Intel Wayside
I normally don’t talk about chip manufacturers, but today’s article in the New York Times, “Intel Plans to Shift Focus to Consumer Products,” is unfortunate in how it lacks context.
Because, in reading it, you’d never know that Intel has tried this before (at least once) and failed. Miserably.
A look back into the archive demonstrates [...]
Eating away from below: what’s happening to enterprise software
Though definitely not as sexy to talk about as tagging, and mashups, and whom Yahoo acquired today, I think that the trends we’re witnessing in enterprise software will have a far greater impact than much of what’s being discussed.
And the most obvious trend is that the enterprise software market is being eaten away from below. [...]
The Man With Two Brains
Just watched this again. I hadn’t seen it since, I don’t know, high school. GodDAMN is it funny. If you haven’t seen it, you should. If you have, but it’s been a while, see it again. The number of good, deep, quality laughs is phenomenal. Steve Martin is phenomenal. Kathleen Turner is particularly phenomenal. And [...]
Heel-toe Histories
This morning I finished The Trouble with Tom, a necrologue of Thomas Paine’s bones (and the black lump that was once his brain). It is an excellent work — inquisitive, insightful, funny, pleasantly digressive. Paul follows Tom’s bones from New York to England (and all over England), and in doing so, uncovers a variety of [...]
Old Salem
A highlight of our Carolinas trip was visiting Old Salem a couple days ago. The website really doesn’t do it justice. Old Salem is a remarkable history learning experience (and I use “experience” advisedly).
We began at the new visitor center, a modern building decked with “Old Salem” in massive type. I immediately wondered, “Who [...]
More notes on the Carolinas
When last I wrote, we were heading to James Island, just south of Charleston. We began in Folly Beach, which was pretty much shut down for the Winter. We still got a nice beach walk in…
And we had happy hour drinks at a local watering hole. Which, in South Carolina, is amusing, because they can [...]
Quick notes on the Carolinas
A couple days into our tour of the Carolinas. The flight(s) to Raleigh/Durham were a bit painful — we had a four hour wait at O’Hare, for reasons unknown.
We didn’t do much in Chapel Hill besides sleep, eat biscuits, and drink coffee.
Most importantly, we visited Theda Wilkens:
Oh, and her dad.
Then we drove to Charleston, [...]
Stupid Irrational Customers
“Pursuing the Scarcer Moviegoers,” an article on why folks are staying away from movie theaters, demonstrates the unconscious witlessness of theater owners. To whit:
Mr. Fithian insisted that going to the movies is not too expensive, compared to other out-of-the-home leisure activities. “If consumers seriously analyzed their options, they’d realize that the cinema is the best [...]
Heading to North and South Carolina
From December 18 to the 25th, Stacy and I will be in North and South Carolina. We’re starting and ending in Chapel Hill (well, Carrboro), to visit friends and their new daughter! We’re planning on seeing Charleston, Columbia, and Winston-Salem as well (got to go to Old Salem).
Suggestions for points of interest along this route [...]
Notes from User Interfaces for Physical Spaces
Yesterday I attended User Interfaces for Physical Spaces, a one-day workshop and field trip co-produced by MAYA Design and the IA Institute. The day was essentially an extended case study of the work MAYA did with the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh (the public library system, CLP), applying methods of user-centered design and information architecture to [...]
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