randomosity

So in my quest to push the envelope and also save the world ;-) I ran the United Way 5K at Mac today. It is my second year running. Last year I ran it after having run the Terry Fox 10K and very foolishly reasoned that 5K would be a cakewalk if I could run 10K. It’s simply half the distance and therefore quite easily accomplished. Yeah. 5K means you run a bloody sprint. So armed with this foreknowledge I paced myself well and was quite comfortable with it. It also gave me an opportunity to get a nice long run’s data recorded via my Nike + pedometer. I have been using this absolutely cool device for the past few weeks and find the ability to track my work outs a wonderful motivator. However………..

I started off running the 5K and in kicked my music. Great. I could hear it let me know as I was passing through km milestones…all seemed good. Runners started off before walkers and were running a longer course. After looping back and the following the complete course I was approaching a big digital time sign at about 3.2km into the course. felt like I have been running for longer, but I glanced at the iPod and Nike+ told me it was just over 3Km, so ran on by and started to do another loop. Found it curious that there were no longer race marshals on corners and was a little unclear as to how much of the course I had left to go. I knew that it was certainly not a full course again, but was confused. So, after running along the previous course I did some mental calculations and figured I would make a drop over to the return course and it should be about 5K. So…ran for another 7 or eight minutes and was approaching the big digital board again. Decided to actually ask the people there what was up. Here I discover that the first time around I had done 5Km, but was probably well between 7 and 8 km by this point. The iPod showed about 4.5km. When I read the instruction on the Nike+ its suggested that you *could* calibrate it, but it was not necessary. Let me tell you, it is clearly necessary. I got good exercise and a story out of it, and immediately afterwards went to the 400m track and did the calibration. I only wish I could not alter the previously stored information to reflect the fact that I had been previously running much greater distances than I realized ;-)

Moral of this story: technology has its limits…I guess we (I) do need to be reminded of that every now and then.

The iPod remains a pervasive example of a viral epidemic adoption. When did it hit the tipping point? I’ve still got my 1G pod although the battery gave up the ghost a long time ago. It certainly wasn’t in 2001. The unit was a luxury item and rather expensive. I think I paid close to $800 for mine in that first month after introduction. A couple iPod’s later, the fascination still remains, but my attitude has moved more towards the utilitarian value. I picked up a Shuffle for use as a USB key with extras. It continues to perform exemplary. As nice as the stainless steel back is from the 1G, the Shuffle makes much more sense and doesn’t mar when treated roughly. It’s there when you need it and holds a charge for ages. My Nano, bought after Apple intro’d the 2G Nano for a song, is the dock that holds my little Nike jogging device. Now, that is a cool use. So I have paid Apple my share to support the trend.

This article from wired is a brief narrative outlining the process at Apple that led to its release in 2001. I recall being aware as many were that the software on the pod was licensed from PortalPlayer, however, this shares some of the other ways in which Apple was able to get a product to market quickly. It wasn’t the first MP3 player, but it certainly was the best. My little 64Mb Sony pencil player (I can’t remember the product name) had the utilitarian value of the Shuffle in 2000. As the author notes, Apple identified as need, a market full of products that demonstrated limited innovation - and offered Apple an opportunity to reach a whole new sector. They did this very well. Licensing where necessary, subjecting the product to an effective refinement strategy and combining it crucially with a desktop software. Has anyone tried the crap Sony stuff. DRM is the debate, but Sony tends to rub your face in it, where Apple has hidden most of it and framed the reminder of its presence in tongue-in-cheek cheekiness - ‘Remember, Don’t Steal Music’.

Building a little index of some of my maps over time today reminded me of one of my longest projects. Back in the mid 90s, I started designing a map (a moving map, oohhhh) of the changing boundaries of Habsburg territorial domains. I started with a series of HTML pages with maps generated by Adobe Illustrator. I then got the bright idea to actually turn it into something interactive by using Authorware. Turning it into a flash-based map was the eventual goal. To be honest, it never quite made it into a fully functioning flash map. The HTML was good, Authorware even better, but it has sat unrefined as I got distracted by other things.

Today when I was browing about I came across Maps of War. They are featuring a map called ‘Imperial - History’ which is a beautiful work. There are a number of other wonderful maps, all of which are the moving map of my machinations. A small timeline scrolls across the bottom of the screen as the large, colourful map is panned about to show ‘who has controlled the Middle East’ from 3000 BCE to today. It is wonderfully executed, even letting you jump from date to date on the timeline. The changes in imperial territories are gradual and smooth. Brilliant execution.