Digital Living

Microsoft "Surface Computing": Another "Prove" That "Next Trend/Wave 2008" Would Be About "Flat Panel" Computing / "Tablet" Computing Everywhere ??

Microsoft is promoting "surface computing" which will bring "table computing" to our office and home; and someday -- probably -- will also bring the "next wave" of computing persona and behavior to our daily living and working environment.

At the moment, they envision a "large-scale flat-panel device" that will probably look like this:

Quite a fascinating concept. I assume it will be touch-based, internet ready, video capable, etc. It would become a "place" for everybody to come together, work, interact, share, communicate, collaborate and coordinate each other together.

But from usability perspective, I disagree with the way they position the surface itself. I think, if they don't position the device totally 180 degree flat like that, yet position it with 30-60 degree "tilt", then probably it would make the "surface" to become a much more meaningful (and useful) device for "mere mortal" like us. :-)  ... Unless, probably only Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock of USS Enterprise Generation 1 that would be impressed and able to figure out how such "flat table" device could be really useful, as of now ... :-)

Nevertheless, whatever we like to call it, and how we are going to -- eventually -- position it (flat, 30-60 degree tilt, hang it on the wall, "bury" it inside the floor, etc), "surface computing", "tablet computing", "touch computing" seems would mark a new emerging era of computing that is about to begin: Everything would eventually be flat-screen/tablet computing based, applying touch-based interface as its main interaction method, and -- as it got no physical device attached to it (no physical harddisk, no physical keyboard, etc) -- it will all come in the slimmest, thinnest form factor ever.

As a result:

• We will start interacting with computers that is flat, touched-based and totally digital by nature.

• Physical keyboard -- and physical mouse -- perhaps gradually yet pretty rapidly will soon gone from our working and living environment.

• Everything probably "soon" being replaced with "soft touch" intelligent keyboard, and intuitive touch interfaces.

• At the same time, everything probably also will be flat-screened, touch-based, and come in ultra-slim-and ultra-thin form factor.

As these flat, touched, ultra-slim&thin concept become stable and popular, future notebook, future screens, and future computer probably will feel and look very different. They all probably will start incorporate soft-"things" too. Mechanical device will start to gradually gone from our working and living environment.

As the technology evolve, stabilize, getting cheaper and mature, eventually, these flat, touched, ultra-slim/ultra-thin devices will probably will come in different size and form factor, depend on its uses and purposes, but all will be based on same underlying technology, capability and "standard".

Such device probably will define the "shape & form factor" of computing device in the early-mid 21st century. Such new "shape" will revolutionary change the way we experience, adapt, adopt and do computing in the first place.

These changes and transformation probably would someday become a mark of a great major milestone of change and transformation in the history of computer and computing development. Something that all the industrial player would cheerfully remember.

Welcome to the era of "flat panel computing" / "tablet computing" in 2008! What a fascinating world we are about to live in!

Tablet Computing: Coming Soon January 2008?

Rumors has it that Apple might soon release an iTablet device that is based on Leopard OS and will use the ultra-efficient Silverthorne processor from Intel.

If such is true, this Tablet might become the finest-designed tablet in the market, and the most-power-efficient tablet too.

The look of the device -- as some artist predict -- is rendered to be something like this:

or -- even better -- something like this:

Awesomely beautiful! Truly functional too!

Seem Apple Tablet would be simply a tablet, not a tablet that can double function as a full-fledge-laptop.

From user point of view, such design is perhaps exactly what we want. We can live with notebook, desktop computer, handphone, digital camera device -- all are a very specialized device. So, a tablet that is just functioning as a tablet -- and not being made complicated by additional peripheral that makes it a general yet bulky and odd "tablet + notebook" device might be the kind of device that the market really looking for.

Today typical Tablet in the market looks like this:

If Apple can simplify the system's ergonomics by removing the keyboard (which we seldomly used -- or even don't ever want to use when we work in Tablet mode), then perhaps we got an ideal Tablet form factor that people will start carry around with them everywhere, everyday.

We will be able to work like this:

But with the annoying keyboard and thick form factor being trimmed down significantly!

If we can do that, then may be 2008 will the year of the Tablet! It might become the year when we start working with various "tablet" form factor: iPod (as the mini "tablet"), iPhone (as the "super Tablet"), and iTablet (as the truest Tablet ever in the market).

WIth that our productivity soar even better!

Building Business Is Like Planting A Tree ...

Building business is like planting a tree ....

Who says so? Jeff Bezos says so in this excerpt of his interview with Harvard Business Review. You might want to take a look:

Who is setting strategic direction for Amazon? At the very beginning it was just you, sitting in a car on the way from New York to Seattle, making all the plans. Are you still making them all?

Oh, heavens, no. We have a group called the S Team—S meaning “senior”—that stays abreast of what the company is working on and delves into strategy issues. It meets for about four hours every Tuesday. Once or twice a year the S Team also gets together in a two-day meeting where different ideas are explored. Homework is assigned ahead of time. A lot of the things discussed in those meetings are not that urgent—we’re a few years out and can really think and talk about them at length. Eventually we have to choose just a couple of things, if they’re big, and make bets. The key is to ensure that this happens fractally, too, not just at the top. The guy who leads Fulfillment by Amazon, which is the web service we provide to let people use our fulfillment center network as a big computer peripheral, is making sure the strategic thinking happens for that business in a similar way. At different scale levels it’s happening everywhere in the company. And the most important thing is that all of it is informed by a cultural point of view. There’s a great Alan Kay quote: “Perspective is worth 80 IQ points.” Some of our strategic capability comes from that.

How would you describe that cultural point of view?

First, we are willing to plant seeds and wait a long time for them to turn into trees. I’m very proud of this piece of our culture, because I think it is somewhat rare. We’re not always asking ourselves what’s going to happen in the next quarter, and focusing on optics, and doing those other things that make it very difficult for some publicly traded companies to have the right strategy.

Do you know when you’re planting one of those seeds that it’s, say, an acorn and it’s going to turn into an oak? Do you have a strong vision of how things will materialize? Or does the shape emerge along the way?

We may not know that it’s going to turn into an oak, but at least we know that it can turn out to be that big. I think you need to make sure with the things you choose that you are able to say, “If we can get this to work, it will be big.” An important question to ask is, “Is it big enough to be meaningful to the company as a whole if we’re very successful?” Every new business we’ve ever engaged in has initially been seen as a distraction by people externally, and sometimes even internally. They’ll say, “Why are you expanding outside of media products? Why are you going international? Why are you entering the marketplace business with third-party sellers?” We’re getting it now with our new infrastructure web services: “Why take on this new set of developer customers?” These are fair questions. There’s nothing wrong with asking them. But they all have at their heart one of the reasons that it’s so difficult for incumbent companies to pursue new initiatives. It’s because even if they are wild successes, they have no meaningful impact on the company’s economics for years. What I have found—and this is an empirical observation; I see no reason why it should be the case, but it tends to be—is that when we plant a seed, it tends to take five to seven years before it has a meaningful impact on the economics of the company.

Arv note: Company soul, believe and culture is -- perhaps -- always the most important. From day 1 company founders probably instinctively "seed" these culture ... and through years try to work excitingly hard trying to turn it into becoming DNA of the "next great impactful -- lasting institution". That's probably what the essence of "company building", "company builder" and "entrepreneurship" is all about: founders, angel investors, creators, innovators, company builders, we're all trying to build "core DNA" of the next "great institution" that will bring "positive impact" to the advancement of our greater society as a whole. Probably. :-)

Who Speaks For The Earth??

In this video segment, Carl Sagan express a beautiful piece of thoughts on the issues that faces human kind today and in the future.

He raises a fascinating question about "who speaks for the earth?" if these threatening destruction continue, which would endanger the existence and longevity of the humankind.

A very rare excerpt, a beautiful piece of thoughts on the perspective of humanity and humankind, and how we are all together could and shall work and live together as one seamless connected society; continuously together try to protect, preserve and nurture the longevity and vitality of one planet that we are all live in; and nurture the greater future of the connected global society that we all together live with.

[Q]: Why Switch To A Mac? [A]: WHY NOT?? :-) :-) :-)

If you're still wondering whether you should switch to a Mac or not, this USA today article might be able to give some more perspective and insight.

XO OLPC: Laptop With Truest "Noble Cause" That Might One Day Change The World (For The Better)

The XO OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) might not be the most powerful nor most fancy laptop in the world. But the idea that drives its birth is definitely one of the most breakthrough, most noble, most 'original' idea that the world one day will cheerfully -- and respectfully -- remember.

This laptop is probably the laptop with the "biggest heart" known to man-kind today. It is filled with  noble causes that one day might change the world (for the better).

FoxNews provide more insight on the XO OLPC and what it could really mean for the world and our greater society as a whole, here. If you want to know more about the XO OLPC and the cause that drives its birth, you can click and read here.

An Unfunny, RETARDED, MORALLY IN-ETHICAL, SHAMEFUL Joke About XO Laptop!

I'm a fans of Mac technologies. And I usually love the "satir" of Fake-Steve-Jobs (FSJ). But when it comes to people making funny of a moral-attempt-that-try-to-change the world for the better, I'm TOTALLY AGAINST it.

This is one example of that IMPROPER satir. It makes fun of the "OLPC" (One Laptop Per Children) computer.

It says:

Looking at this, I really wonder what this is all about!!

I said, for God sake, this is NOT funny at all. Actually it's actually a bit morally retarded. I mean, these people at OLPC is trying to make computing accessible to ALL children around the world out there, and instead of trying to help them out with their noble cause, we try to ridicule them by being SNOB???.

Are we really becoming morally retarded that despite their OLPC XO notebook attempt might be successful or un-successful, we should even ridiculed them for their noble act and attempt? This is no funny joke at all. Instead, doing such unfunny joke really seem morally retarded.

In regards with that, it is a pity that recently Fake-Steve-Jobs posting context more and more focusing on the "self-pride" aspect of the "Mac" and forget the "underlying moral essence" that makes Apple so much fun, fascinating and great company after all.

Beside the "MORALLY IN-ETHICAL" essence of such un-funny joke, strangely (and sadly) enough I believe such publicly posted joke is also morally against the "underlying moral essence" standard of the Apple brand and value system that Apple had as as well.

If we remember these beautiful "think different" spirit and quotes FROM APPLE:

THE CRAZY ONE

Here's to the crazy ones ..
The misfits; the rebels ..
The troublemakers ..
The roundpegs in the square hole.
The one who see things differently.

They're not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can quote them,
Disagree with them,
Glorify or vilivy them.

But the only thing you can't do,
is to ignore them.

Because they change things.
They push the human race forward.

And while some may see them as the crazy ones.
We see genius.

Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world ...
... are the ones who do.

In many ways, isn't the OLPC  XO is a "round pegs" in the square hole, a "rebel", a movement in the spirit that try to change the world for the better too??

Isn't this "exactly" the "same" (or at least similar0 value system that is equally shared and by Apple too? Isn't that what the Apple brand is all about too?? To make a "dent" -- a great positive difference in the -- universe? To make the world a better place to be for the rest of our society??

In that retrospect, I really wonder what the essence of these jokes is all about?? Celebration of "blind prideness on the beauty of our Apple and Mac brand?"

For God sake, this is a $200 OLPC XO notebook being compared to a $1,500 - $2,000 MacBook/MacBook Pro laptop? And this -- shamefully -- is also a "cynical improper joke" directed towards a truly nobel cause!

• In that essence, probably we shall be "ashamed" of ourselves that we -- the "league" of Apple admirers -- ever produce this. Perhaps we shall see it through the perspective that an OLPC XO campaign is not something that we Apple people should "negatively joke about".
• OLPC XO campaign is about giving access to knowledge, education and computing to children around the world. Through it, perhaps one day thousands or millions of children around the world will start to understand the internet, know about computing that they never touch. Through it they might have a chance to become an integrated part of the world's standard.

In a way, this is perhaps a "bicycle to the mind" that Apple is always talking about!.

One day, as these children start grasphing the idea of the world at large and become proficient at it, they might start making a their own decision to buy their own computer ... and buy a Mac! But OLPC might be the catalyst that opens their mind and access to the world! Through it, no longer they ever be divided from the rest of the world. Never they get left behind anymore. OLPC XO might one day -- be it successful or not -- a hope to become these children's first enabler for them to have access to the net, and to become part of the the digital world society and digital member of the world market we are all understand and heading about!

Through it ... the world might one day never be digitally divided anymore!

In that sense, improper joke about the XO is really feels not right. Infact, it really feel against the whole great value system of the Apple brand itself.

• It's a pity that such shameful incidental joke ever being made and posted, not only once, but repeatedly in the FSJ post.
• It's a pity that such improper joke is made in the name of a value system of an Apple brand, while actually the value system of the joke is not alight at all with the Apple inner spirit to "think different" and "to change the world for the better".

I'm saddened by this. It's pitiful.It's strongly seem and feel against great universal moral standard that we are all really crave about. It's against good value systems that we all seem to always try to stand for -- be it through our expression of the Apple brand -- or through our collective mutual attempt as an "Apple admirer": (1) to "be the round peg in the square hole" ... (2) to "make a dent" in the universe ... (3) to change the world for the better!