Facebook After Facebook

It's funny - you don't see something this big fail so quickly, but maybe in Facebook's case the world is prepared to make an exception.  I predict that the ire about Facebook is growing and will continue to grow until a major change in leadership occurs.  Facebook - like GM - is now too big to fail so plan on someone or something finding a way to get past all of the things you are complaining about right now.

Facebook and social networking are where the Internet is going, like it or not.  I'm not a fan of it but since I've caught up with more friends and family there in 1 year than I have in 10 years of blogging I cannot ignore its value.  Social networking is an example of what I mentioned earlier about 'adding value' - it connects people.  Before Facebook you had to be somewhat of an Internet sleuth or a stalker to find old friends from high school - there was a lot of legwork involved and it made you feel like a creep.

So, rest assured, there will always be social networking - how would you see it move forward?  That's the real question that pundits across the Internet are failing to address.  Nobody has a handle on what social networking should be, they can only speak to what it is.  They focus on who's getting VC funding or who has the most Twitter followers.  Step back from the noise and look at the big picture.  You're bringing everyone together.  Now: What do you want to bring them together for?

Death to Groupies

Oh, for God's sake...

Seriously - do I have to attend a 'Wordpress BBQ'?  The SXSW mixer?  Do I have to network with people to celebrate this activity I happen to enjoy that only encompasses 1.4% of my life?  Is an activity meaningless unless ten thousand hipsters gather at Moscone to Buzz, Tweet and blog about it?  Yeah, I'm looking right at you Apple but only because you're a magnet for the type of people I think automatically give social cancer to whatever they interact with.

I'm talking about groupies.  You know who you are.

Solve It to Stay Solvent

Weird day yesterday - in the office all of 90 minutes before blasting up to the Mission District for an emergency LCD panel swap.  Some parts of San Francisco are awful and some are absolutely gorgeous - I fortunately got the latter yesterday.  I love the back streets where your car hood is pointing at the sky and taking off from the red light involves quickly dropping the clutch and hoping you don't roll back into someone behind you.  The MUNI cars disappear into strange grass-lined alcoves as you pilot the man-made canyon of San Jose Avenue - small bridges connecting residential streets loom 50 feet overhead.

I didn't know that I would be doing this when I walked into the office - things happen, circumstances change - sometimes in the blink of an eye.  I don't mind it and in fact, it's why I'm here.  Previously, I would have balked at the change.  Why do I hafta do it?  Why do I hafta drive my car 50 miles?  Can't you just wait for the support tech?  Can't you just use your Blackberry?  Can't you just, can't you just, can't you just...and so on.  It was the wrong thing to do.

So let that be a lesson to the kiddies who are contemplating full time jobs or a solid career path:  Sometimes you'll be asked, at the drop of a hat, to step outside your comfort zone and find a solution to a problem you don't necessarily think is your responsibility.  Solving problems, being the guy who solves the problem - that's how you add value to whatever job you do.  You want to make yourself recession-proof?  You want to work your way up the ladder?  Be the guy who solves the problem.  No complaining; be solution-oriented.

Stop Drinking the iKool-Aid

I got drawn into an Apple vs. PC discussion the other day and found that my feelings on the matter had not changed.  I mentioned to them how my position on the iPhone was quoted in the Chron.  My problem with the iPhone is really my problem with Apple and how cult-like it has become.  The way that people work themselves into a lather whenever a new Apple product hits the market, you expect  at any moment that Steve Jobs is going to walk out at CES and try to make everyone drink the iKool-Aid.  People who bought into the iPhone and anncillary app market now find themselves siloed into a world of technology that Apple controls and they don't always like it.

Never mind the discussion about AT&T being iPhone's only carrier, never mind that Apple's warranty service is just as capable of wrecking your day as the Geek Squad.  You're stuck with this highly customizable device that only works with applications sold by Apple.  Third party applications are only available after you jailbreak the phone and that, of course, voids your warranty.

The geek in me enjoys the technology and the challenge but the human in me goes "there have got to be better ways to use my time".  I guess all healthy engineering begins with learning to listen to your Inner Sloth and know when doing something or fixing something passes over the 'More Trouble Than It's Worth' threshold.  In this case, the iPhone stunk of MTTIW when I first saw it and nothing since then has managed to change my mind.  I wish we could all live in the Asian-themed minimalist utopia that Apple seems to think everyone should live in, but some of us have day jobs not involving hoteling in a coffee house and a turtleneck sweater.

Everyone talks about the genius of Apple but what they refuse to accept is that the genius of Apple is limited to their ability to sell a lifestyle that people want to emulate.  All their technology fits into that end goal.  They make the technology that people want to be seen using - not what they want to use.  I guess I always enter the equation at the wrong end.

Virtual Light

I saw this article and choked on my coffee - a new niche market in social networking.  Mamabread.com claims to offer the type of supportive environment that other sites like Facebook and Myspace don't offer - a place where you can vent your frustration and show your true colors.  Isn't that what Rants and Raves on Craigslist is for?  What struck me was the following comment: