2006 April

1966 vs. 2006

April 7, 2006 By Steve Borsch Leave a Comment

My sisters laughed when my 11 year old son came into the midst of a family gathering last fall and told a joke, abused me verbally, and then recited a TV commercial verbatim. Aghast and yet amused as he ran away, I asked them, "Was I like that?" They instantly both burst out laughing and said, "Yeah! He’s *exactly* like you were. He’s your "mini-me"! (Referring of course to Dr. Evil’s tiny clone in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me).

I love this kid. He and I have been on six Dad & Son Adventures to Lake Superior in Duluth, Arizona, Rapid City, SD and more. We share so many interests that it’s easy to be with him and find common ground. He’s more of a technoweenie than I am and is bound for greatness (spoken like a true, humble Dad heh?).

In the photo I’m in the blue shirt at 11 years old. Because of a discussion with my son today about why I’m struggling to get his NintendoDS on our Wifi network (I use WPA encryption and the DS only supports the less secure and previously cracked WEP) made me think about 1966 vs. 2006 and all that’s changed.

Me: Hardy Boys and Tom Swift books. He: Harry Potter; Lord Loss; Interstellar Pig; Dan Millman and dozens and dozens more (man…does this kid read!)
Me: B&W television and comic books. He: Computers that are Wifi enabled; Xbox/Playstation/Nintendo; occasional cell phone use; DVD and TiVo
Me: driving trips to northern Minnesota and Yellowstone. He: Dozens of trips including Hawaii, Peru, New York, Arizona, California.

The list goes on. What amazes me is the sheer volume of stimulation his brain has received by 11 vs. what I received at his age. Though he’s in the 99th percentile for IQ (must’ve come from Mom) and he makes sure he’s intellectually stimulated all the time, I nonetheless marvel at what a profound worldview this kid has now vs. the limited one I enjoyed at that age.

It’s not just him. His friends are the same way and it’s almost frightening sometimes to listen to them talk about virtual worlds, game theory (though they don’t know it’s a theoretical discipline!) and where to find stuff on the ‘net. My daughter is simply comfortable with all technology and uses it as a tool. She could care less about gadgets and how stuff works and instead focuses on progressive issues and her friends — and expects the tools will work and be there when she needs them. Each of my kids are gearing up to make different yet equal impacts on the world and will simply understand when enabling tools debut and how they will benefit their interests.

My opinion about the acceleration in knowledge brought about by our interconnectedness due to the ubiquity of the global internet hasn’t changed: it’s exponentially accelerating and we’re building upon one another’s work and knowledge at an increasing rate. Will we make the right decisions about genetic, drug and other therapies? How about computer enhancements that require a biological link? I see that my own children are cognitively prepared right now to face the challenges they’ll face the rest of this century…and it helps me sleep soundly.

Filed Under: Computing, Innovation, Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness, Technology

Where are all the gadgets?

April 4, 2006 By Steve Borsch Leave a Comment

Walk into a Best Buy or Fry’s and try to find anything close to the gadgets revealed in Engadget or Gizmodo. Where are they?

Last night I stopped by a Fry’s in San Diego to pick up a couple of things. Walking around the store (which, by the way, was the dumpiest and poorly merchandised Fry’s I’ve ever been in), I was struck by how many mass market, mainstream products they had and how few of the new or cool — even those that have been shipping for awhile.

Here’s one example: The Sony PCM-D1, portable field recorder. It’s $2,000 retail and appears to be awesome, but I’ve never held or tried one. Why? Best Buy would *never* carry one and Fry’s would if it was hot or had buzz. I’ve tried Guitar Center in two cities, but they both indicated it was a special order. So I’ve not yet been able to make a decision on entertaining its purchase.

In a world of reduced retail choice in favor of superstores, by default there is a finite amount of shelf space. I understand these limitations but it makes me wonder about ways to fulfill The Long Tail. As our ability to meet our needs in ever narrower ways continues to accelerate due to the internet — coupled with our desire to touch, feel, hold and tryout products before we buy — how will our choice (or demand) meet supply?

One could argue that ecommerce will fill it. I don’t think so. Manufacturer’s of good and services will need to significantly ratchet up their willingness to provide demonstration units to distribution or find another way to ensure that their product can be fully understood by those who could buy. Maybe, just maybe, Best Buy will understand soon that The Long Tail is real and that they could put into place demonstration centers that tie in the touchy feely aspect of buying without them having to have in-store inventory (tie into BestBuy.com for next day delivery).

It will be interesting to see how a model emerges to meet the informational needs of buyers while providing us with what we need to experience products up close. Blogs are phenomenal ways to have trusted advisors recommend products and have links to buy them (e.g., Amazon Associates), but we still have the, "I want to touch, feel and play with it" problem to solve.

Filed Under: Commerce, Innovation

Traveling….

April 3, 2006 By Steve Borsch Leave a Comment

….so postings will be light.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Goodbye Technology….Hello Knitting

April 1, 2006 By Steve Borsch Leave a Comment

After much thought and consideration, I’ve decided to completely re-engineer my blog (click on the picture at the left to see the new look-n-feel) and follow my bliss. It simply has become far too difficult to go on living a lie.

Technology just doesn’t cut it for me anymore. There is more to life than servers, the internet, software, and all those things. For me, the peace and serenity I find through knitting is what it’s all about…and has connected me in a community of love, surrounded by those who share an affinity for the Zen of knitting.

I know, I know, the trails have been blazed before me by the likes of football legend Rosey Grier (Oh yeah…he did needlepoint. I forgot). But there is NOTHING like knitting a leg warmer, slipping it on nearly complete (important if you want to ensure a good fit and closure) and gazing at it next to your delightfully painted toenails.

So many people are seeking. Looking for meaning. Trying to find their way or the answers to the big questions. I submit that ALL questions can be answered with a good purl stitch while contemplating the meaning of the universe.

I have finally found my place and am complete. Thank you for reading my tech/science/geeky blog and I hope you keep coming back to learn about my new adventure in knitting.

Filed Under: Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness