Thursday, May 6, 2010
New digs.
I've moved this blog over to southernj.com in order to have more control over the design, posting frequency, and, frankly, to play more.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
New Beetle Days
With my beloved Clubby in the shop for a few days, I once again found myself with a replacement vehicle. Alas, this time the dealership was plumb out of real MINIs, so they turned me over to the nice folks at the Rent-A-Car-Within-A-Dealership who traded my Amex for a loaner vehicle. The nice man behind the counter, apparently forgetting that I had just left my MINI, “You want a big car or something small?” Heh, something small, please. I pictured something small and sporty; he apparently was just thinking of small.
A loaner is better than a test drive or a rental. Test drives are too short and rentals cost actual money. Since the Clubby is under warranty, this one’s on MINI’s dime. Having spent a few days with the vee-dub, I’m passing along my notes.
With only a few grand on the odometer, this is indeed a 2010 VW "New" Beetle. The wear is minimal, although I swear the last guy who borrowed it loved his cigars. The equipment is basic and includes synthetic leather as well as a six-speed automatic transmission with Tiptronic® control. The exterior is candy white, also known as feminine ivory.
The engine is pretty smooth and has ample power at speed. On the freeway, the little dub did fine in the left lane. The car feels heavier than its small shape would indicate, but as a result it feels planted most of the time. The turning radius is quite tight and, except for body roll that makes fast cornering less than thrilling, I get the sense the diminutive wheels would do quite well on skinny roads or metropolitan cities.
The dash is attractive and the controls, including the radio, are sensibly laid out and symmetrical. When darkness falls and the headlights come on, the dash lights up in a pleasing blue with really good contrast and a nice vibe. Psychologically, I liked the car more at night than during the day for this reason.
While I didn’t have anything that I outright hated, there was much that was underwhelming in the New Beetle. The environmental controls seem to have been done hastily by someone very, very tall. The air vents didn’t ever point downward; it was either at my neck or over my head. This, combined with the overzealous fan speeds, meant that I spent a great deal of time turning the fan on and off while fiddling with the vent directions. I much prefer climate control that required less intervention.
The engine is underpowered. Although not the most gutless thing I’ve driven, it was definitely rental-class. At low speeds, especially in coast-and-go environments like a parking lot, the Beetle just doesn’t have grunt. The result is that moving at 5-10 miles per hour is jerky. Turn on the a/c and the power disappears entirely. In addition, while cruising speeds and normal acceleration are smooth, passing isn’t impressive. At 65, flooring the throttle results in around a one-second lag before the transmission ungracefully drops into 4th and spins the rpm’s up high enough that the torque curve is over.
Another puzzling dichotomy is the round-box thing. This car is round on the outside; really, really round. It’s hard to ignore, especially when looking at the interior roof. However, everything else about the interior seems built like a cube. The dash is flat. The doors are flat. And the seats? Flat, flat, flat. This makes the car look wider than it actually is, but in reality makes the front seat a little short and the back seat quite cramped. In this case, the difference is enough to make the feel more obvious than the appearance.
The vee-dub really isn't a bad car, but it's not anywhere close to exciting. Women overwhelming liked it while a good friend's 15-year-old said he wouldn't be caught dead driving one. And thus my epiphany: if you want to keep your 16-year-old boy away from the wheel, get him a 2010 New Beetle in candy white. It will spend all its time in the driveway.
A loaner is better than a test drive or a rental. Test drives are too short and rentals cost actual money. Since the Clubby is under warranty, this one’s on MINI’s dime. Having spent a few days with the vee-dub, I’m passing along my notes.
With only a few grand on the odometer, this is indeed a 2010 VW "New" Beetle. The wear is minimal, although I swear the last guy who borrowed it loved his cigars. The equipment is basic and includes synthetic leather as well as a six-speed automatic transmission with Tiptronic® control. The exterior is candy white, also known as feminine ivory.
The Good
The engine is pretty smooth and has ample power at speed. On the freeway, the little dub did fine in the left lane. The car feels heavier than its small shape would indicate, but as a result it feels planted most of the time. The turning radius is quite tight and, except for body roll that makes fast cornering less than thrilling, I get the sense the diminutive wheels would do quite well on skinny roads or metropolitan cities.
The dash is attractive and the controls, including the radio, are sensibly laid out and symmetrical. When darkness falls and the headlights come on, the dash lights up in a pleasing blue with really good contrast and a nice vibe. Psychologically, I liked the car more at night than during the day for this reason.
The Not-So-Good
While I didn’t have anything that I outright hated, there was much that was underwhelming in the New Beetle. The environmental controls seem to have been done hastily by someone very, very tall. The air vents didn’t ever point downward; it was either at my neck or over my head. This, combined with the overzealous fan speeds, meant that I spent a great deal of time turning the fan on and off while fiddling with the vent directions. I much prefer climate control that required less intervention.
The engine is underpowered. Although not the most gutless thing I’ve driven, it was definitely rental-class. At low speeds, especially in coast-and-go environments like a parking lot, the Beetle just doesn’t have grunt. The result is that moving at 5-10 miles per hour is jerky. Turn on the a/c and the power disappears entirely. In addition, while cruising speeds and normal acceleration are smooth, passing isn’t impressive. At 65, flooring the throttle results in around a one-second lag before the transmission ungracefully drops into 4th and spins the rpm’s up high enough that the torque curve is over.
Another puzzling dichotomy is the round-box thing. This car is round on the outside; really, really round. It’s hard to ignore, especially when looking at the interior roof. However, everything else about the interior seems built like a cube. The dash is flat. The doors are flat. And the seats? Flat, flat, flat. This makes the car look wider than it actually is, but in reality makes the front seat a little short and the back seat quite cramped. In this case, the difference is enough to make the feel more obvious than the appearance.
The Verdict
The vee-dub really isn't a bad car, but it's not anywhere close to exciting. Women overwhelming liked it while a good friend's 15-year-old said he wouldn't be caught dead driving one. And thus my epiphany: if you want to keep your 16-year-old boy away from the wheel, get him a 2010 New Beetle in candy white. It will spend all its time in the driveway.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Snow in August! Er, February
Less frequently than a blue moon is actual snowfall around Atlanta, at least for the years I’ve been here. Although I’m used to much deeper drifts from my upbringing in the Rockies, snow here catches the locals completely off guard. I’m amazed at how utterly things shut down.
Despite the human chaos, the birds still chirp (and eventually come back to their man-made birdhouse when the photographer stops startling them).
The MINI’s bike rack just tucks in for a few cold nights until it warms up. For now at least, I’m determined to leave that rack on there in a show of defiance against any cold.
Despite the human chaos, the birds still chirp (and eventually come back to their man-made birdhouse when the photographer stops startling them).
The MINI’s bike rack just tucks in for a few cold nights until it warms up. For now at least, I’m determined to leave that rack on there in a show of defiance against any cold.
Monday, February 1, 2010
iPad is the new Black
“You know the hardest thing about being smart? I always pretty much know what’s going to happen next. There’s no suspense.”
— Billy Bob Thorton in Bandits
These days, friends and colleagues routinely ask for my take on new technology, particularly from Apple. The iPad is the current topic.
I really can't get around the name and I know that this is the most obvious thing about it. I can only hope we collectively come up with some other way to refer to the iPad because I feel like Apple just threw me the keys to a shiny new Porsche but there's a catch; it's hot pink.
There's no doubt for me that Apple hit the concept square on. Smart-but-clueless* people have been trying to get the tablet concept right for years. Dismissing the iPad just because it falls between two products, like the iPhone and a MacBook is stupid. Every tech company with a future is staring at this space; it's why the netbook even exists. So give Apple credit for seeing what others see. Of course this only gets them in the game.
Where most pundits and critics publishing exuberantly negative reviews miss is that Apple nailed the iPad's execution. The critics missed this on the iPhone and seem to have learned little since then. In a nutshell, the iPhone didn't produce better specs; it didn't do more; it didn't even do less. The iPhone's breakthrough is that it made its owners super productive (relative to Blackberry and Palm people) and brought smiles to their glowing faces while doing it.
Think about it: The iPhone is the first phone that users can't use enough of. AT&T, Verizon, and T-mo never complained about those 'blasted Blackberry users' consuming too much of the network. The iPhone created a cycle of hyper consumption (users) and creation (developers) where both sides keep coming back for more. In the years that I had a Blackberry, I don't think I ever went back to the developer for an updated app. The Blackberry didn't change my life, at best it made my time more efficient. In contrast, the iPhone is great because I use it for different tasks altogether, not to make the old ones faster.
The iPad will change your life, if you want it to.
“I love Apple computers. I’m obsessed. My MacBook challenges me: ‘What are you going to write that is worthy of me?’”
— J. J. Abrams
The iPad will change our fundamental definition of a flat tablet because it changes the way we interact with it. For example, I foresee this changing the entire way I do presentations.
A few weeks ago I did an in-person presentation for a couple of smart potential clients in their conference room. After my video adapter failed on me, I defaulted back to their in-room laptop hooked up to a projector screen 25 feet away. The presentation consisted of me making a statement, them asking a question, all of us turning our heads to look in the same direction toward the screen, and then snapping my head back and forth to get their reactions. It was impossible to read their body language—let alone quickly react to it—using this method.
How different would the meeting go if I pulled out a sleek iPad. "Wow," they'd say, "that's really slick." (Every college student knows that you put your paper in the best binder you can afford.) I show them websites and designs while holding the iPad out in front of me; when I want to hit a point home, I just flip the iPad upward and use it's self-rotating sensors or even push the iPad across the table. Now I can read body language and respond to it faster. I would think, "That guy seems intrigued by the user interface example I'm showing. I'll slide him the iPad and let him tap around the example himself."
I've never seen a presentation where two people that weren't familiar or comfortable with each other sat shoulder-to-shoulder to look at a MacBook screen at the same time but I have seen two or more lean over a piece of white paper or a notebook countless times. The iPad is the future of hover-and-study.
A word on Flash. Flash isn’t dead but it’s not becoming more relevant. Most complaints I've read on the lack of Flash support point to its unique ability to show dynamic, interactive content. This misses the point. HTML5 and AJAX aren’t gearing to replace Flash’s functionality but rather its relevance. Flash is a stable wrapper for content beyond HTML's current capability, however, the content itself is changing. Decrying the lack of Flash on the iPad assumes that what people want from the iPad is only a more portable version of their desktop. No, people will want their iPad to do things that no existing website or device can.
*Smart-but-clueless people make up 95% of the tech industry. These are the people who work on the future but hesitate to actually create something that doesn't exist. They coined the phrase, "Nobody got fired for buying IBM." Their opinions have no real effect on what Apple creates.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Favorite High Points of ’09
When my second child was younger she often walked around holding her ‘favorite’ toy. After a few weeks I realized that the toy would change but the moniker would not. She had a lot of favorites and that was just cool.
I’ve decided I’m not dissimilar. My old favorites don’t lose their status just because a new favorite comes along; they just get added to the pile. Among the steady stream of dismal economic reports in 2009 there were several pick-me-ups.
A young duo from Brooklyn that make me remember what it is like to be youthful and carefree. Grand’s most recognizable track is Daylight, which is probably the most exuberantly brilliant song I’ve heard in much more than a year. It is well balanced and cut, but seems to lack the over-production and corporate feel of most music including the alternative genre. Most importantly, it just makes me happy.
Every year needs a series of devil-may-care, get-out-of-my-way-while-I-conquer-the-world songs. This wasn't the only one in '09 for me, but it started the ball rolling and I play it any time I want my day's tempo to pick up a bit.
After losing my beloved MCS to the flood of ’09, I shook off the shock and moved onto one of my favorite of life’s tasks: car shopping. Specifically, car shopping for me. I typically compile a long list and drive anything that strikes my fancy. Although I tend to gravitate back toward predictable marquees, I am truly open to something surprising me. Alas, there’s a reason that BMW keeps getting my money: they get what it means to love the road.
Topping the M3, the A4, and the Hyundai Accent I rented in SLC, the hour I spent test-driving a 135i was the most grin-inducing, heart rate-elevating drive of the year. It is predictably tight and controllable like a roller coaster with a jet engine on the back and a direct link to afterburners with just a squeeze of the calf muscle. It was impossible to drive this car sanely. And thus it was disqualified from consideration; my budget doesn’t have room for $500/month in speeding tickets.
Typing out my reasons for the Clubman after writing about the 135i sounds like a little league coach telling a bunch of 10-year-olds that there’s nothing wrong with finishing the tournament in second place. It’s all a bunch of rationalization trying to convince myself that pragmatism is really important, too.
There’s a decent point in there, though. Something I learned while having a car ten years ago that I was often afraid to drive for fear of being scratched, breathed on, or tailed by a cruiser with flashing lights. I’d rather have a car that gets driven and enjoys the road, potholes and all, than one that makes me sweat every time the $750 rims get close to a toll booth.
My ‘09 Clubman S is this car. Take everything I loved about the ’06 MCS, subtract a little bit of sport, and then add on heaps of space, smoothness, aesthetics, and a bike rack. I’m pretty sure I didn’t take the prior MINI for granted during the half-dozen 2000+ mile road trips (it crossed Rockies 8 times), but I can see the Clubman S doing even more. My first road trip is already scheduled for mid-January.
When I was in grade school, my teacher—who I probably had a crush on—handed out flimsy newspaper-like packets to the class so we could read aloud. I recall reading stories about the future holding promises of flying cars, vacations on the moon, and reliable Social Security checks. Being the sharp kid I was, I knew deep down that these things are absolute myths that weren’t in my future.
Funny thing is, the iPhone was every bit as futuristic as those things but would have made sense anyway. What kid wouldn't dream about a computer to carry around that told them about weather, traffic, news, food, their weight gain from that food, and the direction of North? As a bonus, every so often it gets a signal strong enough to make phone calls.
I've no shame stating I had my iPhone on the day it was released and I upgraded to the 3GS almost exactly two-years later. And wow. The speed and faster connection make me feel like I'm connected to this expansive sky with all the information I can dream about. It has replaced my MacBook Pro as the most useful tool I have.
I find myself more and more untethered. There is no land line at home or studio. I haven’t watched broadcast tv in 4 years. And except for one news station, my car’s radio presets are still on their factory settings.
However, these days I read more news, keep up with tv shows, watch movies, listen to radio shows, and stay connected to the internet perpetually. Automatically syncing news feeds, podcasts, iTunes music, and AppleTV are vastly more efficient than the old system of living by the broadcasters’ schedules.
Pandora’s streaming radio, working like an iTunes Genius playlist, plays songs that I know and many, many that I’m discovering. It’s not just a brilliant concept, it actually changes my day for the better.
After losing the name "Mighty," Apple dubbed their new wireless pointing device as "Magic." It's a fitting name. Although the concept of the previous mouse with it's 'scroll pea' was solid, in practice I found myself cleaning the doggone pea several times a day just so I could keep panning around huge Illustrator files. I stuck with it, really, really wanting the feature to work but it continually let me down. For finite control I often used the trackpad on my MacBook Pro because I could just slide my fingers around the surface.
The Magic Mouse is the mouse I've wanted for the last twenty years. (Yes, I had a NeXT in 1990 with a passable mouse.) Because the whole surface is a trackpad, I move my wrist less while just sliding fingers around in any direction. It never gums up, and it is weighted well. I've always felt that a mouse, like shoes and a bed, is worth spending money on since I'm connected to it almost constantly.
I'm astounded at how much of my money and praise Steve Jobs gets. Pixar is full of really creative people who understand me. They know that the most important part of any movie is the storytelling. Flat-out, Pixar's stories are consistently better than their competitors'.
The greatest thing about Up is that Pixar was willing to deviate from a known formula and create a kid's movie that not only entertains adults, it depresses all of them first. /Spoiler alert./ My young kids aren't thrilled that the first minutes of Up cover unfulfilled dreams, the hospital, and death. In fact, I don't think they like it at all. (They insist on skipping over the first 5 minutes of Finding Nemo, too.) But I dig it; it endears the movie to me and means that not every great accomplishment is one I set up when I was in my teens, or twenties.
I’ve decided I’m not dissimilar. My old favorites don’t lose their status just because a new favorite comes along; they just get added to the pile. Among the steady stream of dismal economic reports in 2009 there were several pick-me-ups.
Favorite Get Up and Dance — Grand by Matt & Kim
A young duo from Brooklyn that make me remember what it is like to be youthful and carefree. Grand’s most recognizable track is Daylight, which is probably the most exuberantly brilliant song I’ve heard in much more than a year. It is well balanced and cut, but seems to lack the over-production and corporate feel of most music including the alternative genre. Most importantly, it just makes me happy.Every year needs a series of devil-may-care, get-out-of-my-way-while-I-conquer-the-world songs. This wasn't the only one in '09 for me, but it started the ball rolling and I play it any time I want my day's tempo to pick up a bit.
Favorite Time Behind the Wheel — BMW 135i
After losing my beloved MCS to the flood of ’09, I shook off the shock and moved onto one of my favorite of life’s tasks: car shopping. Specifically, car shopping for me. I typically compile a long list and drive anything that strikes my fancy. Although I tend to gravitate back toward predictable marquees, I am truly open to something surprising me. Alas, there’s a reason that BMW keeps getting my money: they get what it means to love the road.Topping the M3, the A4, and the Hyundai Accent I rented in SLC, the hour I spent test-driving a 135i was the most grin-inducing, heart rate-elevating drive of the year. It is predictably tight and controllable like a roller coaster with a jet engine on the back and a direct link to afterburners with just a squeeze of the calf muscle. It was impossible to drive this car sanely. And thus it was disqualified from consideration; my budget doesn’t have room for $500/month in speeding tickets.
Favorite Replacement MINI — Clubman S
Typing out my reasons for the Clubman after writing about the 135i sounds like a little league coach telling a bunch of 10-year-olds that there’s nothing wrong with finishing the tournament in second place. It’s all a bunch of rationalization trying to convince myself that pragmatism is really important, too.There’s a decent point in there, though. Something I learned while having a car ten years ago that I was often afraid to drive for fear of being scratched, breathed on, or tailed by a cruiser with flashing lights. I’d rather have a car that gets driven and enjoys the road, potholes and all, than one that makes me sweat every time the $750 rims get close to a toll booth.
My ‘09 Clubman S is this car. Take everything I loved about the ’06 MCS, subtract a little bit of sport, and then add on heaps of space, smoothness, aesthetics, and a bike rack. I’m pretty sure I didn’t take the prior MINI for granted during the half-dozen 2000+ mile road trips (it crossed Rockies 8 times), but I can see the Clubman S doing even more. My first road trip is already scheduled for mid-January.
Favorite Life Device — iPhone 3GS
When I was in grade school, my teacher—who I probably had a crush on—handed out flimsy newspaper-like packets to the class so we could read aloud. I recall reading stories about the future holding promises of flying cars, vacations on the moon, and reliable Social Security checks. Being the sharp kid I was, I knew deep down that these things are absolute myths that weren’t in my future.Funny thing is, the iPhone was every bit as futuristic as those things but would have made sense anyway. What kid wouldn't dream about a computer to carry around that told them about weather, traffic, news, food, their weight gain from that food, and the direction of North? As a bonus, every so often it gets a signal strong enough to make phone calls.
I've no shame stating I had my iPhone on the day it was released and I upgraded to the 3GS almost exactly two-years later. And wow. The speed and faster connection make me feel like I'm connected to this expansive sky with all the information I can dream about. It has replaced my MacBook Pro as the most useful tool I have.
Favorite Thank Heaven for Unlimited Data Plans App — Pandora
I find myself more and more untethered. There is no land line at home or studio. I haven’t watched broadcast tv in 4 years. And except for one news station, my car’s radio presets are still on their factory settings.However, these days I read more news, keep up with tv shows, watch movies, listen to radio shows, and stay connected to the internet perpetually. Automatically syncing news feeds, podcasts, iTunes music, and AppleTV are vastly more efficient than the old system of living by the broadcasters’ schedules.
Pandora’s streaming radio, working like an iTunes Genius playlist, plays songs that I know and many, many that I’m discovering. It’s not just a brilliant concept, it actually changes my day for the better.
Favorite Improvement to a Disappointment — Magic Mouse
After losing the name "Mighty," Apple dubbed their new wireless pointing device as "Magic." It's a fitting name. Although the concept of the previous mouse with it's 'scroll pea' was solid, in practice I found myself cleaning the doggone pea several times a day just so I could keep panning around huge Illustrator files. I stuck with it, really, really wanting the feature to work but it continually let me down. For finite control I often used the trackpad on my MacBook Pro because I could just slide my fingers around the surface.The Magic Mouse is the mouse I've wanted for the last twenty years. (Yes, I had a NeXT in 1990 with a passable mouse.) Because the whole surface is a trackpad, I move my wrist less while just sliding fingers around in any direction. It never gums up, and it is weighted well. I've always felt that a mouse, like shoes and a bed, is worth spending money on since I'm connected to it almost constantly.
Favorite Story Disguised as a Kids' Movie — Up
I'm astounded at how much of my money and praise Steve Jobs gets. Pixar is full of really creative people who understand me. They know that the most important part of any movie is the storytelling. Flat-out, Pixar's stories are consistently better than their competitors'.The greatest thing about Up is that Pixar was willing to deviate from a known formula and create a kid's movie that not only entertains adults, it depresses all of them first. /Spoiler alert./ My young kids aren't thrilled that the first minutes of Up cover unfulfilled dreams, the hospital, and death. In fact, I don't think they like it at all. (They insist on skipping over the first 5 minutes of Finding Nemo, too.) But I dig it; it endears the movie to me and means that not every great accomplishment is one I set up when I was in my teens, or twenties.
Friday, November 6, 2009
MINI 50th Ads, eh?
Communication Arts has an article profiling some of the ads MINI is running in Canada for its 50th birthday. MINI ads are always worth a gander, even if it's just to spot which ones you haven't seen yet.
If I had a box big enough, I'd collect every ad made. It would have to be a big box, though.
If I had a box big enough, I'd collect every ad made. It would have to be a big box, though.
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