Posterous theme by Cory Watilo

Designing to be Apple

Started using an actual iPhone recently and, surprise, it is a lot like the iPad or iPod Touch. But you expect more from the world's most profitable product eh?

1. It does not do that much more than the other stuff. Basically a bit bulky and a phone. 2. But Siri should be amazing right? It is only okay. It seems handy for quick stuff like a one line email or looking up a quick thing. But I think the touch ui is good for this and fast. So it doesn't help me. 3. Network coverage and speed is a little annoying. It is a little slow to decide "am I on wifi?" if I leave both on. 4. Too prompty. What's with the constant "smtp servers could not be reached"? I am on the subway okay!

On the other hand, though it might be annoying there is virtually nothing you have to figure out. No right click exploring or "there must be a settings somewhere". There isn't any. The way it is works okay. Nothing to decode. That seems like a product 2 billion people could use. 10x of today. Wow. An Apple is only worth $300bn + $100bn cash on hand while earning about 40bn last year. That number should perhaps be double.

An example of what makes Gladwell idiotic

Gladwell on college rankings
- authority is dumb
- conventional wisdom is wrong
- this hilarious dusty story from the 19th century shows you why this modern thing is probably just a foolish
- here are some quotes from a thoughtful fallible expert confessing he isnt certain
- watch me apply the logic over here to some unrelated thing over there to illustrate absurdity

But always full of amusing anecdotes and details!

(question: did gladwell go to a state school?)

What College Rankings Really Tell Us : The New Yorker
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/02/14/110214fa_fact_gladwell

Ray Dalio, moral realism, and Economic Man

Interesting article in the New Yorker a few months back about Ray Dalio.

Basically an effort to make him seem weird and like many insanely successful people he is. Bill Gates...Jobs, whoever. The also try a liberal argument I find dumb. "What social purpose do hedge funds serve, you evil man?"

And his correct answer is adequate enough. It is capital allocation and that is just a fact about how the world works. The problem however is that providing a utility service, while necessary, isn't exactly on anybody's moral wish list. Virtue usually comes from providing others tremendous value for little in return. Sacrifice. And these guys are my convincing that their huge wealth resembles the poor rewards of dead soldiers or great school teachers or the guy who cured AIDS. There is another problem in the Dalio world comes from the cognitive model. These guys are rationalists. Fine. The model they have is that emotion is bad. It screws up your reasoning every time. That is wrong in general and probably wrong in the specific case of their work. For example it is probably easier to tell if someone is lying by intuitive methods like looking into their eyes than by trying to fact check. And folks are probably talking to each other about important stuff in their work. See my post a couple days ago about the Kahnemann book, for example. What they do have is a Milton Friedman style theory of rational action -- for their society and for the organization. This is what those Harvard undergrads were protesting when they walked out on Ken Rogoff a while back.

Trusting your gut

Kahnemann's new book about Thinking is great in differentiating the automatic, intuitive mind and the explicit, rational mind.

Everyone knows your mind has parts and tendencies, but we often forget that some parts are good for different things.

So too in startup life.

On some matters, increase you have experience, your automatic system is best. For others you must think explicitly and carefully.

A great rule of thumb on when to trust your gut: are these matters where human evolutionary history might have prepared our minds well?

Some examples:
- people matters. Is someone trustworthy? Are they smart? Will they fit in? - product design. Does an interface make sense? Is it beautiful?
- sales.

But in other areas your gut is folly. Estimating financials or project timing. Engineering an efficient solution. It also explains why some people are so limited. They think one approach or the other is the one true way. Both are needed.

The difference between NYT and third rate journalism

A great article that brings together everything people are worrying about America these days.

From The New York Times:

THE IECONOMY: How U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work

Apple once bragged that its products were made in America. But it has since shifted its immense manufacturing work overseas, posing questions about what corporate America owes Americans.

http://nyti.ms/yGdOk7


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Amol Sarva

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