Academik

I just installed the Genius Sidebar on iTunes 8…. What a steaming load of crap.

Even more bloatware + an even harder sell to buy DRMd content from the iTunes Store.

You’re going to recommend other songs from the iTunes store that I can buy and not play anywhere else.¬† Thanks, but I’ll keep using eMusic and music blogs because I’m sick and tired of all the walls.

I wouldn’t recommend turning on the Genius sidebar unless you live wholly within the iWorld and have tons of cash to blow.¬† If you want to buy music go to Amazon and eMusic for non-DRM content and you can find plenty of recommendations at either of those places at a similar or less expensive price.

Reading this article on CNN.com about how Senator Joe Biden is receiving less press coverage – even though he is (and perhaps because) the most easily accessible to reporters – reminded me of how we think about launching products that have a long way to go before they’re ready.¬† Here’s what I mean. . .

When you have a great idea without a final product built you want to build hype, but you don’t want to give people too much of a look under the hood.¬† You want excitement about your vision, but vagueries on the specifics because many haven’t been decided yet.¬† In this case, media access to Sarah Palin has been restrictive and details have only trickled out.¬† Her views on energy have been widely documented, but I haven’t seen a lot of coverage of her views on healthcare, foreign policy, immigration, economic policy, and more.¬† My guess is she’s still getting up to speed on many of those issues (even if she has personal ideas on them).¬† Those will come with time.

This entire election I’ve felt pro-Barack, even though on many issues I differ from his opinion, because I want somebody who’s not an old white dude to be president.¬† I want fresh ideas that integrate technology and governance as well as a foreign policy that looks at the global impact of our actions.¬† I want someone who’s not afraid to meddle with the established corporate behemoths in this country if it means long term improvement (healthcare, automotive, and energy industries).¬† Barack Obama was that fresh face.¬† Now he’s old hat and this hockey mom turned VP nominee has the world’s attention.

So, as in the marketing world, the true test will be when both products are out on the market and available to the consumers.¬† That means political debate time.¬† For the moment I’m not too worried about the bad Disney movie scenario, but I’ll be watching the debates closely to see who can keep their version of the truth straighter ( was the lipstick on the pig’s face or on its delicious bacony thighs?).

At least this time we’re not deciding between a giant douche and a turd sandwich.

On Sept. 11, 2001 I was sitting in the smoking lounge of my small college in Switzerland.
50 of us crowded around the TV, watching the planes crash into the World Trade Center over and over again on TV as if it were the latest scene in a Die Hard movie.

To one side of me was Abdul Aziz Bin Laden, Osama’s nephew. To the other was my friend Derek, whose father worked in the World Trade Center, and was later confirmed as one of the victims.

I walked outside onto the neatly manicured lawn with my best friend DeVon. We sat on the pinkish stone stairs and prayed. His mother worked at the United Nations and frequently had meetings at the World Trade Center. “All circuits are busy” answered the woman on the other end of his frantic calls.

The next week was difficult.

New Yorkers called over and over again trying to find out if their loved ones were alive.¬† The Arab club put up signs around campus expressing their sympathies.¬† Some kids got drunk so they wouldn’t have to deal with the emotions, but drinking only let down the walls they were using to hold themselves together.

That week, most of the people of our small Swiss Italian town didn’t make eye contact with us.¬† They knew there was nothing they could say to make it better, so we were left with brief glances that seemed to say, “We’re sorry.” The local paper sent a reporter to interview students about the tragedy.

Around the world, candle-light vigils began.  I believe we held one of our own.

For the next few weeks the school was patrolled by armed guards to ensure the safety of the student body which included royals, mafia, and wealthy heirs.  With two Bin-Ladens in the school, the guards were as much there to protect us from each other as from outside attackers.

For those of us who weren’t overcome with rage or loss, the attacks only further cemented the cross-cultural bonds the school hoped to instill in us.¬†¬† We felt less like Americans, Arabs, and Asians and more like human beings.¬† (forgive the cliche).

7 years later it strikes me that we still have a lot to learn about getting along and making the world a better place.