Tim Marman's Loosely Coupled

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• I don't want an iPhone

  No, I'm not entirely crazy. There's no denying that this is a sweet device. The people and markets have spoken and most seem to be in love - or at least in lust - with it. As a device, I think that it's a game changer - but there there are some practical issues I need to get past before I can bring myself to buy one. First of all, I've been spoiled by the the convergence on my Blackberry . It's been an amazing experience carrying one device for my phone, work e-mail, personal e-mail and Internet access. It's going to take a lot for me to give that up, though the iPhone probably comes close. Beyond this, there's the issue of Cingular exclusivity . Even with number portability, switching carriers is not a trivial task. I'm sure Apple decided to announce 6 months before the actual release to allow prospective customers to let their contracts expire - I've already heard people at work planning on doing so. It should be noted that this is a GSM device, so it hurts the CDMA-based Verizon and... Posted Jan 10 2007, 04:37 PM by Tim with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: Technology, Gadgets, Personal, Innovation, Apple

• Buzzwords say all the wrong things

  As I've written in the past, I'm not a big fan of buzzwords because "they're vague, overbroad, ill-defined, and most of all trivialize what is really going on in the first place." Matt at 37Signals says there might be other reasons to avoid buzzwords . These buzzwords are often a mask. People who use them are covering up their ideas — or the lack thereof. They are overcompensating. They don’t have anything substantial to say so they try to use impressive sounding words instead. But people who abuse buzzwords don’t sound smart. They sound like they are trying to sound smart. Big difference. It's easy to use buzzwords and important-sounding words to gloss over your point when you don't really understand what you're talking about. It's a lot harder to be clear and concise. Aim for the latter. (Speaking of which, I'd recommend Plain Language for Lawyers , even if you're not a lawyer or law student). Posted Oct 10 2006, 12:23 PM by Tim with | with no comments Filed under: Personal, Web 2.0, Innovation, Marketing, Blogging, Recommendations

• Redefining the Generalist

  Like Matt , I think this describes me pretty well . As you can probably tell from my writing, I find myself pulled in a number of directions. It's what attracted me a liberal arts school (to study Computer Science, no less) and eventually drew me to law school . Casting your net far and wide gives you a better perspective on the world - you no longer see the world through a single lens. The things I learn in one arena help me reach a deeper understanding in another. This base of knowledge improves pattern recognition and helps me pick things up quicker. It enables me to be a more creative thinker - after all, it's easy to think outside the box when you don't box yourself in in the first place. I've always described myself as a generalist, but I see that as a positive, not a negative. I can't tell you how tired I am of trying to answer the question of what I want to do. I don't know yet - and some of us are ok with that... Posted Apr 05 2006, 04:44 AM by Tim with | with no comments Filed under: Rants, Personal, Innovation