Certain Habits

They ship.

Related thoughts: Read the rest of this entry »

Has the famous “stiff upper lip” really come to this?

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Two days ago Steve Jobs announced the iPad. And predictably, after all the anticipation, the initial reaction of technology observers was tepid. Many were critical, and some even foolishly condemned the entire future of the device.

The critics do have a good point. Steve Jobs acknowledged during his presentation that the iPad needs to be better than a notebook or a smart phone for at least something to succeed. (The punch line? “And a netbook isn’t better at anything.”)

The New York Times wrote a good story this week about The Shake Shack, the latest—and first decidedly down market—addition to Danny Meyer’s New York restaurant empire (famous for Union Square Café among others).

The success of the Shake Shack is at once predictable—if you can’t sell a shake and burger in New York, you’re doing something wrong—and yet unexpected, by both the owners and the competition (if it was obvious, it would already have been done).

I loathe Apple’s ear buds. I’ve never been able to get them to stay in while seated, let alone while moving, and I haven’t been overwhelmed with the sounds.

That said, I haven’t found other earbuds that have appealed to me either. I have a good set of over the ear noise-cancelling headphones and haven’t seen fit to cough up $90 or more for a possibly uncomfortable or probably ill-fitting set of premium earbuds.

If there was a cardinal rule of retail—and a rule making body to enforce it—“the customer is always right” would be a good candidate.

Of course that can mean a number of things. At minimum, though, it means stores should be friendly, easy to use, accessible, and stock what customers are interested in. Basic advice, right?

I’ve heard of James Patterson, seen the ads for his novels, and was aware that a couple of them have been made into movies starring Morgan Freeman.

But I was completely shocked by the New York Times Magazine story about him this week. Did you know that:

BRICs. The term is familiar to anyone who, like me, has read a lot of financial news or investing reports in the last ten years.

The acronym was coined by a Goldman Sachs banker named Jim O’Neill in a 2001 report the firm published predicting that the balance of global economic power would shift inexorably this century into those four countries.

IMF structural adjustment is like Chapter 11 for countries. So is occupation (Nazi Germany, Japan, Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq).

But what does Chapter 13 for countries look like? Are we about to find out with Haiti? If not, should we?

“The initial pitch was to sell it as a file translation utility.” John Knoll, interviewed about the early days of Photoshop by Guy Kawasaki and John Scoble. (HT Scott Kelby)

The interview is interesting from beginning to end and contains lessons relevant to start-ups today.