Tuesday, September 24, 2013

2013-39 - They'll Get Used To It...

Marc Andreessen, Internet browser pioneer turned venture capitalist, recalls a double-date he had with Jobs a few months before the iPhone was unveiled...

In the fall of 2006, my wife, Laura, and I went out to dinner with Steve and his brilliant and lovely wife, Laurene. Sitting outside of the restaurant on California Avenue in Palo Alto waiting for a table to open up, on a balmy Silicon Valley evening, Steve pulled his personal prototype iPhone out of his jeans pocket and said, 'Here, let me show you something.' He took me on a tour through all of the features and capabilities of the new device.

After an appropriate amount of oohing and aahing, I ventured a comment. BlackBerry aficionado as I was, I said, 'Boy, Steve, don't you think it's going to be a problem not having a physical keyboard? Are people really going to be okay typing directly on the screen?'

He looked me right in the eye with that piercing gaze and said, 'They'll get used to it.'

Apple has sold more than 250 million iPhones since 2007 and it's one of the top-selling smartphones in the world!

~ Marc Andreessen




"The purpose of a business is to create a customer."

~ Peter Drucker

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

2013-38 - Accepting the fight...

If someone confronts you over ideas or ideals, step up and accept the fight, because conflict is present in every moment of our lives and sometimes it needs to show itself in the broad light of day.

But do not fight in order to prove that you are right or to impose your ideas or ideals on someone else.

Only accept the fight as a way of keeping your spirit clean and your will spotless. When the fight is over, both sides will emerge as winners, because they tested their limitations and their abilities.

Since both respect the courage and determination of the other, the time will come when they will once again walk along hand-in-hand, even if they have to wait a thousand years for that to happen.

Meanwhile, if someone merely wishes to provoke you, shake the dust from your feet and carry on. Only fight with a worthy opponent, and not with someone who uses trickery to prolong a war that is already over, as happens with all wars.

~ Paulo Coelho (THE MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN ACCRA)




"You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it."

~ Margaret Thatcher

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

2013-37 - The Speckled Axe...

Benjamin Franklin tells the story of a man, who in buying an axe from a local blacksmith, desired to have the whole of its surface polished as bright as the edge. 

The smithy consented to grind the axe bright for him if he would turn the wheel of the sharpening stone. He turned while the smith pressed the broad face of the axe hard and heavily upon the stone, which made the turning of it very fatiguing. The buyer stopped every now and then to check how the work progressed, and finally said he would take the axe as it was, without further grinding.

"No," said the blacksmith, "turn more, turn more; we'll have it bright by-and-by; as it is only speckled."

"Yes," replied the buyer, "but I think I like the speckled axe best."

Franklin reflected this may have been the case with many people; who having found the difficulty of obtaining the good and the breaking of habits in other points of vice and virtue, have given up the struggle and concluded that a speckled axe was best.

~ Benjamin Franklin




"Forgive yourself for your faults and your mistakes and move on."
~ Les Brown

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

2013-36 - Committed...

Today, you are committed to something. What is it?

Are you committed to just getting by, to just getting through the day with as little effort as possible? Or are you committed to something greater, something magnificent and exciting and fulfilling?

Whatever you're truly committed to, is exactly what you'll achieve. Whatever you're truly committed to, determines the kind of life that you lead.

Within you is a vision that longs to be brought to life. It's a vision that deserves your full commitment.

Commitment to your most profound vision is not easy, and will ask much of you. Yet you know it is the best choice.

Make that choice, make that commitment to the best that's within you, again and again, each moment of each day. And the life you create, your own life, will be nothing short of outstanding.

~ Ralph Marston




"There's no abiding success without commitment."

~ Tony Robbins