As a follow up to the discussion with Josh about old computers, I thought I would try to find them a Green Screen terminal, similar to the ones I used at University. Hook it up to one of the Linux machines we have at home, they can get the original experience. Maybe even let them have that as their computer in their room (a concept we’re very much against, but if they are willing to do everything on the terminal… 
)
So off I go to eBay looking for an old-fashioned terminal.
I can’t find one.
Seems this is such old technology you can’t even get it on eBay.
And now, I feel old….
Whilst waiting for him to finish his Tea this evening, I was chatting with my eldest Son, Joshua (in-progress blog). The conversation went like this:
Josh: “Daddy, what was your first computer”
Me: “Well, my cousin had a Vic 20, and my Dad had an Osborne 1. My first computer was an SE/30. I’ve got the SE/30 and Osborne 1 in the loft, shall we get them down and take a look at them when Mummy is away?” (Mummy’s going on a business trip for a week, so I’m looking for exciting Daddy things)
Josh: (now excited) “Yeeesss. What can they do? Can they play Miniclip games? Can they surf the Internet?”
Me: “This was before The Internet. You could do word processing, or spreadsheets, or draw things”.
Josh: “What’s the point in a computer that’s not connected to The Internet?”.
Um, yup.
Out of the mouths of babes etc… The Internet has indeed had a massive impact in the utility of an individual computer, to the extent that it’s almost useless if it isn’t connected.
One day I’ll sit him in front of a green screen terminal, see what he makes of that!
So I fly. I used to fly an insane amount, but now I just fly a lot. BA have become my airline of choice partly because I live close to LHR and partly because everyone else I have tried has sucked more than BA (who aren’t prefect, but they are good especially if you have climbed the slippery pole to Gold status).
Now of course the cabin crew are striking which is annoying for two reasons:
- It is disruptive – we rely on BA to be able to do our business!
- I worry about the future of the only reasonable airline and who I’d fly if they turned into a surly US-style carrier (the merger with AA isn’t good news from that perspective). All the reasonable alternatives like SilverJet have gone.
- I’ve got a huge number of BA Miles oustanding.
But the real reason I fly BA is because it makes me feel good. I saw this in a Sunday Times piece by Jeremy Clarkson today
I like Virgin. And I flew Singapore Airlines recently, which was out of this world. But there is nothing quite so joyous as leaving the hustle and bustle of a superheated Third World hellhole and being greeted on the big BA jumbo by a homosexual with a cold flannel and a refreshing glass of champagne. Take that away from us and we may as well all be Belgian.
When you fly BA you feel like you are home the moment you step into the BA Lounge. There’s nothing better when you’ve spent a week running around some strange country doing 4 meetings a day, a different city each day. I can plonk my sleep-deprived, travel-ravaged carcass into a chair, sip a glass of red wine, and read that day’s UK paper.
Please BA, sort yourselves out.
I really like this
‘curiosity’ from Nic Askew on Vimeo.
Worth 5 mins, if you have it.
To my value set, there’s nothing more tragic than a closed mind (although poverty of ambition comes close). As a parent I look at my young boys who are desperately curious about everything, and then I compare that to some of the people I interview as a potential employer and I wonder what goes on in the school system (and indeed corporate life) to extinguish that curiosity or even worse have people hide it because they think it is somehow “wrong”.
The iPad is certainly causing people to think, and this post from Matt Gemell with thoughts on How to Compete with iPad really hits the nail on the head in terms of what the iPad represents.
For students of the Innovator’s Dilemma you can really see it at work in the reaction to the iPad. Matt’s comment:
If you’re going to put a desktop operating system onto a tablet device, you’re going to immediately alienate the vast majority of your potential customers. Note the word “potential”. Paradoxically, you may temporarily placate most of your existing customers, but you’re not innovating and you’re certainly leaving a lot of money on the table.
The iPad is really interesting, both as a device in its own right and also in how it will change our perception of how people interact with the computing world. I’ll also be interested in how other manufacturers react – I fear it’ll be rather similar to their reaction to the iPhone which is pretty much “Look, we know you think the iPhone is cool but it really isn’t because it is so limited. Here’s our phone which has all the features and complexities of our normal phones, with a few choice bits from the iPhone, and a load more stuff squidged on top”.
And of course, we all keep buying iPhones.
As an aside, the first views of Microsoft’s “Courier” Booklet have appeared. My initial impressions are:
- By the time it gets to market, the iPad will have set our expectations for this category of device.
- Wow, it looks powerful/complex – but in a way that I don’t really care about. If I want that power, I’ll use my Laptop.
- A pen! Wow that feels old fashioned now… (I know there are lots of good uses for a stylus, but…)
- Microsoft and their partners have a history of making a mess of this space.
The next 18 months will be interesting, both from the perspective of the cool tools we’ll all have at the end of it, but also watching the market dynamics play out. I’m sure there’s plenty of MBA case study material that will come out of this phase of the market.
