February 2010 Archives

I Live On (the) IPhone

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I got my first IPhone on June 29, 2007, the first day it was available.  Has it changed my life?  It certainly occupies most of my time.  Consider:

I Spend More (Personal) Time on My IPhone Than All Most Anything Else
  • Time on IPhone > Time on laptop/PC
  • Time on IPhone > Time watching TV
  • Page views on IPhone > Pageviews on Laptop/PC
  • Tweets from IPhone > Tweets from Laptop/PC
  • Minutes using "data" (Internet/SMS) on IPhone > Phone call minutes on phone
  • SMS messages > Phone calls
  • Time listening to music on IPhone > Time listening to music all other channels
  • Time on IPhone > Time sleeping (?!)
Other Tidbits
  • I'm within arms reach of my IPhone at least 90% of the time
  • My IPhone is not a phone.  I primarily use it for stuff other than phone calls.
  • I've never redeemed a paper Borders' coupon.  I always redeem an electronic Borders' coupon from my IPhone
  • Heavy transactions stuff (like buying airplane tickets) are still more likely to be done using my laptop.  But, this is changing.
But,
  • I still author more content on my laptop (code, blog posts, word/ppt/excel docs) than on my IPhone.  This is almost exclusively work related stuff.
  • I watch more video (movies) in the theater or on TV.  This is one area where the IPhone experience is massively inferior.  The physical viewing experience sucks (screen is too small, bandwidth sucks).  And, every time I click through to a web page that has video that can't be played (usually because it's Flash or some other non-supported format/player), I feel like I've been Rick-Rolled.  It's hugely disappointing and frustrating.
 If You Know My IPhone, You Know Me
Apple and AT&T know all.  Now that's kinda scary.

Blippy for IPhone usage -- that would be revealing!

If

If you can keep your head all about you
When others are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master;
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man my son!


--Rudyard Kipling

Commentary

There is a wealth of information for entrepreneurs on the web.  Just a decade ago, much of this information was generally not available to first time entrepreneurs doing high tech (software/Internet/hardware) startups. In particular, the lack of  information regarding financing and  working with venture capitalist made it very difficult for these entrepreurs.  They were oftentimes "working in the dark."  Those that had this knowledge had advantage over those that did not.  And, those that did not were severely disadvantaged when negotiating financial terms with venture capitalists.  The asymmetry of knowledge gave VCs a lot of power and, ultimately better terms and more control.

Fast forward ten years.  The playing field has been largely leveled.  The Internet -- mostly blogs and tweets -- (and sometimes conference talks) provides the channel to access knowledge.  And, people like Fred Wilson, Dave McClure, Allen Morgan, David Hornik, Jeremy Liew, and Mark Suster (I've singled out a few VC's --  but there are many others, including those on the "other side of the table") have shared their wisdom for all.   And to the benefit of the first time entrepreneur.  I think, ultimately, this access to information results in better deals and increases the likelihood of success for a company.  Sure, maybe the entrepreneur might get terms that are more "fair" but, in the end, we all -- entrepreneurs, investors, and customers  alike --  win from the greater availability and commoditization of information.  To all those that have shared their wisdom, thank you.

That said, Kipling's "If" is sound advice and complements  the well heeded advice of our contemporaries.  Perhaps I've applied this poem far away from the original context.  But, in the context of the high tech entrepreneur, it works well.  Read.  Enjoy.  Learn.

(Special thanks to Bob Ebert for bringing "If" to my attention.)