The problem as I've seen it is that so many product managers tend to be promoted from sales because they were such great salespeople, and great sales people make their career being able to lie to themselves about how great that product is even if it stinks; if you want the customer to believe (and buy) then you have to believe. Great sales people also are very good as saying "yes" to anything.
A really good product manager needs to be able to be honest with him or herself and be able to say "our product sucks", as well as to be able to tell a customer "no". Those are not traits that are beneficial in the sales world, unless you're the rare exception like Steve Jobs.
A better analogy would be that Apple is like the Little Red Hen.
"Who will dare to make a computer that gets rid clunky serial ports and is USB-only to drive development of USB as a platform?" asked Apple.
"Not I" said Dell. "Not I" said Gateway "Not I" said Compaq. "Not I" said Acer.
"Then I'll do it myself" said Apple. And she completely broke backwards compatibility to make the iMac.
"Who will make a minimalist music player without a billion clunky extras that product managers want to add and that has a really neat jog-wheel that give people a great user experience?"
"Not I" said Phillips. "Not I" said Diamond. "Not I" said Mitsubishi. "Not I" said Sony.
"Then I will" said Apple. And they made the iPod.
"Who will spend large sums of money to have design engineers experiment for months molding a block of clay into a non-clunky shape that works great for cell phones?" asked Apple.
"Not I", said Samsung. "Not I", said Nokia. "Not I", said LG. "Not I", said HTC.
"Then I will" said Apple. And she designed a phone with rounded corners.
"Who will spend lots of money and take some risk designing cell phones with a revolutionary slide-to-unlock feature and the first really non-clunky mobile web browsing experience that includes pinching and swiping gestures?" asked Apple.
"Not I", said Samsung. "Not I", said Nokia. "Not I", said LG. "Not I", said HTC.
"Then I'll do it myself" said Apple. And she designed the iOS UI.
And when the iPhone was released, the tired little company in Cupertino asked her competitors "who will help me use my designs to make billions in revenue I've earned by taking all sorts of marketing and design risks and putting in so much efforts to do what competitors didn't to move a stagnant and complacent industry forward like I've always have had to do?" asked Apple
"I do" said Samsung. "I do" said Motorola. "I do", said LG. "I do" said HTC.
"No, I'm going to keep all of those designs to myself" Apple said, and she happily sued them into oblivion. The end.
I'd rather Samsung be allowed to sell its products in the US AND also be forced to donate a billion dollars to user interface research at universities which would then be put released open source patent free for any company to use.
"For millennia, face paint has helped soldiers avoid being seen"
"In this film we hope to show how not to be seen. This is Mr. Mohammed Quadrallah of 2345 Ibn Ali Avenue, Lashkar Gah, Helmand province, Afghanistan. He can not be seen. Now I am going to ask him to wipe off his face. Mr. Quadrallah, will you wipe off your face please."
(In the distance Mr Quadrallah wipes off his face with a handkerchief, which is followed by a drone strike followed by Wilhelm scream)
A replaceable rubber sheath will decrease the sensitivity, and irresponsible robots in the heat of lifting boxes might forget to put it on in spite of the protection it provides.
non-violent triggers to mimic the rush of pleasure gamers feel when firing guns.
It's called an orgasm, produced by a hand motion similar to squeezing a trigger. You typically fire one of these at a simulated woman in place of firing a gun at a simulated bad guy to get your rush of endorphins. There's actually quite a thriving industry on the internet involved in this gameplay, so I'm not exactly understanding what the scientists hope to achieve.
Where they put them out by detonating sticks of dynamite above the burning well head. But on a much smaller and more manageable (albeit less fun) level.
Mr. McGuire: I just want to say one word to you - just one word. Ben: Yes sir. Mr. McGuire: Are you listening? Ben: Yes I am. Mr. McGuire: 'Higgs Boson.' Ben: Exactly how do you mean? Mr. McGuire: There's a great future in the Higgs Boson particle. Think about it. Will you think about it? Ben: Yes I will. Mr. McGuire: Shh! Enough said. That's a deal.
Came for the nanotechnologists, And I did not speak out because I was not a nanotechnologist. Then the anarchists came for the computer scientists, And I did not speak out because I was not a computer scientist. Then the anarchists came for the machinists, And I did not speak out because I was not a machinist. Then the anarchists came for the blacksmiths, And I did not speak out because I was not a blacksmith. Then the anarchists came for the farmers, And I did not speak out because I was not a farmer. Then the anarchists came for the people who whittled pointy sticks, And I did not speak out because I did not whittle pointy sticks. Then the anarchists came for the people who used rocks, And I did not speak out because I did not use rocks. Then they came for me, Which was okay because my cold dark cave was getting kind of boring anyway.
I don't know the full story, but it could be that your coworkers were mandated to install XP, weren't allowed to install Windows 7, and wanted management to learn the hard way that they shot themselves in the foot with the mandate. Management being proved wrong would then give the department the political capital necessary to get approval for the Win 7 licenses. If the people above you prevent you from doing your job, sometimes you just have to let them walk of a cliff so they'll come back and give you what you need to do your job. That's sometimes the only way that process in IT happens.
And when you learn this you'll start to resent less experienced, college-fresh IT people who try to prove they're smart by doing everything they to help the folks high up avoid the desperately needed teachable moment that moves your organization forward. Don't take offense; we've all been that young naive guy at some point.
Slashdot Mirror
Goes to show that Pykrete was ahead of it's time.
The problem as I've seen it is that so many product managers tend to be promoted from sales because they were such great salespeople, and great sales people make their career being able to lie to themselves about how great that product is even if it stinks; if you want the customer to believe (and buy) then you have to believe. Great sales people also are very good as saying "yes" to anything.
A really good product manager needs to be able to be honest with him or herself and be able to say "our product sucks", as well as to be able to tell a customer "no". Those are not traits that are beneficial in the sales world, unless you're the rare exception like Steve Jobs.
What is condescending?
A better analogy would be that Apple is like the Little Red Hen.
"Who will dare to make a computer that gets rid clunky serial ports and is USB-only to drive development of USB as a platform?" asked Apple.
"Not I" said Dell.
"Not I" said Gateway
"Not I" said Compaq.
"Not I" said Acer.
"Then I'll do it myself" said Apple. And she completely broke backwards compatibility to make the iMac.
"Who will make a minimalist music player without a billion clunky extras that product managers want to add and that has a really neat jog-wheel that give people a great user experience?"
"Not I" said Phillips.
"Not I" said Diamond.
"Not I" said Mitsubishi.
"Not I" said Sony.
"Then I will" said Apple. And they made the iPod.
"Who will spend large sums of money to have design engineers experiment for months molding a block of clay into a non-clunky shape that works great for cell phones?" asked Apple.
"Not I", said Samsung.
"Not I", said Nokia.
"Not I", said LG.
"Not I", said HTC.
"Then I will" said Apple. And she designed a phone with rounded corners.
"Who will spend lots of money and take some risk designing cell phones with a revolutionary slide-to-unlock feature and the first really non-clunky mobile web browsing experience that includes pinching and swiping gestures?" asked Apple.
"Not I", said Samsung.
"Not I", said Nokia.
"Not I", said LG.
"Not I", said HTC.
"Then I'll do it myself" said Apple. And she designed the iOS UI.
And when the iPhone was released, the tired little company in Cupertino asked her competitors "who will help me use my designs to make billions in revenue I've earned by taking all sorts of marketing and design risks and putting in so much efforts to do what competitors didn't to move a stagnant and complacent industry forward like I've always have had to do?" asked Apple
"I do" said Samsung.
"I do" said Motorola.
"I do", said LG.
"I do" said HTC.
"No, I'm going to keep all of those designs to myself" Apple said, and she happily sued them into oblivion. The end.
I'd rather Samsung be allowed to sell its products in the US AND also be forced to donate a billion dollars to user interface research at universities which would then be put released open source patent free for any company to use.
"For millennia, face paint has helped soldiers avoid being seen"
"In this film we hope to show how not to be seen. This is Mr. Mohammed Quadrallah of 2345 Ibn Ali Avenue, Lashkar Gah, Helmand province, Afghanistan. He can not be seen. Now I am going to ask him to wipe off his face. Mr. Quadrallah, will you wipe off your face please."
(In the distance Mr Quadrallah wipes off his face with a handkerchief, which is followed by a drone strike followed by Wilhelm scream)
"This demonstrates the value of not being seen."
Then Vegas is acquiring it's own nuclear arsenal.
Means they can't store my thoughts and that I've needlessly worn a tinfoil hat all these years.
I'll take the hackers, thank you--with them I at least have some chance of purging *their* malware from my computer system.
Giving me a RIM job after IBM.
My first thought was "terrifying dystopia where the mimes have won".
Worse--like e-Harmony.
A replaceable rubber sheath will decrease the sensitivity, and irresponsible robots in the heat of lifting boxes might forget to put it on in spite of the protection it provides.
Suggestion taken. Your mother has an amazing basement.
It's called an orgasm, produced by a hand motion similar to squeezing a trigger. You typically fire one of these at a simulated woman in place of firing a gun at a simulated bad guy to get your rush of endorphins. There's actually quite a thriving industry on the internet involved in this gameplay, so I'm not exactly understanding what the scientists hope to achieve.
War is sloppy. Anyone who says differently is selling something.
= FaceMart
Will be hackable with a sonic screwdriver.
Where they put them out by detonating sticks of dynamite above the burning well head. But on a much smaller and more manageable (albeit less fun) level.
How about Stickies?
Balmer just doesn't give a puck.
Mr. McGuire: I just want to say one word to you - just one word.
Ben: Yes sir.
Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?
Ben: Yes I am.
Mr. McGuire: 'Higgs Boson.'
Ben: Exactly how do you mean?
Mr. McGuire: There's a great future in the Higgs Boson particle. Think about it. Will you think about it?
Ben: Yes I will.
Mr. McGuire: Shh! Enough said. That's a deal.
Came for the nanotechnologists,
And I did not speak out because I was not a nanotechnologist.
Then the anarchists came for the computer scientists,
And I did not speak out because I was not a computer scientist.
Then the anarchists came for the machinists,
And I did not speak out because I was not a machinist.
Then the anarchists came for the blacksmiths,
And I did not speak out because I was not a blacksmith.
Then the anarchists came for the farmers,
And I did not speak out because I was not a farmer.
Then the anarchists came for the people who whittled pointy sticks,
And I did not speak out because I did not whittle pointy sticks.
Then the anarchists came for the people who used rocks,
And I did not speak out because I did not use rocks.
Then they came for me,
Which was okay because my cold dark cave was getting kind of boring anyway.
Call me back when they turn it into a musical.
I don't know the full story, but it could be that your coworkers were mandated to install XP, weren't allowed to install Windows 7, and wanted management to learn the hard way that they shot themselves in the foot with the mandate. Management being proved wrong would then give the department the political capital necessary to get approval for the Win 7 licenses. If the people above you prevent you from doing your job, sometimes you just have to let them walk of a cliff so they'll come back and give you what you need to do your job. That's sometimes the only way that process in IT happens.
And when you learn this you'll start to resent less experienced, college-fresh IT people who try to prove they're smart by doing everything they to help the folks high up avoid the desperately needed teachable moment that moves your organization forward. Don't take offense; we've all been that young naive guy at some point.