I ran across an Seth Godin quote on failure. Something to keep in mind as we enter the new year:

Successful people analytically figure out what didn’t work and redefine what their best work will be in the future. And then they get back to work.

Why is it so hard to get back to work? I want things to be perfect the first time but the people I admire the most don’t do things perfect the first time. The thing is their successes outweigh their failures the problem is in the mist of a failure it’s hard to see the next success. The thing to keep in mind is the best remedy is to keep on going.

Chris Rawson does an excellent job sizing up Walter Isaacson’s Biography of Steve Jobs. I like that Chris has a different perspective than most of us, his Masters Thesis examined the concept of truth in biographical works. I won’t spoil his findings but I will pull out my favorite quote from his write up:

Anyone can cut an employee to shreds or throw epic temper tantrums at the slightest provocation, but replicating Jobs’s intuition, perfectionism, dedication, and vision is arguably something that only one person in seven billion can manage to pull off.

Well done Chris.

I ran across this old link today and I think it’s applicable to what is going on in the mobile OS space. In this post Kevin Kelly talks about “network systems” need to grow from small systems in order to become large and complex. It’s not possible to just “install” it. iOS and Android definitely fit this model as candidates that have started out as good but small OSes (remember when we didn’t have copy and paste in iOS?) hat have now grown into large and complex OSes that can be viewed as large “network systems”. I believe webOS can become the next large “network system” if it can hold out long enough and come into parity with iOS. That said, the reports are in; the first iteration of webOS wasn’t up to snuff but the latest update brings it closer on par with iOS and slightly ahead of Android 3.0. Within this context Dan Frommer’s comment makes a lot of sense: “it’s better to seed the market than to sit still”.

I too am posting this for my future self. This is a good list of states and provinces to keep around all wrapped up for future use.

I was looking for a way to share my Instagram feed on my About page and I stumbled upon this article. It’s truly amazing how many Instagram services are out there. Sharing goes a long way.

Fascinating! I was struck by how profound and forward thinking Steven Sasson was in 1975. He know in order for the digital camera to take off it had to be similar enough to the current cameras customers were used to working with. He also surmised, correctly, that it would be 15-20 years before digital cameras would have a large impact on the general consumer. Watch the whole thing. It’s brilliant.

If the damaged factories in Japan are holding up the iPhone 5 I’m ok with waiting. Japan get back on your feet and I hope the work Apple is sending your way helps speed the recovery.

Via DF.

Randy Murray on books:

But a book. A book is a weekend stay with a friend. A book is a classroom. A book, a very good book, is a dream that stretches on and on and lingers in memory and experience for ages.

So true. Some day I hope to write a book.

To add to his list of favorite bookstores I would offer Powell’s Books in Portland, OR (their flagship store to be precise).

Seth Godin:

Vivid is not the same as true. It’s far easier to amplify sudden and horrible outcomes than it is to talk about the slow, grinding reality of day to day strife. That’s just human nature.

How often has the mundane reality been worse and drastically different then what we expect reality to be? A nuclear disaster is a perfect example. The disaster sells news therefore it’s reported. A scientific study, conducted over 25 years, about how terrible coal is doesn’t even make it to YouTube. Sad really.

The monolog in this video is as powerful as it’s imagery.

Some of my favorites:

There’s no sugary cliché. Most folk don’t know who we are…

If I am to scrap a living at least it’s a living worth scraping.

There’s no future in it, just a present worth remembering.

And finally:

Do something worth remembering with a photograph or a scar.