Some people naturally enjoy puzzles. I’ve always been one of those kinds of people. As a kid, I took apart more than one contraption that got my mother to reaching for the dreaded “belt”. I liked jigsaw puzzles and logic problems that often took a really long time to work out.
It seems a somewhat natural progression that would lead me towards quite a bit of the work situations I’ve had as an adult. Marketing, advertising, cost consultant and various types of project manager, are all things I’ve done and also seem to be the types of work that benefit from having a curious, albeit somewhat analytical mind.
Today, we have virtual puzzles, 3-D puzzles and even puzzles that span across 4 dimensions. Things do change, but in many ways, things also tend to stay the same.
For example, Sony once ruled the planet in terms of personal audio devices. The Sony Walkman was ubiquitous and they seemed to manage to hold the market, even as we moved from cassette to CD. But somewhere along the lines, it would seem that Apple, got really, really good at solving puzzles. Thus, the iPod, iTunes and so forth.
Maybe, Apple’s greatest skill has been taking existing products and determining what to do in order to make them better, future forward, etc. Whatever it is, they managed to steal the baton from Sony. Not that I cry for Sony, who has plenty of ways to make a buck.
I really would like to have been a fly on the wall and got to figure out what really happened there. I’d also like to know how Google wound up toppling well established firms like Alta Vista and Ask Jeeves. Or perhaps I could figure out what happened to IBM, that caused them to get out of the personal computer business.
A more modern day conundrum, apparently can be seen by Cisco’s decision to abandon the Flip Phone business. And this occurring at what to many appeared to be the zenith for the product. Maybe Cisco is so good at puzzles, they can see something most of us can’t.
Today, my mind whirs again at how the near and far future will be changed. In 20 years, for example, we might expect an episode of Antiques Roadshow would have an expert explaining why someone’s bookcase isn’t worth much, as in “At one time, we needed bookcases, but when the Kindle and iPad and all the other e-book readers came along, the need for bookcases in the home significantly decreased…”
I wonder if this little fact has registered with the logging industry, recyclers, antiques dealers, manufacturers, home designers, home decorators and the many other professions and trades that stand to be affected as this trend away from printed books grows. Surely it’s being felt by bookstores.
I liked Borders Books. In fact, I love bookstores in general and I am sad to see them closing. I also wonder if Barnes and Noble will fall pray too, or if they’ve been playing with this puzzle for some time, and have figured out some way to not just survive, but thrive.
I’m a watch collector and I’ve known for a while now that eventually, my beloved watches will have a very small audience. Look around and you’ll notice a huge group of people, mostly 45 and under, who don’t wear watches. Many grew up with cell phones, which they use to tell time. Cell phones and many other portable devices all have very accurate clocks built in. The Baby Boomer generation, who exhibits a love for the wristwatch isn’t quite as dominant a force in the collectibles market. Even if we weren’t experiencing a bad economy, we’d still see that within the watch collectibles category, prices have steadily been decreasing. It is hard to imagine a 25 year old today developing the same sort of respect or fondness for a 1948 “Bumper” watch. Some will, but probably not in significant numbers. They may appreciate seeing one in a museum, but wouldn’t necessarily care to invest in one.
So how is this affecting the watch making industry and all the related industries?
Which brings to mind, what will the future collectible be for Gen X, Gen Y or the other generations to follow? What might be tomorrow’s iPad? Will some other piece of furniture, as important as a bookcase be made redundant?
Will Apple remain the dominant force in the tablet category, or will some other company, perhaps yet to be invented, come along and knock them from their pedestal. Will Google someday be reduced to a shadow of their former self, like Alta Vista or Ask Jeeves.
Have you looked at how yesterday and today are working to affect your future? How good are you at figuring out puzzles?
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Puzzles are great to keep you thinking – as long as they don’t have too much math anyway. Interesting thoughts about bookshelves and watches. I am wondering what to do with several bookshelves that are left in my mom’s house now that she has moved into a much smaller apartment. And one whole room in my house has floor to ceiling bookshelves on one long wall and one short wall. The shelves are not as full as they used to be and I don’t even have an electronic reader yet. And I certainly don’t need to collect more stuff to sit on the empty shelves – stuff that needs to be dusted. I have enough of that stuff already. You could use your empty shelves for your watch collection.
And I too have wondered about Ask Jeeves and Alta Vista. Things go viral – something that can’t be planned for. Perhaps that was a factor there.
I can still remember the day I bought my sony walkman – I thought it was the greatest. Well, now I have itunes but I’m sure that will be usurped by something “better” down the line. I can’t imagine what future technology will emerge that my 20 year old will be wowed by. As far as watches, don’t wear one but I have some pretty cool swatch watches in a basket, on my bookshelf, next to my kindle.