Getting an iPad 2? eh...

A lot of folks know that I have the original iPad - certainly all the readers of this blog do. Fewer know that I bought it the first day it was available. I think most people looked at me a little askance after that - perhaps questioning my sanity or fiscal sense. Subsequently over 15 million people joined me in this experiment and I think that they have found, as I did, that it was worth it.

But now, the iPad 2 has been announced. Cameras. 2 of em. New design, faster processor and video performance. Lighter. Thinner. All of it impressive. But, in terms of usability, I find little difference. Don't get me wrong - faster is almost always better. But, I'm not clear that there is a compelling difference between the 1 and the 2. I'd like to think there is and I certainly intend on getting my hands on one. But, I'm skeptical that it will be as compelling of an experience as the first one.

I am quite sure however, that the device will be immediately compelling to those who do not have the first one. They'll be entranced by the dead simple functionality and the form factor, etc. I welcome all those who haven't bought one yet - you'll want one. But for those of us early adopters, it's more of a coin flip. And I'm not sure where I'm going to land.

I'm Right; You're Wrong. But Why?

I have never been adept at the concepts of Psychology. And yet, as my career progresses more and more of my day tends to be consumed with personnel issues. This includes personality and performance issues and sometimes it means telling someone that they are wrong. Which means this is the point at which one would want to have a comprehensive understanding of the theory and practice of how the human mind works. Then again, there is nothing like trial by fire.

I continue to marvel at the way in which human minds work in the face of a challenge to their own reality. I often have incidents at work in which I have to coach an individual, correct a situation or often just say no. All of these situations implicitly require that I'm right and they are, in some way, wrong.

However, knowledge of a situation and individual actions or motivations is almost by definition inherently unclear, incomplete or even just plain wrong. There is no such thing as perfect knowledge or the 100% right answer. So how can I sit in seeming judgment over another individual and impart my will upon people and situations?

For one, I have been chosen to be a manager at my company. This creates an obligation for me to put the organization's best interest ahead of everything else, including me. Beyond that I have been asked to be a leader. This assumes that my judgment is superior to that of other individuals at my company. It further assumes that I have created, built or understand the goals that the company is striving more and how to get here.

But let's focus on the challenge of questioning a peer or fellow staffer or perhaps even your boss's judgment. I become aware of a situation or decision and say "That's not right." How do I know my judgment is better than theirs? How do I know that I am not the one who is wrong?

I don't think there is any one answer, but I suspect it comes down to this. The very act of examining/re-examining your own motivations, thoughts and decisions will, on balance, mean you will be right more of the time than someone who goes by their gut or sticks blindly to decisions or a vision regardless of the results. This introversion, this self examination of my own deeds, actions and performance is an inherently superior approach in the long run. The mere act of decisive action keyed off blind faith nee zealotry is an insufficient standard of righteousness, even thought in limited circumstances that can be the right choice.

The Fraud Department at AT&T Wireless is Asleep at the Switch

This will be my first blog post of the year. That is unfortunate in and of itself. Somehow last year simply got away from me at the end and my pace of writing dropped to zero. What is even more unfortunate is that this post is going to deal with my abysmal experience with AT&T Wireless and their quizzical notions of customer service.

Back in October of 2010, towards the very tail-end of my billing cycle, I received my normal monthly wireless bill only to discover that it had mysteriously grown to $500+ dollars from the normal $70-$80. Naturally, this was disturbing so I called AT&T to see what was going on. The customer service representative transferred me to the Fraud Department right away and we went through the process. She began to ask me if I knew where certain Apple stores were, etc. It turns out that someone added a handful of iPhone 4's to my account, each from a different store.

iPad Powered by iOS 4.2

It is old news that the next version of the iOS has hit the streets, but it's worthwhile to measure just how much impact it has. The biggest change is not to the iPhone - as the changes there are merely evolutionary at best. But the iPad - well, after the 4.2 iOS loaded up it was like everything was brand new again. Multi-tasking and folders were the biggest benefits that I saw and quickly embraced. Beyond that the unified inbox is nice and various minor improvements with Safari. 

iPhone vs iPad

I have had my iPad WiFi for a little over three months. And, now I've had the iPhone 4 for just over a month. It begs the question, which is a better device?

There are plenty of ways to consider the issue. Which one do I use more? Which one has changed my life more? Which one enables things I didn't have before?

I haven't been traveling much over the past month and thus have not had that much need for much of the iPhone ultra-portability. However, I have used my iPad for literally hours each day and for a wide variety of functions. I find myself using the iPad for games, to read books, browse the Internet and check email from the comfort of the sofa rather than at my desk. 

The iPad form-factor, while heavy for normal book reading is far more portable than the lightest laptops -- all with tremendous battery life. It is a delightful travel companion and doesn't even need to be removed from my carry-on bag like a laptop would. It is safe to say that the iPad significantly increased my appetite for media of all types. 

Is is Better to Be Hated or Popular?

Luckily, Facebook doesn't have to choose. It's both. This is on the heels of a report that their customer satisfaction ranking is below that of the IRS. They can take some small solace in the fact that they beat out MySpace by a point.

But, one has to wonder, what the future of social networks are if folks are that are so unsatisfied by their membership in a free club? Perhaps most Facebook users have arrived at the crossroad of Hype and Reality and find Reality to be the better road to take. I was not much convinced about the value of Facebook in my life and only grudgingly joined. 

My profile is as locked down as I can make it, and only a handful of friends have made it into my network. The UI, which was already chaotic to begin with, has only grown increasingly cluttered and overly busy - perhaps designed for a target demographic other than me... but nonetheless it lacks friendly customization features that can attract and hold members across all demographics. But most importantly, I find the causal dismissal of the importance of someone else's privacy to be somewhere between appalling and unnerving. Or maybe both.

It's time for Facebook to wake up, look in the mirror and decide if it wants to grow up. If so, it needs to take itself more seriously if it wants to continue to expand. It is only possible to do that if you hang onto the folks you have. Facebook is going to need to focus on servicing all of it's members all the way from 13 to 83.

Facebook, you don't know best - your customers do. So start asking them what they need and want and get them involved in your development process - before you don't have them anymore.

Curing Cancer, One Computer at a Time

I know a lot of people who leave their computers on for most of the day, or sometimes around the clock. They like the convenience of being able to walk up to it and instantly be productive. Or, perhaps they use their desktop computer at a media server, etc. That typically is just a waste of power most of the time. So, if you are one of those people, how about you take a look at the World Community Grid project. 

The software program called BOINC allows your computer to participate in distributed computing - break up a very large problem or problems into pieces and have thousands or millions of computers work on it in sections. Normally, this would be a problem that you might give to a super computer. That can be very expensive and difficult to schedule.

Instead, projects such as Clean Energy, Curing Muscular Dystrophy and Curing Cancer can get resources from groups of folks or individual volunteers all over the world. All you are giving up is a little CPU time on your side. The client itself is easy to install and configure. The sign-up process - well, just make sure you are a little bit patient and feel rather inquisitive when you make the choice to move forward. It's a multi-part process that sometimes can make you feel lost. However, if you persevere, the installation itself is easy as pie.

Once you've been running, you also can see your statistics on-line and how you are contributing to the effort. For example, I've been running this since late June and have returned 510 results. That's good enough to rank me at 109,000th. Ok, so it's not that great in context, but I feel like it is helping - and what's wrong with that? :-)