Archive for October, 2012

The idea of “minimum viable product” is now a well established construct in the Valley. It accelerated products to market and tends to focus developers on what matters most.

I’d like to posit a similar construct. “minimal acceptable download”. Zinio does this well. I get my fave magazines quickly and can easily read them. Apple Newsreader is the polar opposite. Magazines become bloated at 10x the size of those in Zinio and packed full of stuff they assume I want. As a result, speed of download is impractical and time to content is slow.

It’s time for publishers to start breaking free from Apple’s store and get back to basics. I’m missing pubs like Wired. Get back to the notion of a “minimal acceptable download” and you will win readers. At least that is my hope.

I held out so much hope for the Surface. And Windows 8 looks great. But come on, how could a company this smart not address the most fundamental need of all new hardware – applications. This is what happens when a software company does hardware and forgets software. Developer ecosystems have never been more important and this is why, at least out of the gate, Surface will fail. None of the critical web apps I depend on are available or barely work. Here is what Walt had to say.

And there is more bad news about apps. This first edition of Surface uses a variant of Windows 8, called RT, that can’t run the vast array of traditional programs many Windows users rely upon daily, like Google Chrome, Adobe Photoshop, Apple iTunes or even Microsoft’s own Outlook. A second edition of the Surface, due in January, will run the full version of Windows 8, and most of these standard Windows programs. But it will be heavier.

Some great advice and suggestions:

• Limit the length of meetings. Limit meetings, period.
• Measure results not hours
• OHIO principle: Only handle it once.
• Don’t waste your time creating A-plus work when B-plus is good enough. Use the extra time to create A-plus work where it matters most.
• You need to communicate — often. Every week, write down a list of your assigned tasks — short-term assignments and long-term goals — and rank them by importance, from your perspective. Then ask your boss to weigh in on the list.

Some great advice and suggestions:

• Limit the length of meetings. Limit meetings, period.
• Measure results not hours
• OHIO principle: Only handle it once.
• Don’t waste your time creating A-plus work when B-plus is good enough. Use the extra time to create A-plus work where it matters most.
• You need to communicate — often. Every week, write down a list of your assigned tasks — short-term assignments and long-term goals — and rank them by importance, from your perspective. Then ask your boss to weigh in on the list.

A great profile on Thomas Keller and the French Laundry. Well worth a read.