You Can't Die In The Air

One of the many things I learned when I dated a stewardess (ahem) was that you "can't die in the air". That is, if you die on a plane (i.e. of something while you are flying, not obviously a crash), you are not "officially" dead until the plane lands somewhere. This way your death certificate will list a place of death as an actual location and not in the air over some random body of land.

I just remembered this when I was reading the Drudge link to several people dying this weekend while on airplanes.

Interviewing for Jobs While The Imperial President Is Deposed

 So I had quite an interesting few days last week with all sorts of new opportunities mixed in with office politics and intrigue:

Thursday: Interview at Company Q - This was the first interview and as I noted last week I was already doubtful because of how I perceived the culture.

The first half of the day consisted of talking to various engineering managers. It turns out that I got along with the team very well. These are bright people working with advanced technology who like their jobs. Several of my "interviews" just turned into bull sessions as we just talked about technology roadmaps, potential future products, the history of the industry and other things we had in common.

I actually got along with the engineering team better than the actual Hiring Manager - we got along "okay", not great. So, overall, I liked the people and the team and think I would get along fine with my direct manager. From a experience and career path standpoint the job is a "good" fit, but not a "great" fit.

What's killing this deal, however, is the culture, which was exemplified with my discussions with HR.

During my six months of unemployment during the tech bust, I came to believe that HR was filled with hateful, incompetent, power-hungry a$$#$%s. I thought this feeling would go away after I was hired and interviewing from a position of strength (i.e. employed), but I find out - at least at this company - that nothing has changed.

I got the impression from HR that they were doing me a favor by interviewing me instead of getting a feeling that they really wanted me to join the team. I first cooled my heals waiting for the HR manager for about 20 minutes. The HR manager then actually "interviewed" me, asking me details about my previous work experience and how I would function in the position even though she had no clue about the background needed for the position. I would use various well understood acronyms describing how my previous experience would fit this particular position, and each time I had to spell out what they meant and simplify the terms I was using.

So I smiled. I said the right things. I acted interested in the position. But the fact was that every minute I sat with HR, I became less interested in the position. HR was the manifestation of other hints and pointers I received throughout my interviews with engineering: this was a highly bureaucratic, top-down organization. CYA (cover your a$$) was a finely tuned craft at the company. It was simply a Big Company mentality with a Big Company structure.

The interviewe ended with HR telling me they had a few other candidates they were talking to and they would get back to me by the end of the month. Leave your number, maybe we'll call.


Friday: Interview at Company A - This is the way open positions should be filled. I arrived at the company and was immediately greeted by HR, who offered coffee and small talk until my first interview came out of a meeting that was running late. Turns out this was the COO, but before I met with him, the hiring manager talked to me for five minutes, asking how I was doing and giving me a few pointers about the COO before going in.

The COO was relaxed and laid back. He didn't have a copy of my resume in front of him, nor did he ask for one. He simply sat across from me and we talked about the position, how I would manage it, and what he expected from it in the coming year. I think he made up his mind pretty quickly since the conversation then turned into a pitch for the company and how I could find an exciting career path under his guidance.

I then had two other interviews with senior management before heading out to lunch with the team and having a final talk with the hiring manager before being wisked away to HR, which focused mainly on benefits. The company called me Friday night to tell me they would make an offer on Monday.

ONE PROBLEM: The offer came in this morning and it's a low-ball. While I expect some negotiation in salaries, I am a bit disappointed that I have to play the game, and quite frankly, the bid really took away a lot of the excitement I had about the position. I basically said no and they are going back to "see what they can do", but at this point, there is the chance that although I like the team and feel that I am a good fit for the position, this job isn't going to happen.


Friday Evening: The President is Dead. Long live the President! - I had just come off the plane from my Friday interview when my phone ringed. Someone in accounting, knowing I was out "sick", called to tell me that the Imperial President had been "recalled". I had heard about this rumor well over a month ago, so was not too surprised about hearing it.

As predicted, Director Mike was put in charge. My first thought was "will this change my position and career at Global MegaCorp so I will want to stay?" The answer is: "probably not", but in light of the disaster with Company Q and the ongoing negotiations with Company A, I think I will at least look into the situation a bit further.

Of course the resulting change in the Presidency has other movements going on, so I will post a new org chart later in the week after the dust settles. Right now the office is like an ant hill that has been kicked over - everyone is scurrying around trying not to be stepped on.

CES Overview

I spent a day wandering the floor at the Consumer Electronics Show. There are a variety of other sites and blogs that go into all sorts of detail about the show, and with over 2,000 exhibitors and 100,000 attendees, it would take a lot of web pages to cover, so I will just post some quick impressions here.

Coolest New Product - For me, it was the new "Multimedia Players" that were introduced from Creative Labs and Archos. These are going to be the Next Big Thing for consumers, essentially adding video and pictures to MP3 players.



These products essentially add an LCD screen to an Apple iPod (Apple, where is yours?), so you can download movies, pictures and the like to enjoy with your music. The Creative guy in the booth claimed if you download movies using the Windows standard, you could get three full-length movies on the 80GB drive, so this could become THE thing to have for long-distance travelers. When queried about battery life, he admitted that it would be a little weak, so you would want an extra. Estimated retail price is ~$600-700. These products are not yet ready, but are being slated for mass production in the middle of the year.

These products must have the Motion Picture industry sweating. I believe swapping/downloading of movies hasn't been a big deal since most people don't watch movies on their PC, but with the introduction of a small portable device with a small, low-quality screen, I think on-line movie swapping will take off.


Most Unique Products

TV Mirror - It's a TV! It's a Mirror! It's Two Things in One! If turned off, an ordinary mirror is displayed by the LCD display (you can't tell it's an LCD), but if turned on, it becomes a TV. The main market is going to be hotel rooms and the like, although it will probably make it into a small share of people's homes.




3D, No Glasses - Sharp's 3D displays were also pretty neat (no pics). You get a 3D view without the need for special glasses, although, for me, it only worked with still pictures and not video. The main market seems to be technical and scientific, although Sharp hopes to get it into consumers' hands with PC games and the like.

A Real, Virtual Keyboard - I had the chance to play with a virtual keyboard in the Panasonic booth. It is REALLY neat. The "feedback" I wondered about in this post is provided by a soft "clicking" noise. Typing on the countertop, I found I could type nearly as fast as on a keyboard. No commitment to when this will be on the market.




Man's New Best Friend - Sony's QRIO robot is only a demo for trade shows (they call him their "ambassador"), but it is quite impressive. He walks on two feet and has very fluid motion of his arms and legs, thanks to the help of 38 motors (he's about 18" high). Obviously this could eventually become a product, but with their AIBO robot dogs currently $1500, I don't think we will see the QRIO on the market any time soon since it is much more advanced (meaning MUCH more expensive).





Trends

The main overlying themes I noticed at the show could be grouped as follows:

The Usual: More Capacity, Smaller, Cheaper, Faster - This is the main drive of this industry and a part of my Immutable Laws of Consumer Electronics. One specific item I will point out is the move to replace the red laser in your CD and DVD players with a blue laser. Several of the major OEMs are getting their Blue Light products out of the lab, and these will hold 4x-10x the capacity of existing CDs and DVDs. Expect these to hit the market in the next year.

Flat Panel - EVERYTHING was flat panel. The tubed TV will be going the way of the black-and-white TV in the next decade. LCD's still haven't made it to the size of Plasma, but hopefully will get there soon.

Digital Broadcasting and HDTV - There was a big push by both cable and satellite providers for direct digital broadcast. And if you do that, you will need a (flat panel) High Definition TV (HDTV). And if you do that, your DVD will need to be upgraded to a High Definition DVD (HD-DVD). And if you do that, you might as well upgrade your camcorder to HD format as well. So this whole movement goes with the strategy of changing format so consumers will need to upgrade everything they have (similar things happened with tapes to CD, VHS to DVD, etc.).

Wireless Connectivity - WIFI for your PC is old news. Connecting your TV set-top box and stereo wirelessly to your PC is relatively new. I thought this would be a big push of this year's show, and while present, it was not as big as I thought it would be, so wireless consumer products are going get a slow roll-out rather than a big one.

Automotive Electronics - I am sure there were some new items in this area, but this area of the show had other man-made silicon silicone items on display. (There were about 8 automotive "models" signing posters all around this area, so it was a bit distracting).




Update: Master of None has a link to a video of the QRIO robot dancing, giving a good idea of its capabilities.

Kewel - but $100 too Expensive

Jobs (head of Apple, not two of the guy from the Old Testament) announced the new "mini-iPod". This could be a real killer to the MP3 players down in the $100 range, like the Rio, but at $250, this is barely less than the "full sized" iPod. Hopefully Apple will slide the price down over time.

The "Old" iPod on the left, new one on the right




The pic links to Apple's site, or see more at Gizmodo.

Virtual Consulting (Continued)

I posted recently about being invited and signing up at a virtual consulting company.

Today I had my first consultation, and it went quite well. I talked to an analyst at a investment company and we ended up just chatting for an hour about the state of the overall tech market (good) and about several segments and companies in particular. I confirmed some things he has already seen as well as gave him some additional areas to look into.

After the conversation I billed the consulting company, which sent me an email confirmation that payment is in process. I should note they asked for my SS#, so I don't know if they are going to withhold (unlikely) or send me a 1099-MISC next year (more likely). For this reason, I will keep track of certain expenses (internet connection?) to write off against this income so it doesn't get taxed (i.e. I will count this income as outside business income and create a schedule of expenses to write off against it).

In addition, the analyst asked for me to be set up on his permanent "panel of advisors", so he can call me direct again in the future, in which case I will bill the company again. PLUS, the consulting company asked me to put days I can be "on call" in order to increase my call/client volume.

Overall, I would say it has been a very positive experience. I am not going to get rich doing this (my billing rate isn't very high), but it looks like a good way to pull in a few bucks on the side while also creating new business contacts and keeping my mind limber about different aspects of the market.

If you wish to join you can sign up on their web site. There is no guarantee you will be accepted, but if you have an area they are interested in and have some time, this seems like a good idea.