The hat trick (hatrick? hattrick?). A mini milestone of three. It might be the longest I have ever stuck to something on a blog. I am still playing with the format of these things and have been wondering about keeping it just pure links and a teaser paragraph or adding a line or two of commentary about why I chose the article. I will stick the former for now though. The reason I pick these are\u00a0because\u00a0they are interesting and thought provoking and slightly related to my job mainly. Some pieces deserve more written about the why I chose them though so that is something I will dabble with in the future. I would also like to add in some\u00a0accreditation\u00a0for the people who passed these things to me. The authors of the pieces themselves and maybe some sort of rules i.e. I have a limit of ten links. Is that too many, too few, about right etc.<\/p>\n
Anyway, shut up, here are some fine reads for your weekend. Readlist\/ebook type thing is here<\/a> for you alternative reading device fans.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tim Cook’s Freshman Year: The Apple CEO Speaks<\/a><\/p>\n ‘Creativity and innovation are something you can\u2019t flowchart out. Some things you can, and we do, and we\u2019re very disciplined in those areas. But creativity isn\u2019t one of those. A lot of companies have innovation departments, and this is always a sign that something is wrong when you have a VP of innovation or something. You know, put a for-sale sign on the door. (Laughs.<\/em>)’<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Ups and Downs of Making Elevators Go<\/a><\/p>\n ‘Here is a typical problem: A passenger on the sixth floor wants to descend. The closest car is on the seventh floor, but it already has three riders and has made two stops. Is it the right choice to make that car stop again? That would be the best result for the sixth-floor passenger, but it would make the other people’s rides longer.’<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Life Online: The Biology Is Different<\/a><\/p>\n ‘The idea that people who were otherwise constrained from movement or speech or action could have those constraints removed made my heart sing. The possibility that ubiquitous affordable access to connectivity, computing power and storage could soon become a reality fascinated me. The implication that billions of disenfranchised people could have their lives transformed, particularly when it came to health, education, welfare, filled me with glee.’<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wait A Minute Makers: Before Agencies Can \\”make Things\u201d They Need To Create \u201cMakeable Ideas\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n ‘Creating things in our digital world requires experts in UI\/UX and design, creative technologists and others who may not be part of the existing agency structure. It requires a commitment to the concept of \u201cplatforms, not campaigns.”‘<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Four Pains of a New Idea<\/a><\/p>\n ‘Let\u2019s face it. Some new ideas are worse than the old way. Attempts at innovating can be disastrous. The University of Utah bet its reputation on cold fusion and lost. Marconi bet the whole company on mobile phones and lost. Motorola bet $6 billion on the Iridium satellite phone network and lost. The Chinese state bet $30 billion on the Three Gorges Dam in China and has created an environmental crisis. Being new is not the same as being good.’<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Starbooks and the Death of Work<\/a><\/p>\n ‘The future never arrives. The future is always unevenly distributed, leaking out here and there as we poke and squeeze the present, as we invent new words and emotions to articulate contemporary experience. Gibson was almost right (he\u2019d be right now, if you asked him again \u2014 hence the \u201cendless digital now<\/a>\u201c)’<\/p>\n <\/p>\n