One of my favorite devices is the Sansa Clip. It’s the perfect MP3 player for the gym. It’s cheap, it’s tiny, it’s lightweight, it has a super long battery life. Everything about it just works. Maybe the best thing about it though is that it’s not my phone.
While any modern smartphone is more than capable of being a MP3 player, it comes with several disadvantages. If you break it, you break your phone. If you lose it, you lose your phone. It’s most definitely heavier and bigger. It uses your phone’s battery. And you can get interrupted with phone calls while working out.
To me, it’s well worth the $39.99 for the Clip. Case in point – I lost my original Clip about a month ago. It was probably three years old. I spent a few minutes looking for it but when it became evident that it was probably permanently lost, I just hopped on Amazon, ordered a new one, spent 15 minutes adding music to it when it arrived, and I was back in business.
I feel much the same way about the GPS in my car. While I could use my phone, it just seems simpler and more convenient to have a dedicated device just for navigating me around. Not to mention that a good GPS now a days is under $100.
Tying this back to my last post about the Chromebook: if the Chromebook was a $99 computer it would begin to make sense for everyone to have one…just because it’s a $99 computer. I’ve noticed that I treat my CR-48 totally differently than I do my laptop. It’s less valuable to me so I’m more willing to use it in situations I probably wouldn’t use my laptop: outside, on the train, while I’m eating, to read recipes while I’m in the kitchen cooking, etc. If all MP3 players like the Clip were $100+ I probably would just suck it up and use my phone. The low price point makes it expendable, which in turn makes it an awesome device. With a $99 Chromebook all of a sudden you overlook it’s shortcomings and see that it has a 3G connection, long battery life, and boots up almost instantly, and it becomes a pretty attractive device to have around just for the sake of having it. If Google doesn’t do it, someone else eventually will. ASUS has a $200 computer on the way. It’s just a matter of time before prices dip under $100.
The point about the GPS I agree with, the only exception I have is a recent development for me. I’ve been driving in the DC metro area a lot recently and the traffic overlay that comes from 3G on my phone is an enormously helpful tool in avoiding the 1 hour 5 mile drive. Otherwise I rely on my cheap little Tom Tom for basic navigation. I suspect if I bought a better navigation unit it would have the traffic overlay, but I didn’t so it’s nice to have the option on my phone.
Regarding the Chromebook, I think it would be a player at $199 I would consider it at that price, but $500 is just a little too steep for a machine with very limited function at the moment. I’m not one who needs to have the latest “it” toy, but I could totally see having a chromebook as a backup machine or just for very light work. The problem I have is I typically need at least one speciality application to get work done and operating exclusively from a browser would make it a pain. At $500 it’s a joke to me.
Regarding the GPS, to your point I actually think that the Navigation on Android is better than almost any other GPS unit I’ve tried. The traffic overlay you mentioned, as well as the ability to speak an address or a destination with pretty high reliability. The reason I don’t use it is because it would drain my phone battery or I’d have to plug the phone into a charger, and it doesn’t mount easily, and also the phone itself then becomes more of a distraction if I’m getting texts and calls on the same device that is guiding me.
I totally agree with you. I carry a iphone, 2nd generation ipod, and laptop with me when I leave the house. Yes the iphone trumps all three devices but if I lose or break it, I just lost my phone as well.
Yes, then there’s the safety issue of using your phone while driving. The Android Navigation is a little safer in that you can speak a destination to it, and it will guide you with directions…as opposed to Google Maps on the iPhone which (the last time I tried it) does neither. Still, there’s a safety issue involved in setting it up and then figuring out a place to mount it…and the distraction that could come with getting a text or call while doing all of this.
Love my little iPod shuffle….but simply adding/syncing songs is too confusing. I just wanna dump them on there with a USB connection.
Awesome glad I could help Nev. It’s also great for dumping podcasts on there as well. You can use a micro SD card to add more storage too so it’s really flexible. You’ll have to let me know how you like it. Enjoy your trip!
[…] regularly, and partly just to say I did it. So I packed up a backpack with my CR-48 (another great use-case for a cheap computer), including the charger and a mouse, my lunch, plenty of water, and the usual safety stuff you […]
We had a rather interesting Cyber Monday Week (the name I’ve decided to give to our week of promotions that starts a few days before Thanksgiving and ends with Cyber Monday).
From a numbers standpoint it was pretty successful. Last year we obliterated 2011 so I wasn’t sure where to set my expectations for this year. Sales were still up this year compared to last, so it’s hard to complain, but the % growth didn’t match last year so I was a little bummed about that…although matching that rate of growth might have been an unrealistic expectation. We made a few mistakes with our promotions that probably didn’t affect sales much but that we need to clean up next year. There’s still plenty of room for improvement.
Operations-wise the week was an overwhelming success. We’ve streamlined and simplified the order packing process even more than I previously had realized. On busy days those improvements really shine. My partners and I didn’t really need to help at all – we did for a little while just to socialize, help chip in, and show the newer employees that we actually know how to pack boxes! Even the full-time guys weren’t overworked. The part-timers were able to really take care of the majority of orders. With our current team we’re set up to handle much much more volume than we’re doing now. That was a pleasant realization.
Other years I’ve always posted a photo of our nice monstrous pile of outgoing shipments. This year FedEx contacted us a few weeks beforehand and offered us a Saturday evening pickup. We jumped at the opportunity – our customers packages got moving two days earlier and we saved the warehouse space. However, that meant that we didn’t have that great big photogenic box pile come Monday afternoon. Friday was actually bigger because it contained orders from Wednesday evening, Thursday, and Friday:
My biggest takeaway from this week is the realization that as we get bigger and better on paper we may not actually be having as much fun…particularly as it pertains to the rush that accompanied big sales in the past. We’re not out there scrambling around, taking pictures of this huge box pile, celebrating our very visual successes. In prior years I was much more fatigued physically but there was also a euphoria that went along with it that was missing this year precisely because we did such a good job planning for the sale. In general I’m enjoying work more so than ever before (I don’t want it to sound like I’m not). I think I just need to recalibrate my expectations for what Cyber Monday Week should feel like when I’m doing more managing and less box-packing.
Adam, it’s a good thing you’re not overly fatigued. This is a much more sustainable way of doing things! It means your systems are in place and functioning great. Now you have more time and energy for more things!
Absolutely Dale! Next year I won’t be planning for this gigantic interruption in my schedule. It should allow for a lot more productivity in other areas.
[…] myself am plenty guilty of this, posting about Cyber Monday successes or huge chargeback losses. I sometimes fall into the trap of “don’t post anything […]
A couple months ago I wrote a short post and joined the protest against SOPA by including a censorship strip over the AdamTam.com banner.
For those still in the dark, SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) is a bill to combat piracy. Fair enough – with the amount of pirated content that goes around, I’m not against the means of creating an anti-piracy law to protect those who work hard to distribute their skills.
For example under the legislation, SOPA lays out the definition for a “foreign infringing site” as one where “the owner or operator of such Internet site is committing or facilitating the commission of criminal violations punishable under [provisions relating to counterfeiting and copyright infringement].” The problematic word is facilitating, as it opens the door to condemning sites that simply link to other sites.
There are many various articles written all over the net if you want to get more in depth at what this bill really means.
Surfing the internet this morning (which may not be possible soon!), I found a couple clever illustrations (not created by me) that I would like to share. I hope it helps you clarify the situation, even if just a little!
1) The values of an organization must be articulated to employees (how business owners want to conduct business)
6) Employees should be empowered in the decision making process to determine how decisions align with organizational values.
7) Communication and leadership are key in the process. Leadership must demonstrate behaviors that are expected in the organization.
8) Values that truly connect with people's higher aspirations (to improve, to serve, to create a better tomorrow) are easier to build culture on as employees can get behind these. Companies that have a more profit mind set might find it more difficult to build culture around.
I agree with everything mentioned above. Culture must be grounded in values that drive behaviors. Employees need to understand those values and behaviors and the consequences of not behaving according to values. Managers have to make decisions based on those values and hold others accountable for the same.
Culture is a very delicate thing. It takes constant reinforcement and deliberate "care." But, the rewards are many. Just look at those who get it and do it right....the return is huge.
Why do customers love the Zappo's and the Ritz experience? You can buy shoes and get a room anywhere...it's the employees delivering a world-class customer experience grounded in a culture that values the same.
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