Videos of iPhone and Google

Say no more today. Just to enjoy the two videos below about Google as a nice company to work for and iPhone as another innovate iconic weapon of Apple that aims to shake up the mobile phone industry. They explained clearly why the two companies has received rave comments.

Steve Jobs at Macworld 2007, presenting iPhone

NBC on Google, commenting on its working environment

Another thought on music

About 3 days ago I first read the article written by Apple's chief executive Steve Jobs. It is named Thoughts on Music (A Chinese translated version is here) with which Steve Jobs expressed why he believes those ideas of, thinking Apple's iTunes + iPod model is monopolistic and dominating the market inappropriately, is actually inappropriate.

Many know that some European countries, such as Noway, have been lashing out at the model of iTunes online store + iPod, buffing that it caused unfair competitiveness. To fight back, Steve Jobs explained that the tie between iTunes and iPod is not something that Apple imposed. Instead, it is what the the world's top record labels ask Apple to do.

According to Steve, the reason is that:

Since Apple does not own or control any music itself, it must license the rights to distribute music from others, primarily the "big four" music companies: Universal, Sony BMG, Warner and EMI. These four companies control the distribution of over 70% of the world’s music. When Apple approached these companies to license their music to distribute legally over the Internet, they were extremely cautious and required Apple to protect their music from being illegally copied. The solution was to create a DRM system, which envelopes each song purchased from the iTunes store in special and secret software so that it cannot be played on unauthorized devices.

To prevent illegal copies, DRM systems must allow only authorized devices to play the protected music. If a copy of a DRM protected song is posted on the Internet, it should not be able to play on a downloader's computer or portable music device.

Steve Jobs argued that Sony and Microsoft are doing the same thing, making musics brought from their online stores, i.e. Sony's content Store and Microsoft Zune Store, to be playable only on their own devices.

He also listed out some solutions to change the status quo:

1. Apple to license its FairPlay DRM technology to current and future competitors with the goal of achieving interoperability
2. To abolish DRMs entirely. Imagine a world where every online store sells DRM-free music encoded in open licensable formats.

He believes that abolishing the barrier completely is "clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat".

I reckon that Sony and Microsoft used to think about that too. But probably Apple's Steve Jobs is the only one who mused about how to convince the record labels to break down the normative DRM rules, even if they thought that guy is flat-out silly. I guess Steve will continue working diligently on this further with inherent passion.

It might be a great timing for Microsoft and Sony to join Apple to take on record labels?

创新 = ?

我的一句slogan是"I learn, share and innovate"。对我来说，这个"innovate"非常重要。它可以是有关于工作方式的改变, 可以是学习方式的不同，也可以是思维方式的转变。就个人而言，innovate可以非常简单，但是对公司和商业模式而言则见仁见智。但是，ChinaIR.cn给出了一个非常好的解释: Innovation = creative solutions for existing problems，即对现存问题的创意即决方式。

容我唠叨一下，这个等式含义有两层：

1. 是解决问题，而不是创造新的问题——虽然这句话听起来很傻。
2. 要充分了解问题，并提供好的解答。

按照ChinaIR.cn的说法，中国的创业者过多的关注技术的创新，而忽略了其商业应用的实际效果。如果酷酷的新技术没有能够帮助大家解决实际问题的话，那可能就是白搭。那么什么是称得上创新成果呢？有三句话说得中听：

A solution to a problem only makes sense if it is simpler, easier and cheaper than the present situation.

The best inventions offer simple, albeit innovative, solutions to existing problems.

Innovation is about finding new solutions to old problems – not figuring out new problems to fit your technology.

其实，我们大可不必将创新弄得那么明白，就如同最上乘的武艺是无形的。ChinaIR.cn并没有拿出什么创新的定义，而只是其用途。最顶级的创新，不是每天拿着白纸，握着水笔想新的方案，而是一种方式，一种状态——而且是生活上的方式和状态。就像Google和Baidu的办公室和制度非常的自然和与众不同能够激发员工的大脑神经一样，创新就是一种无时无刻都存在的一种“境界”，是一种根深蒂固。一位创意总监如果整个脑子都是创意的话，他一定会把它们也用在DIY自己的牛仔裤上，而不仅仅是用在办公室。

从现在开始，开阔你的兴趣和视野，你就会有一个懂得创新的脑袋。

Update: 正好这里有一篇Guy Kawasaki的The art of innovation，对创新有更深的解说。中文翻译版在这里。

迟到的农历新年的延长影响

Seeking Alpha用小小的篇幅谈论到今年迟迟到来的春节对国内商业环境的影响，有一些是参考猪猡记公园的想法。由于找不到最original的原文，所以只有引用Seeking Alpha：

Spring Festival comes late this year; it will not begin until Feb 18. This throws off the normal January craziness. "The business was slack in January", a friend who is a salesman of an electronic component factory tells me. That's not all. Due to the lateness of the festival, people will actually be on vacation till almost the end of Feb. That means people will be in abnormal working conditions for almost two months. Smart advertisers will not promote their product for business customers at this time.

因为大年初一要2月18日才姗姗来迟，所以整个2007年的一月份大部分人都会“沉浸”在一种期待的心情中。如果business trip安排在1月底和2月初，那基本上没有谁会热情接待你。而且，大多数人会将自己一年的假期安排在新年之后，直到2月底。所以2007年的前2个月，公司业绩几乎就不会有啥好的表现了。

对于销售来说，这段时间一定是个低谷，但是可以用来调整自己，也是与客户和同事联络感情的机会。没有订单，赢得印象分也不错。对于广告主来说，春节到来之前可以有比较长的一段时间来酝酿，大概也是一个砍价的好时候。

Seeking alpha的数据表明，对于很多公司而言，每年的第一个季度业绩并不会很理想，比如新浪，百度和搜狐，他们都是非常依赖于广告业绩的公司，也都相继表示了对第一季度的预计并不会太好的预期。