)
international power convertor
- Original justification
  - Adapt all of those US power adapters
- Worth the weight?
  - Worth every ounce
  - I have Euro adapters for all my Apple gear and Nokia phones, but I'm always carrying something that only has a US power charger.
Paper book and pens
- Original justification
  - I live to take notes. My notebook is the center of my Getting Things Done universe. I use a Moleskine book and the legendary Fisher Space Pen for my writing. The Fisher Space Pen is a marvel of engineering, and writes where other pens fail mightily.
- Worth the weight?
  - Pen and paper are like blood for me; I don't function without them
  - I lived the Livescribe digital pen lifestyle for almost two years, but almost lost the $200 pen on a flight to Korea. Then it stopped holding a charge. Both of those events, documented in this blog entry, sent me scurrying for a lower cost solution.
  - I tried to use Penultimate on my iPad to take digital notes on this trip, but taking notes with Penultimate is like using fist sized crayons to draw fine art. The pen control in that app is terrible. This is a market (iPad as digital book) waiting for its killer app.

Timely article on blogging platforms

2010-06-20T10:20:00.001-07:00

Timely Lifehacker article on blogging platforms given my last post.

Blogging Tools

2010-06-20T05:00:00.001-07:00

For the umpteenth time I've decided to blog more. To that end, I start with a tools update and questions.

I've changed my Mac blog editing tool from ecto to MarsEdit. ecto appears to have gone into a software coma, with no recent support from the developer. I started testing MarsEdit based on a friend's recommentation (@kaydub). More feedback on MarsEdit in a future post.

One ecto feature I miss is the ability to automatically Tweet an announcement when posting a new blog entry. Cross-promotion is a critical marketing tool, so I'll be doing this manually now.

If you know of a better Mac blogging tool, please let me know. If there is a Windows solution that just shames Mac blogging clients, I'll look at that too ;-)

The next nagging question is which (hosted) blogging platform. I use Blogger and have since since I started this blog almost 9 years ago. I have a nagging suspicion, however, that I've chosen the horse that showed but didn't win. Many people tell me that WordPress is the best blogging platform, and that I should host my own WordPress server or use a hosting solution for it. I like Blogger's hosted cost, free, but functionality and ease of use, not cost, are my primary selection criteria. The main feature I desire is deep cross-marketing integration, aka the tools that lets my readers cross reference my posts with popular social networking tools. Adding this might not require me to leave Blogger, but is it the tip of the iceberg in terms of features I'm missing by staying with Blogger?

With WordPress 3.0's release, I need to do a deep dive on this offering. What do you use as a blog platform, and do you host or are you hosted? Comments appreciated!

Thunder Lizards

2010-05-15T14:42:00.001-07:00

Great video of Mike Maples explaining Thunder Lizards and the types of companies he likes to invest in.

Thunder Lizard by Mike Maples Jr. from Adeo Ressi on Vimeo.

Holy cow!

2010-04-06T19:14:00.001-07:00

I aspire to drive this car. Oh yes, I will work hard day and night ;-)