This is a Kodak moment

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Mike Reardon

Kodak didn’t see coming

On Thursday, Kodak said that it will stop making digital cameras, pocket video cameras and digital picture frames, a move that will separate the struggling company from the camera business it was founded to pursue. Instead, it will license its brand to other manufacturers.

The decision to shutter the business, which Kodak says will save it more than $100 million a year, is the strongest symbol yet of the sea change in consumer electronics and decades of missteps that forced the former blue-chip company to seek bankruptcy protection last month.

via Kodak to Stop Selling Digital Cameras – WSJ.com.

How is it that the company where the digital camera was invented, the company whose name is connected with capturing moments in time, completely lost the ability to compete in the industry they once owned?

You should know the answer. If you don’t want to become as irrelevant as a Kodak moment.

Just Sayin’ 

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Convergence was once just a prediction

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Mike Reardon

Then it became a trend

On Tuesday … Google announced that people who own devices powered by the latest version of Android, called Ice Cream Sandwich, can now use Chrome to surf the Web. Previously, people who owned such Android devices had to use the Android Web browser to do so.

Android, which powers mobile devices such as smartphones and some tablets, was launched in 2008 and now rivals Apple’s iPhone. Chrome was launched the same year as a Web browser for PCs that competes with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Chrome also has quickly gained market share, thanks in part to its reputation for fast page loads.

via Google’s Android and Chrome, Together At Last – Digits – WSJ.

It has now become reality.

Just Sayin’

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There’s something to be said for old school

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Mike Reardon

 In a world of paperless bills, eBooks, and iPads

The plain, old paper and pencil still rule

The surging smartphone has succeeded in rendering many other gadgets obsolete.

The alarm clock? Who needs one?

The GPS navigation system? Why pay for one when you can get turn-by-turn for free?

But there’s something big that the smartphone, try as it might, has not been able to stare down into oblivion: pen and paper.

Even as we scramble to replace our daily activities with simplified digital solutions, there’s still nothing quite like writing something down.

via This year’s killer app – pen and paper – USATODAY.com.

So maybe this means the iPad really is too cool for school.

Just Sayin’

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I could’ve avoided the 4th quarter nail-biting

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Mike Reardon

If I’d just listened to Princess the camel?

Princess, the star of New Jersey‘s Popcorn Park Zoo, has correctly picked the winner of five of the last six Super Bowls. She went 14 and 6 predicting regular season and playoff games this year, and has a lifetime record of 88-51.

Her pick this year: The New York Giants.

via Camel with knack for choosing winners picks Giants to win Super Bowl – USATODAY.com.

Oh well. At least the party was fun!

Just Sayin’

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The stuff that makes things work

Posted on February 5, 2012 by Mike Reardon

Can add tremendous value

This, for instance

 

 

 

 

 

 

Does that.

What I’m wondering is why don’t the people who make the

smartphones design them with a stand?

It’s a small, seemingly insignificant detail.

The impact, however, is neither small nor insignificant.

Just Sayin’

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It’s not the electricity we use

Posted on February 4, 2012 by Mike Reardon

It’s the stuff electricity makes go.

Back in the day, some folks didn’t like electricity. They didn’t want that new-fangled technology. Gas, wood, and coal worked perfectly fine. Lit the house. Cooked the food. Kept us warm.

And there’s still something to be said for a nice, warm wood fire.

But would you really want to cut off the electricity?

It’s not the internet we use.

It the stuff the internet makes go.

Just Sayin’

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Dada didn’t have to tell me how to paint and hang paper

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Mike Reardon

He told my mother.

Let me explain.

The day will come when they will tell stories about us.

I think Dada would be proud of his story.

I hope I’ll be proud of mine.

Just Sayin’ 

 

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I didn’t learn to paint and hang wallpaper from Dada.

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Mike Reardon

I learned those things the way I learn most things.

I taught myself. What I needed to know. When I needed to know it.

(Maybe I’m a millennial at heart)

In the early years of our marriage we moved around. A lot. Seven times in eight years as I chased a career. There was always something that needed to be done and a landlord willing to cut us a break on the rent in exchange for doing it. It wasn’t much, but when you’re young and starting out, every little bit helps. A little painting. A little wallpapering. A little *shudder* plumbing. You name it, I did it.

We bought our first home in 1980. A fixer-upper. Diana had pushed me to buy a house. I was reluctant. I gave her what I thought was an unreasonable set of parameters for us to buy a house. How much we could put down. How much we could pay. What the Mortgage plus P&I would have to be. A few months later we moved in to 166 Rangely Street in West Haven. She had found a home that matched every parameter. But, boy, did it need work.

Cover of "Star Wars Episode V - The Empir...

Cover via Amazon

I painted. I papered. Not easy stuff, either. I especially remember the “Empire Strikes Back” wallpaper in the boys’ room. Crazy pattern with star fighters, laser beams, asteroids, all at angles. I matched it perfectly.

I paid attention to detail. Just like Dada had taught me.

I know, I said I never saw Dada hang a single sheet of wallpaper. So how is it that he taught me to match patterns?

I’ll have to tell you about conversations with my mother to explain.

But, you already know.

Just Sayin’

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This story starts with my grandfather

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Mike Reardon

Walter Dorr. We called him Dada.

(pronounced ‘dad’ followed with a soft ‘a’)

Walter F Dorr

Although my family genealogy research has shown that he worked at several different jobs throughout his life, we only knew him as a painter and wallpaper contractor.

After he died in 1967, his 1963 Ford Falcon was given to my mother. It had permanent dark circles on the roof left by the suction cups on the roof racks. I can only imagine what that must have looked like to see Dada pull up to a job in his ’63 Falcon, with ladders, scaffolding, and tools lashed to the roof.

It was Dada who taught me my first lessons in attention to detail. Although I never saw him hang a single strip of wallpaper. Or take a stroke with a loaded paint brush in hand.

Without a ever saying a word to me, Dada quietly taught me a leadership lesson I now teach to professionals all over the world.

I’ll tell you how in the next post. But you already know.

Just Sayin’

Susan J. Cavan, Gloria Dorr liked this post
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The strangest things trigger memories

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Mike Reardon

Like painting the bathroom today.

It reminded me of my mother.

Which reminded me of my grandfather.

And I remembered my very first lesson in attention to detail.

There is, as you have likely gathered, a story about that.

Just Sayin’

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