Monday, April 08, 2002

Great Design & Gratifying Ownership Experience HP launches projector line. The computing giant announces that it is entering the digital projector market, where its competition will include acquisition target Compaq Computer. [CNET News.com] One of the great experiences of my life was my first experience with an HP calculator. I started engineering school in the slide rule era. Half way through, HP, Bomar & TI announced electronic calculators. HP's was far more (expensive) advanced than the others. You can catch a feel for the electronic past here. Another slide rule site is here. It would be wonderful to see HP return to a consciousness of product design and usability that existed in those years - in all their products. 5:30:03 PM     Comments[]

Here we go... Iraq announced a halt to oil exports for 30 days or until Israel withdraws from Palestinian territories. [Wall Street Journal] The U.S. remains dependent upon foreign oil. We are driving gas guzzling vehicles at a level unsurpassed by historical consumption. The Middle East is as volatile as any time in recent memory. IBM has warned of lower revenue and earnings. Unemployment has surprised many economists in the last couple of weeks. The investment/dot com bubble that carried us through the late 1990's has created an impression that castles can be built to the sky. The facts say that the U.S. markets have historical averages of 10-12% per year. Grab your calculator and take a look at what kind of returns are required to return to a 10% historical average after 8 years of 20% returns. Quick answer: 8 years at 0% or 4 years at a loss of 10% each year. Get ready...we're only 7 months removed from 9-11-01. Stay positive and optimistic, but plan with facts - not fervor! 3:06:11 PM     Comments[]

For 15 years... I've been doing what Meryl is talking about - not with web design - with business processes. Similar techniques, different names and mostly similar goals. The big difference is in the measurement side of all of this. We use control charts and the like to determine process capabilities and capacities as a normal part of our work. Additionally, we apply statistical process control to the ongoing management of processes. Maybe applying those same skills to web design will give me some insights into why I can't get this stuff to work. Identifying Core Processes. Stop rolling your eyes at the mention of processes. Processes make up my day job and I know they're a pain. I've heard every excuse in the book. Even I... [meryl's notes] 12:42:34 PM     Comments[]

More Troubles Are Expected for Telecommunications. Get used to headlines about bankruptcies in the telecommunications industry. That is the conclusion of Carter Pate, a corporate turnaround expert at the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. By Barnaby J. Feder. [New York Times: Business] 12:33:11 PM     Comments[]

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