JustinWatt.me

Reading Clay Johnson’s The Information Diet made me realize my complete lack of self control when it comes to digital information intake. Over-consumption of food is very apparent when you see an expanding waistline but an over-consumption of information is much more masked as the effects aren’t as obvious. The sources we can acquire information from already seem endless with new ways of receiving information appearing everywhere. A few months ago I ended my love affair with reading RSS feeds cold turkey and I thought that was enough. Oh how wrong I was. As the Information Diet points out,

“Unplugging, internet sabbaticals, social media vacations, and ‘email bankruptcies’ are all ways to avoid the real problem: our own bad habits. Ask any nutritionist, and they’ll tell you that a diet isn’t about not eating — it’s about changing your consumption habits.”

The time I spent reading RSS feeds was merely replaced with something else distracting me.

Address the Cause, Not the Symptom

If there’s anything I learned in my Psychology lectures it’s that you have to address the cause of an issue, not the symptoms. Filling my time with superfluous activities such as reading news article and startup blog post, after article, after post, after article gets to be draining. The information I consumed, just like junk food, made me feel good at that moment but overall, doesn’t provide much value in my life. The articles on Hacker News and many of the articles I would glance at in my RSS feeds may not have necessarily been junk food, but to some extent, a barrage of information being read all day turns it all in to the equivalent of junk food with the pity that I felt after long stretches of consumption. Media companies have learned that the types of information we crave can be compared to the kinds of foods we crave too. The Information Diet again,

“Just as food companies learned that if they want to sell a lot of cheap calories, they should pack them with salt, fat, and sugar — the stuff that people crave — media companies learned that affirmation sells a lot better than information.”

The cause for me is that I crave easily digested, quick bits of information and often along with a fear of missing out.

The Case for Conscious Consumption

If my frequent need to be kept in the loop on the latest tech related news was the cause of my unconscious information consumption, how was I going to address that? I wrote a personal manifesto of information consumption. A list of sorts that I am successfully sticking to thus far. The list goes like this:

• Read enough to know what is necessary, not what is unnecessary.
• Reassess your sources of information for the past month. Any new sources of news? Do you need to keep them around?
• How often do you stop what you’re doing to digest to new information that is unrelated to accomplishing your goals?
• Are your goals not motivating you to stay focused? It not, reassess your goals.

That’s it. A short list that I’m trying to live by for now when it comes to information consumption. So far, it’s successful and I’ve noticed a huge change in my mood. Why my mood? Anxiety! I felt anxious about possibly missing out on a new morsel of information or news. This anxiety subsided a bit when I stopped using RSS, but it still existed because I replaced my RSS feeds with something other information sources. Since limiting myself and my information consumption, I don’t feel anxious. Taking a step back from all of the information I was consuming, I realize that there is rarely something so earth-shattering and life changing that I need to find out about it right away. Twitter is a great tool for keeping up to date on what’s important while sprinkling in my social interactions with like minded individuals who are interested in the same things as I am. Twitter can be addicting as well for some, but personally I don’t view it as something I have to be reading all of the time and therefore doesn’t induce any anxiety for me. It’s a great tool for social interactions I enjoy and staying up to date passively on information.

I suggest asking yourself what information you feel you need and what you want. Don’t address the symptoms, dig down to the cause and start there. I think you’ll find that you feel a lot more productive and less anxious when you only consume what you need, not what you want.

Build Dedicated Fanbase, Shake Things Up, Profit?

It’s easy to get caught up and emotional over things that you care about. For a reason not known to me, many podcast listeners of The Talk Show are unleashing an emotional uproar on Twitter over the popular tech podcast switching from the 5by5 podcast network to Mule’s podcast network. The main concern that has elicited so much emotion over something so seemingly simple is the sudden, unannounced, and unexpected nature of the transition from one network to another.

As a quick backstory, 5by5 Studios launched in January 2010 and now features numerous tech related podcasts broadcasting each week. Dan Benjamin, 5by5’s founder, has capitalized on a love for Apple related technology discussions and has brought on some great hosts to provide commentary and insight. John Gruber was just one of them. The Talk Show may have been 5by5’s most popular show but it will go on. In fact, the first episode of The Talk Show on the Mule Network has already been released.

The emotional responses have come from the fact that there has yet to be an explanation to the listeners and fans of the show as to why the sudden move to a new network occurred. Many have pointed out that the final moments of the last 5by5 version of The Talk Show were odd (listen here) with Gruber awkwardly ending the show. Regardless of the possible foreshadowing we could glean from that interaction, when the time came to switch networks, no one actually talked about the switch. While Gruber’s website, Daring Fireball, is hugely popular many grew to enjoy what Dan Benjamin brought to the show as its co-host. I don’t want to make this an post about why Dan is needed on the show, he’s simply not a part of it anymore and time does indeed change things but it does give reason as to why there have been so many emotional responses. Many assume, because of a lack of information on the switch, that Dan has been wronged or treated unfairly in this move. If that is the case, I don’t care to comment on it. I don’t have any real information other than the fact that Gruber seemed to initiate this move. Many others are commenting on the possible ways in which Dan has been wronged, but my concern is focused on a dedicated fan base and the respect it deserves.

Find Out What it Means To Them

Respect is not an easy thing to come by on the internet. John Gruber has taken years to earn respect on his opinions regarding Apple and its products, business dealings, and rumors. He has built this respect by providing apt research and valid insights in to the worlds largest technology company. Many disagree with him but he always attempts to back up his claims with facts and a healthy amount of mockery to those who do the disagreeing. This has lead me (and I speak for myself only here) to respect the words written on Daring Fireball and spoken on The Talk Show. Yes, many are quick to point out the awkward pauses on The Talk Show, the overuse of “Claim Chowder” to mock Apple critics, or John’s chewing of food on his podcast. Whatever. In the grand scheme of things, I respect what the man has to say.

Mike Monteiro, the owner of Mule Radio, has taken years to earn respect in the realm of digital design. He helps run Mule Design and writes to help others enjoy and improve their careers in design as well. He is outspoken, cuts to the chase, and pisses off a lot of people due to a seemingly non existent filter between his brain and his mouth. Personally, I enjoy that about him. That’s why he has earned respect on a personal level because he has used that lack of a filter and no BS insights in to design to give a great talk like, “Fuck You, Pay Me” and wrote a fantastic book I just finished reading called, Design is a Job. His company has earned respect for doing good work with companies like, AllThingsD and Mint.

Both of these men have earned a lot of respect in their fields and have built fan bases around them. Even if they didn’t mean to, and even if their readers and listeners don’t want to be called fans, that’s the best way to liken the level of respect and dedication from those that follow their work. Because of the 2 way nature of communication the internet presents now a days though, that respect is harder to maintain when your users, fans, clients, and followers can question your decisions, actions, and opinions.

Be Mature, Even if They’re Not

The assumption I’m going to make is that Mike Monteiro doesn’t care about appeasing people or catering to others. His posts on Twitter in the last 24 hours have made this very clear. Mike has chastised and mocked those who have shared negative opinions on the handling of The Talk Show’s move to Mule Radio. Much of his mockery is aimed at those who have been a little too emotional or have taken things a bit too personally in my opinion, but that doesn’t matter. My main reason for writing this long-winded post is that Mike doesn’t have the respect to mock those chastising the poor feedback given to listeners regarding this move. He has the respect to speak with authority on design and the handling of a design business, but when listeners are upset, you discuss it with them like an adult even if they can’t.

The point is not if Mike cares how many or how few people listen to the podcast, it’s not which network the podcast should be on, it’s not how the move should have been handled publicly, it’s not about whether or not Mike cares if his networks new listeners respect him. It is about the fact that respect has to be earned to maintain and grow listeners, fans, clients, customers, users, and friends. Right now, Mike is doing the opposite and it’s fueling an emotional fire that the internet breeds so easily.

A lack of respect to users, clients, and customers are why some companies prosper and some companies fail. Respect is why some friendships last a lifetime and some burn out so quickly. Respect is why some users will sing your praises and why some will tear you down. Respect is why some clients will recommend you to others and why some will tarnish you any chance that they get. Respect is why some listeners will listen to your podcast and some won’t.

I could ramble on about this, but I will just quote this from Paul Miller’s article on The Verge as to why he’s leaving the internet for a year:

I’m also interested in a sans-internet reality as a technology writer. There was a time when technological innovation didn’t seem intimately linked to the internet.

And there was a time when using roads wasn’t linked to driving in a car, but there’s not much point in going back to that time now is there?

Garrett Murray wrote a great post about this as well but let me sum things up, the internet isn’t going anywhere. The internet isn’t a passing fad. Leaving it for irrelevant reasons or because you don’t have self-control is ridiculous.

Goodbye Mail.app

It’s been a long wait, but it’s here. Sparrow for the iPhone. The uber popular Mac email client designed with Gmail users in mind has been released for the iPhone. I’ve had the app for the past month and I can wholeheartedly recommend it. Even in beta form, it took over as my main iPhone mail client. I love my Gmail labels which Sparrow completely supports on the iPhone, just as it does on the Mac, which is something I’ve been waiting for on the iPhone for some time. This is just one of many great features that Sparrow for the iPhone supports. My suggestion is to just go download the app and not waste your time reading the rest of this. It’s such an easy and welcoming app to use that you don’t need a review. If you do want to hear what I have to say about my new iPhone email client though, read on below.

Sparrow’s interface takes some cues from Facebook for iPhone and Twitter for iPad in that the menu you’re currently looking at is overlayed on top of another. By swiping from left to right, you can bring up the menu underneath, much like Twitter for iPad. There are only 3 views you can reside in using these menus. The bottom of the pile is a view of your email accounts where you can choose which email account you are using currently along with changing any settings of the app itself or adding a new email account. The second level up is where you view your folders and labels of the currently chosen email account. Much like Sparrow for Mac, the label colours are pre-chosen for you and they don’t necessarily line up with the colours you have chosen within the Gmail web client. I’ve never looked to see if these colours can be synced up, but that would be fantastic for the label lovers like myself who judge importance of email based on its label colour. The 3rd level, and the view you’ll likely be in the most, is the view of your currently selected folder or label. You can turn your priority inbox on and emails are grouped by conversation much like the default choice in the Gmail web client.

When composing emails, you’ll first be greeted with a “Send to:” menu that will allow you to choose from your contacts. My favorite addition to this menu though is that Sparrow intuitively starts to show those people you email the most or most recently at the top of this contact list. It’s a nice little addition although some may want to turn it off (which isn’t possible right now.) From here, you can add photo attachments, and create an email just as you normally would in Mail.app. Once you hit send you’re sent back to your inbox and a progress bar appears along the bottom of the screen showing the status of the email you just sent but you’re free to continue using the app.

Aside from this, my favorite interface element is swiping on an email in the inbox. Swipe from right to left on any email and a menu appears underneath. From this menu, you can reply, star, label, archive, or delete the email. While a small feature, this is my favorite feature of Sparrow. The ability to quickly label and archive an email is really handy and a lot less cumbersome than in Mail.app.

Final Thoughts

Overall, for all of the little additions and UI choices noted above, I love Sparrow for the iPhone. I “got it” right away based on its design and interface cues from other apps and it’s simplicity overall. A gripe some may find with the app is it’s apparent lack of notifications of new emails. The beta version of the app included this, but Apple has imposed some restrictions limiting the push services available to Sparrow at this time. They are trying to rectify this for future versions.

Outside of this one notification gripe, there isn’t any glaring change that I would make to the application. Sure, I may make the compose email button larger, or move some UI elements around, but overall it’s fantastic. As I said above, I wholeheartedly recommend this app. Go grab it now and enjoy a far superior email experience on your iPhone. (Note, the app is just starting to propagate in the iTunes stores. Keep searching for them. I’ll post links here when they’re available.)

Note: MacStories has a fantastic and far more thorough review posted. If you’d like a longer read, check it out.

The Broken Textbook Market

Jason O’Grady at ZDNet brought up some very good points this week that added to questions I’ve had about Apple’s entry in to the textbook and publishing market since I read the Steve Jobs biography. Here’s what Jason had to say:

“What happens at the end of each semester? Students sell their used books back to the campus bookstore, which the school then re-sells to next year’s class. The publishers earn nothing from the sale of used books, which e-books would eliminate.”

Something I never took for granted while in university was the campus student union. So many used textbooks were housed there at steep discounts compared to buying a textbook new. Publishers knew this for years and of course published a new edition of the textbook every year or two forcing students to spend the full price on the book for a modification to the table of contents or a new packaged CD that you had to use to complete some assignments. It is a brutal system and seeing a good friend becoming jaded after seeing the inner workings of the university system while completing his Masters and PhD, my presumption that every choice made in the university system is for money is reassured on a constant basis. Textbooks are not an exception to this greed. Yes their is a financial cost (and environmental) to make these books, but the old way of distribution and financial rewards to each person and company in the chain of textbook production and distribution needs a complete overhaul. Just as the music industry needed a change, so does our education system.

Apple to the Rescue

We saw Apple announce their new venture in to the textbook market this week. I won’t comment on all of that as the subject has been discussed to death, but I have a lot of questions that I believe this announcement raises.

Questions to Ask About Digital Textbooks

• With this technological way of delivering textbooks, will the price differentials in different markets across the globe be more evenly aligned and fair?
• Will financial aid systems factor in and be willing to help with the cost of hardware for students wanting to use an iPad for their textbooks?
• With the digitization and far easier means of publishing digital textbooks, how will this effect accreditation of unknown textbook publishers?
• What will return policies look like for digital textbooks if a student drops a course?
• How is Apple going to help reduce the costs of iPads for schools and students themselves?
• What are other ways that Apple can build social sharing of notes and review material in to iTunes U and the textbooks? Group review is a favourite past time of the college student and the pressure to have an iPad to be able to do so would incentivize iPad sales in my opinion.
• What cost and logistics will be involved to update existing textbooks for both students and teachers?
• With obvious cost savings to the publishers, how much of the cost savings will be passed on to the consumer? Yes, Apple is setting a $15 price maximum on textbooks right now, but whats to stop the publisher from splitting the textbook in to say, 3 volumes. Who will hold them accountable when you as a student are told that you must purchase this specific textbook?

The anatomy of a great product unveiling

The anatomy of a great product unveiling comes from Apple. Many of this was thanks to the presentation skills of Steve Jobs. There’s even books written on the subject of presenting the way he did. We see “inside sources” sharing “insider information” or a piece of code found in an existing Apple OS referencing a new device and the analysts and bloggers are off because they know it’s leading up to something new and likely very exciting. We then see Apple stonewalling any public acceptance of the rumors followed by some mediocre photoshops (and some great ones) of the potential new product. Then the event invite comes out and the heavy hitter pundits step up to the plate to give their thoughts on the new product. Remember, there still has been no official word on the new product. The official word comes next at the keynote event where previous players in this products category are talked about and how Apple wants to change this market or improve on its own offerings. Then the product is unveiled. It’s not everything that everyone hoped for, but it’s still great, and still sells well. People are underwhelmed and unhappy they didn’t get what they want, but they’ll just start rumors soon anyways about the next version of this new product.

Regardless of all of this, the product sells like hotcakes because it’s the only product in this category that Apple makes. Not 13 variations on a theme, one. Maybe in time, they’ll add a few more variations like we see now with the iPhone 3GS, 4, and 4s all for sale at once. What I’m telling you isn’t new, we’ve seen this all before. Apple, whether by choice or not, knows how to unveil a new product.

The anatomy of a bad product unveiling

Your typical bad product unveiling comes from almost every company at CES. The general formula for large tech companies releasing new products has stayed the same over the years. A pre-announcement announcement in the form of a press release or a sneak peak to tech blogs. Next comes an unveiling of the product at the company’s press events. Yes, Apple holds these press events too but rarely do they focus on more than one product or product line at a time. These events at CES unveil many products at a time to little fanfare as there are so many of them and the audience already knew about every spec and design feature beforehand.

Where is the excitement and buildup to a climax? Where are the products we know will only be refreshed once per year and therefore are more inclined to invest our hard-earned money in? Why do these huge companies choose to unveil their products amongst dozens of other big players in their own industry? Just because things have always been this way, doesn’t mean that they should stay this way. Complacency and “good enough” attitudes are an overarching problem in the consumer electronics industry, but you already knew that.

What I Mean Is

CES is the lifeblood of the tech reporting community. It’s a lifeblood for the announcements made during the event and the devices that give the tech journalists months worth of reviews and follow up stories. Yes, there are stories about the decline in vendors and attendance but we hear that every year.

This year, Microsoft managed to take over an hour to tell us nothing we didn’t already know. Companies need to focus on one or two great products per year and have their own event to showcase this. A shotgun blast of half-baked ideas and copies is tiring when you know that these companies are settling for “good enough” or their ability to mimic others who execute a lot better. The news, blog, and social media chatter of CES is unavoidable, but I’m thinking of ways to avoid it even more so next year. I can’t name one product this year I can remember. It happened this past week and I’ve already forgotten about it all.¹ A world without CES would be a better world.

Fashion News

I don’t know if you’ve heard of VF Corporation before? They’re a clothing company based in the United States with a market cap of $15 billion dollars. Their stock price has climbed more than 59% in the past year. VF Corporation is in the fashion business and they do quite well owning some iconic brands like North Face and Vans. They don’t innovate, they don’t bring anything groundbreaking to the table, and in the fashion industry they’re rarely in the headlines. Despite this, VF Corporation managed to take home 31% of Nike’s net income in the last 12 months. Those in the fashion & clothing industry hear a lot more about Nike than we do VF Corporation but we’ll come back to this.¹

Google Flipboard, I mean Current

Google released its news curation app recently, Currents. It was mostly overshadowed by the update to Twitters services, but for that I am thankful and here’s why. Google isn’t innovative and seeing news about their new product launches is tedious to wade through when there’s so much tech news that we’re barraged with each day. VF Corporation isn’t innovative either and they manage to take home a lot of money so in the end innovation isn’t my point as that doesn’t define cash flow, it’s reporting on a lack of innovation. Every service and product Google produces is an iteration or evolution of someone else’s. Take a look at these headlines regarding newly launched Google services within the past year:

• Google Preparing iTunes Competitor
• Google’s iTunes Competitor Will Likely Be Called Google Music
• Another Try by Google to Take On Facebook
• Google Launches Groupon Competitor
• Google’s Groupon Competitor Goes Live
• Google Currents: First Impressions Of Google’s Flipboard Competitor
• Is Google Currents a worthy rival to Flipboard?

I don’t recall any of these products being talked about as “new” products before their launch, only as competitors to an existing service that Google is reacting to. Reacting is the key word here. Not innovative, not proactive, but reactive.

Google innovated, nay, created search. They have almost perfected ads and it shows in their earnings and many say that this is why they create these services, to drive their ad revenue. They have a successful phone operating system. People love their email service. 3 out of 4 of these services launched over 6 years ago though and in the world of technology that is a long time.

Google+ Search

Google’s new CEO has ushered in an era of shutting down services that are lingering in the zone of barely used and not gaining any traction. We’ve seen many services shut down this past year which is a good start. Out with the old, but where is the new? I haven’t seen it, have you? Google+ has had some good features, but the service as a whole is a rip-off of existing services.² We have seen a barrage of posts today about Google’s change which incorporates Google+ “people” results in your searches. That is a can of worms that does need to be discussed for many reasons. Discussing the search giants abuse of power and lack of openness is becoming more prevalent and rightly so. Today’s announcement regarding search is all the more proof that Google needs to be scrutinized more than ever.

What I Mean Is

Each new service I see by Google is one less reason to talk about them. Their stock does well, but so does VF Corporation’s and as we said, no one talks about them in fashion.³ In the end, I’m sick of hearing about a new, reactive Google product that people won’t care about in a few months (if not weeks) and will likely be shut down sooner or later unless it really gains traction. But how many products have gained traction from Google in the last few years? Wave or Buzz anyone? My hope is that some in the technology news industry will stop reporting about Google’s products so much and start focusing on some great innovators in the startup community. There are some really interesting products and services coming out from some really innovative thinkers we’ve never heard about before. Let’s start talking about these people. Let’s help build jobs by building interest in new companies, products, software, and services. That is my challenge to you whether you’re writing a tweet seen by 100 people or a website article seen by 1 million people. As we’ve seen today, Google services need to be scrutinized, but as for new products, that’s another story. Let’s fill the public in on innovations and inspirations not recycling and regurgitations. Let VF Corporation continue churning out the products it does and improving its bottom line. I don’t want to hear how they do it and I don’t want to hear how Google does it either.

1. Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math - Standout Track: Pale Black Eyes
2. Cliff Martinez and Various Artists - Drive OST - Standout Track: Nightcall
3. Foo Fighters - Wasting Light - Standout Track: Arlandria
4. Noel Gallaghers High Flying Birds - Self-Titled - Standout Track: If I Had a Gun
5. Death Cab for Cutie - Codes and Keys - Standout Track: Codes and Keys
6. TV On the Radio - Nine Types of Light - Standout Track: Second Song & Will Do
7. Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross - Dragon Tattoo OST - Standout Track: What if We Could?
8. Jay-Z & Kanye West - Watch the Throne - Standout Track: No Church in the Wild
9. Childish Gambino - Camp - Standout Track: Bonfire
10. Thrice - Major/Minor - Standout Track: Listen Through Me