the MARTINI SHAKER

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Making People Smarter

I spoke to Merlin Mann on the phone the other day. We had a great conversation, and he ended it with an interesting question:

“How do we make people smarter?”

I have a couple of ideas….
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SXSW 2010: I’m done stewing. Here’s the poop.

My very first SXSW experience is now in the history books. I had an amazing time, but the sheer volume of experiences and information that was crammed into 5 days was a little overwhelming. I needed a little time to …
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TweetStar

One of the refreshingly inspiring panels that I attended at SXSWi this year was about people who engage in “Slow Twitter.” These people take their time to craft most of their tweets for maximum entertainment value. Most of the time, …
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Spring Break for nerds.

Tomorrow morning, I’m headed on a plane to beautiful Austin, TX for the South By Southwest Interactive Conference, also known to some as Spring Break for nerds.

This is my first trip to SXSWi, and I couldn’t be any more excited. …
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A conversation that made me cry.

Nathan wanted to go on a car ride with me last night. In addition to being in the “me too” phase, he’s started his “Why?” stage early, so of course he wanted to know why we were taking an …
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Mac vs. PC… Good question? Not really.

Shaken for you: May 14, 2007

It’s not often that I write letters to officials, news stations, or any of those things, but tonight was my one for the year (or so). Our local NBC station has a segment called Good Question on the 10:00 news, and tonight’s segment that attempted to solve the Mac vs. PC debate was just shoddy, lazy, reporting. Here was my e-mail to the station:

I was rather disappointed to watch your recent segment on the Mac vs. PC debate. Although all points were valid, I felt that they were presented in a way that was slightly misleading.

Point 1: Yes, there are Macs that cost upwards of $3000 or more. However, the Mac Pro is a very high powered machine that is built with video and audio editors in mind. The average viewer of your segment would mostly be using their computer for e-mail and Internet surfing, which the $499 mac mini is more than suitable (and within the price range of a comparable PC). Even if they went for an iMac, the most they’d pay is $1800.

Point 2: Graphic Design? I’m a designer at one of the top advertising agencies in town, and even though I am a Mac user (I switched from PC in Fall 2005), the PC versions of all the design programs I use are exactly the same. This is kind of a cop out.

Point 3: This is really the only point in the entire battle that has no real counterpoint. You can’t argue numbers like that.

Point 4: Downtime? I personally have only had any Mac freeze up a handful of times, but it should be pointed out that ALL computers crash, no matter the operating system. That’s just a fact of life. I could argue however that a PC freezes far more often than Mac… the main reason I switched platforms.

Finally, I bring up the point that was unfortunately missed in your report. I am writing this email from a Macbook laptop, which is capable of running Mac OS X and Windows XP… a feat that no PC on the market can do without illegal software hacking.

The fact of the matter is that it’s not a draw, but there’s no clear winner either… only because each computer platform serves people in different ways, and that’s just how it should be. A Mac is not for everyone just as a PC is the same. I’d love for everyone to use Macs, but for some people cost or perceived lack of software is a deal breaker.

I should also point out that I’m not trying to start a platform war here… Those are more lame and awful than the segment itself. I’m just pointing out that their research and delivery of the information was lackluster on both sides of the issue.

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  • Wow. That was lame. I wish I could produce something of no value, too. Glad you called him out, Jeremy.
  • shaun
    I saw the same story, and the problem is that the people who don't know anything will take it as fact, thats the problem with news these days.

    I think there should be some type of moral obligation to provide information on a level playing field. you wanna cheap mac? what about the mac mini?

    i hope who ever made the story gets a virus.

    and i loved how they cited youtube for the commercials they played
  • Rat
    They will likely never attempt to do another story on the subject for fear of rocking the boat. Most likely the outcome of this story was molded the way it was in order for them to stir up a little shit with geeks.. or.. they could just be morons.

    Also, you are correct. Daniel, knows everything.. don't believe me.. just take a look back at his previous comments.. he's a genius if there ever was one.

    Rat
  • Well, there you go... great minds and all that. I got an email reply from Jeff Vaughan that said, "this topic was too technical for a two minute piece, so I had to keep it simple, and fun. If we have a re-match I will consider your thoughts."

    While I can appreciate that position, seriously, there were many better ways to research or present the information. In the end there should have been a winner (based on more substantial questions, mind you), not some non-controversial draw.
  • Rat
    I didn't write a letter to them but I did write this.. and it may look oddly familiar :)

    http://www.kccast.com/archives/75

    Great minds... something.. something.. i dunno.. I forgot.
  • I also realized on the cost front I could have cited Alienware machines or the Dell XPS line of machines that cost as much as a Mac Pro (approx. $3000). It just seemed like there was no homework done whatsoever.
  • I watched the segment hoping for even a glimmer of substance. Alas, it was not to be. I've seen worse stories reported, but this was pretty shoddy.
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