Sunday, September 27, 2015

Everyone Copies

Apple recently announced the iPad Pro, and with it the Smart Keyboard and Pencil accessories. Many in the tech community, including several tech reporters, drew parallels to Microsoft's Surface line of tablet-laptop hybrids. And some used the word "copy" to describe what Apple did.

Here's the thing: everyone copies. It happens in art. It happens in music. And it most certainly happens in technology:

  • Apple copied Google in adding public transit to Apple Maps in iOS 9.
  • Apple copied Windows in adding weather, stocks, and sports to Spotlight Search.
  • Apple copied Windows in adding "snap" support to apps, letting them run side-by-side.
  • Microsoft copied Apple in making an app store for desktop and mobile, and a retail store.
  • Microsoft copied Google in providing snapshots on tap on Android.
  • Microsoft copied Sony with their announcement that independent game developers could publish on Xbox One.
  • Google copied Apple when adding Google Photos and Android Pay.
  • Google copied Amazon when announcing Google Shopping for Suppliers, a competitor to AmazonSupply.
  • Google copied Microsoft when releasing instant, visual previews of pages in search results.

The point? Patents aside, it's not about who or what you copy. It's about how you execute and what you deliver to customers. Plenty of the above examples show that you can take an idea and execute it way better (or way worse) than your predecessor.

Tech insiders and the tech press care about who you copied and who came first. Customers don't care. They just want products that are useful, solve their problems, and are delightful to use.

Focus on delighting your customers.

Sunday, September 13, 2015

What I'm listening to

Podcasting is finally coming of age. 11 years ago, podcasting was this funny new word that was a way to time-shift radio or to hear shows too niche to be on radio. Now, podcasting has blossomed into a medium with breakout shows like Serial and startups like Gimlet that are giving birth to a suite of new shows.

However, we're not in the golden age with podcasts are we are with television. Only 17% of the US population listens to podcasts each month, and the money that Netflix and Amazon have poured into new content isn't there (yet) with podcasts. Despite this, there are a number of great podcasts out there that have audiences that number in the millions.

Here's a list of the podcasts that I listen to on a semi-regular basis.

  • Serial - the blockbuster itself. A true crime investigation. If you haven't listened to it, you need to put this one at the top of your list. You'll probably do a lot of web searching, reading, and hypothesizing during and after your journey through this one.
  • StartUp Podcast - a show about startups. The first season was an introspection on how the host/producer himself started the podcasting company that birthed the show. How meta! Season 2 is about a dating startup. Season 3 is pending.
  • Radiolab - topics about science and culture combined with interesting editing and sounds. Lately Radiolab has moved towards less hard-science topics but it's still an interesting and varied show.
  • 99% invisible - a show about design and architecture and the mostly unseen activity that shapes our world. Well-produced, and thankfully all advertisements are at the end to avoid breaking the spell while you're listening.
  • Mystery Show - seemingly commonplace mysteries that unfurl into interesting stories. It's all about the journey, not the destination. Some are hits and some are misses in my opinion, but the wide-eyed curiosity of the show brings me back.
  • Reply All - a show about the Internet. A more grown-up Internet culture show than others I've heard. 
  • Invisibilia - a show that analyzes how our thoughts and emotions shape our actions. 
  • GeekWire Podcast - a local Seattle tech institution that recaps the week's tech news and interviews tech influencers. More of a radio format than the other shows (because it's broadcast on the radio).
  • a16z - VC Andreessen Horowitz's podcast about tech trends. Topics range from bitcoin to how tech is evolving in the developing world. 
  • Freakonomics Radio - Combining simple questions with lots of data to come to some surprising conclusions. 

Try one or more out. And, let me know what podcasts you listen to, and why.