My grand-, grand- father didn’t have a wristwatch. He would reach for his pocket to pull a pocket watch to tell the time. I do the same several generations and over hundred years later. I reach for my pocket to pull my iPhone to tell the time. It seems that we are moving on a spiral where old things repeat at a new level.
I wish I was the first one to notice that. It was observed and well described by the German philosopher Friedrich Engels in his work Dialectics of Nature (unfinished, 1883) among others. Another example is the attempts by medieval alchemists to turn lead into gold. They believed in it and tried hard to do it. Later on the scientists denounced it as absolutely ridiculous and impossible. However at even later date the nuclear scientists did transform elements, thus closing the spiral winding. Did you notice the spiral of the evolution in your personal life. Post a comment here to share…
Author Archives: ivan
Recommendation for losers
Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock of TomTom the navigation devices maker to sell on June, 28-th, 2012. I believe for the right reasons. However a large article was published about two months before that by Wired magazine discussing the problems with the industry at length and predicting that the stand alone navigation GPS devices are doomed and will be extinct soon. In this regard the Goldman Sachs downgrade is late at least two months. That’s why I call it recommendation for losers.
From fantasy to reality in 10 yeras
Healthy or not
Came across an iPhone app lately that will tell you if a food is healthy or not by scanning the bar code on the package. Well, I’ll tell you something. If a food has a bar code it is not healthy. Period. How ’bout that. And you don’t need an iPhone.
On investments
Trying to make money by arbitrarily investing in various stocks or bonds is like trying to win a chess game by randomly moving your pieces.
On shampoo
Dear shampoo manufacturers. I know that your shampoo is made of the finest ingredients on earth and unlike your competitors you never use the bad stuff. I know that it invigorates the scalp etc. etc. and yes I will remember that it is for daily use god forbid to skip a day.
I have something to share with you as well. I do not shower with glasses. So I’ll appreciate if you find space on the label to write large enough which one is the shampoo and which one is the conditioner. Thank you. Your daily user.
Diet
My grand mother used to have a slice of dark bread and two walnuts for dinner.
This was all she had.
I often have a slice of bread and two walnuts for dinner for another reason. I want to live at least as long as she did.
Boldest lie in 2011
What was the boldest lie you’ve been told in 2011? For me it was
“Click here to find a solution of the problem on line” by Microsoft’s Windows OS.
On mistakes
Mistakes are like mountains. They are best visible from a distance.
On Phone companies
I have heard it many times from the phone companies during my years as a technology CEO. “No sir we don’t want to sell you just fiber. We don’t want to be in the business of selling “dumb pipes”. We want to be in the intelligent (read more profitable) applications.”
Well I have a message for you too, after spending several hours trying unsuccessfully to purchase iPhone from Verizon. “You better stay in the “dumb pipes” business simply because you are “dumb””.
Ordering product from Amazon is a breeze. Using Facebook is easy. Many “smart” businesses embraced the Internet to make our lives better. Phone companies are not among them. Trying to hold clients hostages and push lousy and overpriced applications trough their throat may look smart but it is not.