Jay Lagare

General

Steve Jobs Resigns

By on Thursday, August 25, 2011

This morning, when I got to my desk and opened the browser, I read the news: Steve Jobs has resigned. And I was just thinking about him as I was driving to work. Thinking about his impact to Apple and the industry. He is a visionary. His ideas, principles, and philosophies (much influenced by Zen) are what formed Apple and its products to what they are today: less technical and more functional. Or more simply put: simple and works.

His resignation is the end of an era for Apple. This is the second such ending since. Back in the 80s, he was forced out of Apple in a management squabble. After his departure, Apple faltered as it went about with the wrong vision and direction. Practically only his return revitalized the company.

Hopefully, it won’t happen this time around. Most importantly, he wasn’t forced out. He would have his succession plan, his people, and his roadmap in place. And he had succeeded in making Apple the most valuable company in terms of market capitalization. Such mass carries a lot of momentum. These will help Apple continue along his envisioned path.

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General

Divisoria

By on Sunday, August 21, 2011

Divi, as Divisoria is fondly(?!?) called, has quite a following. Frankly, I don’t get it. People would claim that they found this and that in Divi at a much cheaper price. More often than not, they actually got cheap knockoffs of dubious poor quality. Or they’re comparing to goods from stalls at the tiangge sections of malls owned by young very enterprising almost-pretty chinitas who got the goods from where else but Divi. Then there’s the crowd who are not exactly exactly not the types you want to rub shoulder with, literally. Even if it were someone you wanted to rub shoulders with, a few hours in Divi would have you reconsidering your position. Put in the time (of which everyone has only 24 hours of per day) and effort and it all adds up to something truly not worth it. But that’s just me.

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General

Lego Duplo

By on Wednesday, August 17, 2011


When we were kids, my dad came back from a trip to the US with the most awesome toy bar none: Lego. If there is one toy a child should have, this is it. She (or you) can create all the other toys. We enjoyed many many hours, days, years playing with them. And it didn’t end with childhood. I later got myself a Lego Mindstorms set which, long story short, eventually resulted in me and my friends’ winning the Sun JavaCup 2000. Eventually the Lego sets were handed over to our youngest sibling Jack. I’m sure he enjoyed them as much as we did. Last weekend, I finally got Jeanne her first Lego set, a box of Duplo basic bricks. And does she enjoy them!

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General

Google and Motorola Mobility

By on Tuesday, August 16, 2011

The patent war is heating up. After being foiled by Apple, Microsoft and RIM to acquire Nortel Networks’ patent portfolio, Google is now acquiring Motorola Mobility primarily for its patent portfolio. The thing is, Motorola builds it’s own Android mobile phones and tablets.  Back when Nokia was still exploring Android, it asked for preferential treatment, which Google rightly denied. One of the reasons that led Nokia to instead go to the Microsoft and the Windows Phone platform. Now that Google will own Motorola, will it be giving preferential treatment? Will it be able to avoid doing that? This is probably something all of Google’s Android partners are thinking even as they heap praise on Google for this latest move.

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