April 9 was the second day of the World Innovation Forum at the AXA Center on 7th Ave.  I have to say that the presenters continued to be very informative and entertaining, even if some of the jokes they told would be unacceptable as emails in the corporate environment. 

I've made two attempts now at creating a blog about what is happening at the World Innovation Forum in NYC. Unfortunately, they seemed more like book reports than a blog.  I sat through a number of interesting presentations by "pioneers in the field of innovation."  Thought provoking, for sure.  And I started out trying to let you know just what had transpired, but factual accounts just don't cut it.  There has to be some soul, some feeling, some link to human experience.  So in the hopes that the third time is a link, here are a few thoughts provoked.


Hackers are your friends.  If you are in the business of creating products for users, who better to show you how they wish your products worked than the users themselves?  And according to Eric von Hippel, there is no shortage of users who are quite willing to do just that.  All you need do is understand what modifications they make in bending the use of your products to their specific needs.  Better yet, enable your product to be a platform, and enable the users with tools that allow modifications.  Then track what they do and incorporate the best into your next generation.

Dyslexia can be a virtue.  Daniel Pink quoted research that showed that the only correlation among peer-designated "Stars of Business" was dyslexia.  The condition seems to foster big picture vision rather than drilling down on details, perhaps because the creative and non-linear portions of the brain have been required to work overtime to compensate for shortcomings of more linear thoughts.

"You will be competing with free," says Chris Anderson.  He goes on to say that "...the trend lines that determine the cost of doing business online all point the same way: to zero."  Hmmm...I wonder if he's ever studied the photographic industry.  But he doesn't recommend that businesses give up in the face of this onslaught, but rather alter their tactics.


Don't sell elevators.  Provide vertical transportation services.  Design systems, not components, and the efficiency gains will pay for anything that initially appears to be added cost.  And what is the system all others must emulate?  Nature, says Amory Lovins.  And the application of good system design principles will allow energy cost burdened economies to flourish once more.

I'll miss my SUV.  At least until I pass the first gas station.

Editor's Note:  We are publishing this post in recognition of two events.  First, January 29th marked the one-year anniversary of the 1000Nerds blog - what better way to celebrate our Nerddom?  Second, we are once again in the midst of the U.S. Presidential primaries - plenty of fodder for reflection.

Nerds of the World, Unite!

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable sites, that among these are Second Life, MIT and the pursuit of Technology.

Wait a minute...Why should nerds unite?  What force drives this alliance?

The fact is that nerds are already united in their love of technology.  They all try to understand how things work.  They are able to make complex systems function.  They lack redeeming social graces.
 
But nerds are not just faceless clones.  They have Nationality.  They have culture, and not just in Petri dishes.  They have a sense of identity.  As my Puertoreque-nerd friend, Rafael clearly states:

"The beauty of a nerd is that he/she does not focus on looks or background, but rather on what they bring to the table.  Nerds cannot be like a "melting pot."  They have to be like a beef stew.  They all bring their own differences, but focus on their similarities.  You see, if we had a nerd world, there would be no wars and no bigotry.  Maybe the nerd world is a better world to live in because we are not really looking at others as different, but rather as the same.  Nerds accept that differences exist and they are OK.  It is the similarities that nerds exploit... we are all together, but we are different... the difference is that the focus is on the similarities..."

Imagine a nerd as President!  Rather than marching us off to war, there'd be a brainstorming session on how to re-engineer the trouble spots, with invitations that included Nerdly Leaders from that part of the world who would create specifications for resolution, complete with flowcharts.  Or a thinking war rather than a physical war.  Maybe a game of Halo would resolve the problem!"

Just think of it...a Nerdish President!  What's that you say?  No foreign policy experience?  Balderdash!  We pour through machine translations of technical manuals every day.  We actually talk to technical support in Bangladesh.  We eat tons of French Fries.

No political expertise?  You've got to be kidding?  What Senator ever moderated an ISO standards meeting where several factions want to dictate the new order in their favor.

No economic sense?  Save it for someone gullible.  Nerds never waste a dime on anything unnecessary like haircuts or soap.  Nerds direct all their resources to important necessary items like more RAM and faster processors.

And just think of the possibilities for the Cabinet:

Commerce - Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder

Defense - Jason Jones, Halo Project Lead

Health and Human Services - Bill Gates, Microsoft Czar & head of the Gates charitable foundation

Interior - Barry Glick, Mapquest founder (he knows where all of the states are located!)

The possibilities are endless.  Care to take a stab at a few other positions?
State
Treasury
Justice
Agriculture
Labor
Housing & Urban Development
Transportation
Energy
Education
Homeland Security
Veteran Affairs

The attorneys have been running the country long enough.  The nerds can't do much worse.  Vote for someone who understands complexity.  Vote for someone who never allowed the VCR to blink "12:00" and has a wireless network (802.11n!) that isn't named "Linksys."  Vote for someone who has what it takes to debug the system!!! 

VOTE NERD!!!

 

When we started this blog, there was serious debate about the name, 1000 Nerds.  Some felt that we were insultingly deprecating to all the great scientists and engineers who have long populated the halls of Kodak.

"Nerds?  You can't possibly be serious."

"Completely serious."

"It's not even a real word."

"The Merriam-Webster dictionary seems to think so.  A nerd is defined as 'an unstylish, unattractive, or socially inept person; especially: one slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits.'"

"To use the word nerd is absurd."

"On the contrary, it is preferred."

"But the nerds will feel slurred."

"Unlikely, since the meaning has blurred."

"So you are undeterred?"

"And approval is conferred?"

"If we must have nerds, why so many?  Can't we get by with one or two hundred?"

"I can see you've never visited the Kodak Research Labs.  That place is a regular nerd-o-rama with nerdettes, nerdites, nerdsters, and nerdlings, all overseen by a great Nerdmaster, 'Baron von Nerdhoven.'  And then there are the Kodak R&D organizations all over Rochester and the world ..."

  

"Wait a minute, we can't possibly use 'Nerds'."

"Why not?"

"Not politically correct.  The Nerdish citizens of Turkey and Iraq will be offended."

"[Sigh...] I doubt that the few Kurdish Nerds will care.  And there are so many positives in considering nerds."

"Like what?"

"Well, Nerds work hard.   They accomplish great things by using all that time that others waste on fashion and personal hygiene.  They are very goal-oriented, except of course, in playing sports.  Their eyesight is completely correctable.  They can balance the checkbook.  They can actually help the kids with their homework.  Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your point of view, their kids may also turn out to be nerds.  Nerds are to electronics what grease monkeys are to automobiles, and similar in grooming habits.  Nerds are good for the economy.  They have single-handedly saved thousands of jobs in the pocket-protector industry.  And of course, nerds have great potential for generating income.  Who is worth more, the talented, suave and debonair Tiger Woods, or the King of Nerds, Bill Gates?

 

One of our resident bloggers, Joe Manico,
wearing a hat of his own creation

"And don't forget the perception of nerds in the media.  Catch the wave, man, catch the wave!  There are new shows in the fall lineup like The Big Bang Theory on CBS and Chuck on NBC where the heroes are unabashed nerds.  And it doesn't stop there!  The "nerd revolution" on TV continues with another show on Friday nights called NUMB3RS.   The stars are a somewhat repressed FBI agent and his genius, mathematician brother.  The genius/nerd brother (played by the guy who was the head elf, Bernard, in The Santa Clause movies) helps the FBI solve crimes by blindingly clever statistical analyses and forecasts of criminal behavior.  And it is starting its fourth season.  Nerds have staying power!

 "Then there's the genius nerd Goth girl, Abby, on the Navy crime show NCIS.  She's the wizard lab tech who helps the Navy solve crimes by blindingly clever forensic analyses of crime scenes.  (I think that she was also cloned on another one of the crime-genre shows, but I can't remember which one.)  This is important because they are GIRL NERDS.  A growing demographic!"

Girl Nerd image courtesy of Steve Hilbert

"But the real reason you can't say 'No' is that nerds are part of the lexicon of all that is good and wholesome."

"What do you mean?"

"Only that the derivation of the very term, nerd, or in its alternate prototypical form, nurd, comes from that literary icon to every man and woman, boy and girl, Dr. Seuss."

"No!"

"Yes, it's true.  Back in 1950, shortly after Hewlett met Packard, when Google was just a big number, when Amazon was only a jungle with a river where you didn't want to swim, when the primary Texas Instruments were the banjo and the fiddle, the good Doctor sailed to Ka-Troo and brought back the first recorded Nerd.  And the rest, as they say, is history."

"You're right.  1000 Nerds it is.  Now how about finding writers that can sound like Nerds?"

"Did I forget to mention that our nerds can also write?!?"

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Editor's Note:  As a self-confessed girl nerd and mother of an up-and-coming girl nerd, I think it's only fair to note that much of the bad press often associated with nerds (unstylish, unattractive, unclean, uncoordinated, socially inept, ...) is merely part of the historical record.  Not only do we "clean up real good," but also most of us are generally indistinguishable from non-nerds in normal society ...  until we speak.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                Jane

I have attempted to game.

First a bit of background. Back in prehistoric times, I pumped enough quarters into one particular game to buy a small vehicle. A couple of friends and I would go to a local bar, drink beer and play this game on a regular basis. Yes, you are correct, we had no girlfriends.

It was a game that was one step up from Pong. Breakout, as it was called, was one of those ball and paddle games, but you had to keep bouncing the ball back at the top of the screen where the "bricks" were suspended by some mysterious video game physics. You had to keep the ball from getting past the paddle while trying to get the ball to hit each of the bricks, which would disappear when hit by the ball.

It was really difficult. In order to significantly change the path of the ball, one had to essentially hit the edge of the paddle. This put you at risk of missing it completely. But if you were successful, you could get to the point where the wall of bricks was partially punctured, and the ball would careen around behind the rest of the bricks, taking out more of them without any involvement from you. Of course, it would pick up speed and eventually come flying out of the opening when you weren't ready for it, but a few hundred dollars worth of quarters would prepare you for that situation.

After months of this routine, I finally played until I had only one brick left. It was a duel to the death. I hung on for what seemed like hours as the ball screamed ever faster across the screen. Finally, with a particularly inspired edge shot, I managed to hit the last brick and the screen was clear.

And then? I expected that the programmers would be flying into town to recognize me as the world's premier Breakout player. A brass band. A ticker tape parade. Or at least a free beer. But alas, it was not to be. All I got was a new screen full of bricks, and a smaller paddle.

I never put another quarter in that game.

Fast forward to 2007. I've hooked up the Play Station 3 to the HD screen and surround sound in my living room for the ultimate gaming experience. I've booted it up, and "Resistance: Fall of Man" is ready to go. I firmly grip the six-axis controller that will control my motion and weapon and press the button that transfers me to the battle to save the human race.

Before I know it, I'm dead. The alien attackers have made short work of me while I fumble with the too-sensitive controls. And this is on the "Easy" setting. Another go, and I'm dead again. The ramp up on learning the controls will be tedious, no doubt. Oops, I'm dead again. In glorious detail. Your personal death is only shown in monochrome. Too disturbing to see yourself die in color? And the game never shows you your death-contorted face. Another try, and I'm dead again. Then, by some miracle, or by some fluke of programming that allows even gaming bozos to have a modicum of success, I make it past this first bloody street and into another skirmish in a square.

"Resistance: Fall of Man" Screenshot from the PS3 Website
(I never got anywhere near seeing this screen)

I'm dead again and again and again. Finally, by actually reading the on-screen prompt, I learn to duck down behind barricades. I only get killed half as quickly now. "Hey, your foot was blown off that time," my wife offers.

After most of 3 hours, I finally kill the scurvy knave on the balcony so that I can run under the archway that seems to be the only way out of the square. But before I do, I meander around a bit, examining the shrubberies and beautifully rendered battle-scarred courtyard walls. It is an enjoyable moment of peace in this hell on earth. With a stroke of inspiration, I actually save the game at this point so that I can return without having to kill my way back. Then I dash through the archway and up the stairs. Dead again as I pass the next doorway too slowly. Hmmm... One more go, but this time, I toss a grenade into the room as I run past the doorway.

I almost rejoiced as I realized I had blown away that group of foes in record time. But what I had won just dawned on me. Another screen full of bricks. And probably a smaller paddle, somewhere down the line. All you win is the chance to go farther and farther into this virtual world.

I shut off the game and left it hooked up to see if I would get the urge to try it again. After two weeks now, I've had no desire whatsoever. I'd rather go curling. Or skiing. Or play cribbage. Anything else.

But I have learned a few things about gaming.

1) Gaming is for people who are highly skilled and have time to kill.

2) The standard controller interface is horrible. Nothing intuitive about it. I'm sure any real gamer would tell me how wrong I am, but that's only because they have spent the time necessary to learn how to use it. I believe Nintendo's Wii is a reaction to the poor interface.

3) The virtual world is engaging. Exploring another beautifully rendered world may be something that people other than gamers might like to do by using a game box. Pop in the proper disk and take a virtual vacation to Sorrento. Or pre-Katrina New Orleans. Or the Starship Enterprise. And interact with the characters as well.

Maybe I'll try again someday. Maybe with a different game. This experience has gotten me thinking - about interfaces, about the possibilities, about time. And speaking of time, I'm off to play games in the real world.

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Kodak recently sent me to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Of course, Kodak expense reports don't usually cover certain expenses.

"But Boss, I was doing Probability Research."

"What happens to your money in Vegas stays in Vegas." Oh well.

Whose idea was this show, anyway? It is so big that there is no way you can see everything. In fact, I think the main idea is to provide an opportunity for me to embarrass myself with my lack of knowledge about what was there.

"So, Randy, tell me about the fabulous Whatzit from Whosamajigger."

"Uh, uh, uh...I didn't actually get to the Whosamajigger booth."

"So remind me why we sent you there?"

"Probability Research?"

So as I walk the show, I realize I am getting a tan from all the photons leaping out of the huge flat-panel displays that seem to be in all the booths. Even so, I can't wait to be the first kid on my block to cover the window in my living room with my 120" HD screen. College education for the kids? Bah! I need to see American Idol with life-sized contestants. My surround sound will be the envy of all on my street, since they will be able to enjoy the subwoofer right through the walls of their houses. And I'll have all the content I could ever want pulsing through my media center, also known as a game box. When it's time to watch the big game, my remote will not only turn on my entertainment system, it will automatically close all the blinds, dim the lights, hold my calls, put the house in stealth mode and command my personal robot to bring me the beverage of my choice. System after system after system all hooked together, working in harmony and providing me with the high-technology-enabled worry-free existence I've always wanted. Just like Kodak's Founder, George Eastman, said back in 1888, "You press the button, we do the rest."

Or maybe not. Maybe I'll need that Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering I never got or that even bigger wallet I don't have to make all these things work together. And the real kicker? What if something goes wrong somewhere in all this interconnectedness? Is it a problem with the universal remote, or the media center, or the display, or is the robot not quite as trustworthy as its maker wants you to think?

Probability Research tells me that we still have some work to do.