How to live the rest of your life

Words to live by.

I hope the message that people really take, really internalize is that being yourself, as hard as you can, is the way to have important and lasting impact on our world. That might be in the context of technology. It might be in the context of technology, or the arts, or sports, or government, or social justice — or even in the context of your family and close friends.

It almost doesn’t matter. The thing that matters most is to figure out what’s important to you, what’s core to you, and do that. Be that. And do it as well as you possibly can, every single day.

Steve Jobs passes away. An era ends...

I can't think of another person who I have followed with fervor bordering on the fanatical as I have Steven P. Jobs. Last night, for reasons I can't explain, I decided to see his commencement speech at Stanford in 2005. What started as scribblings on a W postcard is now in the mailbox headed home as a cheat sheet for how I should lead my life. Not only was Steve a visionary and a genius, he also had a way with words that made you stop and listen.

The seer is no more; he lives on in our hearts and in Apple's products - present and future. Thank you Steve: You found your own dogma and shared it with the rest of us. For that, we are forever grateful.

The Android tablet problem, nicely summarized by one review’s conclusion

This, not how closely a manufacturer can mimic the iPad’s hardware, is what reviewers should be asking about each new tablet: Why would a significant number of buyers choose this instead of an iPad?

I asked a similar question to the Zune pricing strategy team when we were about to launch Zune v2. The iPod was (and is) the King of the MP3 player market, and the social features of the Zune weren't features that would compel a customer to buy it over the iPod. The product needed further differentiation, and in my mind a lower price point would be the nudge that customers needed to try it.

My idea was summarily panned and the Zune launched at the same price as the iPod; when the price drop was eventually announced by Microsoft, the race was ever. The Zune was a great music player that didn't make it because it never reached critical mass. There is no point in being able to share a song with another Zune if there isn't another one within sharing range. Mimicking hardware isn't sufficient; it's selling the mimicked hardware to a sufficiently large group of people that's key.

The commoditization of the American lifestyle

Strongest argument made in this article IMO. Emphasis is mine.

Its first line of defense is to commodify its enemy. You can all supply your own favorite, most nauseating examples of the commodification of love. Mine include the wedding industry, TV ads that feature cute young children or the giving of automobiles as Christmas presents, and the particularly grotesque equation of diamond jewelry with everlasting devotion. The message, in each case, is that if you love somebody you should buy stuff.

Rafa looks very vulnerable

To return back to his form of yore, Rafa needs to make slight adjustments and corrections to his current game. His game of 2010 might be a good one to revert to as well, but that might not be possible; people don't have Time Machine-esque features. In my opinion, here are some things that worked for him in the past:

1. The lefty kick serve out wide, especially on the ad-side.
2. Pinpoint precision ground strokes that jumped after hitting the lines
3. Deep balls, especially down the line
4. Impenetrable service games - in 2010, he held the ATP Tour record for being broken the fewest times

Something he needs to add to his game is the ability to take the ball early and from inside the court. Djokovic has been beating him by stepping into the court and taking the ball early. The long grinding matches he is playing aren't really doing him any favors.

The next two weeks will dictate the rest of his year. Vamos RAFA!!

How Apple botched my laptop's repairs

This weekend and today has been quite an ordeal. I found out that the great deal that Apple had about out-of-service warranty can, for people with luck like mine, become quite an ordeal. Here are my grievances with the process:

1. I took the Macbook Pro into the Apple store about two weeks ago because the battery was draining faster than it did a few months ago.
2. After about a day of running diagnostic tests, I was asked to come by to pick up the machine because it had no battery issues whatsoever.
3. It was at this point that I was told that there are other things wrong with the machine that would all be fixed if I availed of the out-of-warranty service/repair.
4. I went back to the Apple store last week to avail of said service.
5. The technicians at the Apple repair facility found that the battery was indeed draining faster than it should. They ran the same diagnostic test as the one run in the store; why did the 2 tests produce conflicting results?
6. I was asked to come in to pick up the repaired laptop on Saturday, but two of the issues they were supposed to fix (documented in the original work-order and communicated over the phone to the repair facility) weren't fixed.
Mind you that by this point, I had been to the Apple store 4 times to have my laptop fixed. That's a lot of time commuting and extreme inconvenience; I haven't had a laptop for about a week now!
7. I got an email today that my machine is ready for pick-up. During my conversation with Brooke, an Apple Store Genius, on Saturday afternoon I was told that the machine would be shipped via FedEx-overnight the instant it was ready. I am hoping I don't have to make another trip to the store because that is going to *really* suck!

Let's wait and see how this unfolds.

Update: They are waiting for another part to come in. ETA: Saturday, the 28th of May. Time spent at Apple: 14 days.

Update 2: A trip to the local FedEx office was needed to get my laptop back; to Apple's credit, the repairs were thorough and my machine is working like new!

Road Runner Sports - missed revenue opportunity

Running, though one of the most boring athletic activities, is one of the easiest to get into. All you need is a good pair of shoes, and you're ready to conquer the miles and miles of asphalt paved all around you. Wait, did I say *good* pair of shoes? How does one differentiate good from bad? This is where a store dedicated to runners comes in - Road Runner Sports.

Road Runner has a wide selection of shoes, but before you buy a pair, you can get a complimentary gait evaluation. Often times something sounds nifty but is a scam; not this gait evaluation, not one bit. Using sensors and cameras, your foot's stability and strength, and your gait's form are evaluated. This evaluation is used as input into determining the shoe that maximizes your endurance on the road without compromising your performance. Road Runner goes one step farther - no puns intended - and builds a custom pair of orthotics so that the shoes you buy fit you perfectly. Sadly, the asking price on this custom pair breaks the bank for too many buyers.

While I was at the store this past week, I saw a number of these pairs made for customers who decided against buying them. Running shoes go for upwards of $75 these days. The orthotics are priced at $80, and they have a life of about 6 months. Based on my non-scientific observations, there were 5 pairs of orthotics that were consigned to the trash can the evening I was at the store. That's cold-hard revenue that  Road Runner is letting go to waste.

A basic study of the American consumer's psyche indicates that the sweet spot for discretionary and frivolous spending is $19.99. Spend one night watching late-night TV and you will be bombarded with promotions for all manner of products that bring comfort and utility to your life that is already so comfortable. The one gimmick used by all these products is their $19.99 price-point. In this recession, infomercial sales have skyrocketed so much so that legitimate companies are piloting new products using this marketing and sales channel. Some back of the envelope math tells me that if Road Runner priced their custom orthotics at $19.99, the product will be a more attractive value proposition than it is today. Given that every customer that gets an evaluation has these made regardless of whether they are eventually purchased, they fixed costs accrued by Road Runner don't increase. The company can gather data on the sell-through rate by offering a 2-week promotion on the orthotics at $19.99; I can bet, with some confidence, that they sell more than 4 pairs of orthotics on promotion for every pair they sell today. Let's say they don't ever get to this blog post or promotion; if you were the one swiping your credit card at Road Runner, would you be more inclined to spend $20 or $80?