twittervision

There is something very cool about twittervision.   It is an intersection of social network and web 2.0 technologies.  It isn't very useful, but it is fascinating to look at.  I wonder why?

Integrated hand held devices

This week I have been taking my annual trip to CES and then IEEE CCNC.  I only spend one day at CES and I can see everything I want.  CCNC is the real reason I come.  It is a great conference, balancing academic and industry research.  A good friend of mine, Alex Gelman, is on the steering committee and I come also to see him.  

When I spend so much time away from home,  I really learn to appreciate my iPhone.  I imagine the same is true of other integrated mobile devices,  but the iPhone really rocks.   The ability to have a cell phone, email, web, music, SMS text messaging, calender, google maps, photos on that one device makes it so convenient for travel.  Last night I sat in the hotel lobby reading, while plugged into the iPhone listening to music, while text messaging with my wife (also on the iPhone), while pulling down email in the background (on the iPhone).  Very cool.

Is anyone passionate about technology any more?

I've been think a lot about Bill Evans lately.  I own almost all of his early music and have built a rather large collection on my iPod.

Bill Evans did one thing well - he was a jazz pianist. One of the earliest and one of the best. That's all he did in his career.  He never produced music,  never sang, never acted.  Only jazz piano.  

When I first got started in this business, as a software developer,  I was passionate about what I did.  I loved algorithms in graduate school and ate up operating systems.  I still feel passionate and love what I do.  I never want to do anything else - marketing, sales, etc... I am a technologist.  That's all.  

At some point in this business, perhaps around the time of the bubble,  people came into this industry to make it rich and strike it big.  Several left after the bubble.  I know a couple of guys who left and went into real estate.  

I wonder if this has changed our business permanently.  Is anyone in technology because of passion anymore?  Are there any other Bill Evans in this industry?