The Last Snowflake

  Press Clippings: In the middle of the Winter Olympics, this article from the weekend New York Times points out the fragile future of snow, mountain resorts, skiing, and–yes–even the Winter Olympics, if nothing is done about global warming.  Despite the cold U.S. winter, the very unusual shifts in weather patterns, the snow in the …

SONY Backs Up

Press Clippings: At one time, SONY  products were the envy of the electronic world. They had terrific and clean industrial design, ahead-of-the-crowd engineering, vision (Walkman, Trinitron). SONY broadcasting equipment was the gold standard at the networks and responsible for bringing you the biggest sporting events and the most popular shows. Among PCs, the SONY Vaio …

The Hidden Life of The Auto Show

Press Clippings This time of year is Auto Show time. All across the U.S., the big manufacturers unveil their latest designs and models. The Coolist site did a very nice job looking at the architecture behind the displays. These displays are beautifully produced and show the cars off to best advantage–why can’t automobile dealerships have …

Dial Tones

Press Clippings: Google’s decision to sell Motorola to Lenova has everyone’s ears perked up. What does it mean for: Motorola? Google? Lenova? Apple? Samsung? Sony? Mobility? Cell phones? Too early to tell and the transaction still has to pass government scrutiny, but there are some reasoned responses out there and one of the best can be found at Bloomberg.com. Give …

Building Up The Trust Fund

  Press Clippings:  Investing is an important component of modern life. Whether you were born with money or made your own, the sooner you start investing, the better off you’ll be. Bloomberg.Com has just produced a very informative slide show that tells you which companies are projected to increase dividends the most over the next three …

The Macintosh is 30

Paying Attention: This weekend, Apple will have a big celebration for the Macintosh computer, which was announced 30 years today, 24 January 1984.  Since it’s creation, the Macintosh–it’s spirit, technology, innovation and attitude– has propelled Apple into a mammoth business that operates in industries ranging from software to music distribution and cell phones. Even though …

Understanding Design

Paying Attention: There is so much press today about the importance of design in our lives, that it might be a good idea to verify that we’re all on the same page when it comes to an understanding of what design is and how it works. Design is not just graphic design–the arrangement of elements …

Apple Doubles Down

Paying Attention:  What most of the media have missed about Apple’s iPad is how well it works for creative people. The change in GUI/interface and the freedom created by a switch from a keyboard and mouse-based input model to touch screen input, enabled software engineers to re-think a lot of the software that was being used for …

The Comeback

Press Clippings: How Chrysler came back from bankruptcy. Great piece from Bloomberg on Chrysler’s return as an automobile manufacturer. The main architect, Sergio Marchionne, the chain-smoking head of Italy’s Fiat automotive group, had an industry rep for making risky situations pay off. All of his talents would be necessary to save Chrysler.  Ironically, Marchionne would …