Stuck with texting and the "Less Than Free Business Model"

We are living in very interesting times as far as arrival of the personal computer/communicator goes. I'm not sure we Europeans really get what is happening as we "stuck on texting" as Robert Scoble has observed. In a July posting he said:

But here’s where my own observations in London’s tube (the subway system here) come in: the UK is stuck on texting. That’s all I see most people do with their phones.

That rut that Europeans are stuck in is going to doom them.

Nokia simply does not understand how important the Web is and it’s because they ride the same subways and see the same behaviours.

"Text-blindness" may also keep us from seeing what happens next. In a very interesting blog post Bill Gurley looks at the disruptive influence of Google on the "turn-by-turn" mapping business. Google not only uncut the incumbents, they reduce the price to below zero. Yes, if you build a phone and put Android on it (and hence gain the ability to use their navigation software) they pay you - the phone manufacturer - to use the software. How? Advertising. Who'd use Symbian - even if if were free?

And who'd bet against something similar happening in desktops, notebooks, tablets, .... At least Apple will be left with hardware to design and sell. Unlike Microsoft.

Take Me Now Baby Here As I Am

Take me now baby here as I am
Pull me close, try and understand
Desire is hunger is the fire I breathe
Love is a banquet on which we feed
....

Because The Night - Patti Smith / Bruce Springsteen

I'd forgotten just how much I love this song. But thanks the BBC iPlayer I've caught Patti Smith's April 2002 performance on "Later with Jools Holland" reshown in "New York Rock at the BBC".

Thank you BBC, thank you Patti, thank you Bruce.

Japanese Peking Duck

The Shepherd family are in Beverly Hills. Last night, we went out to eat in a restaurant on Beverly Drive, not more than a few hundred metres from Rodeo Drive, home of Gucci, Valentino, etc - all the shops that will now be kept in business by Mrs Beckham. Needless to say, the restaurants on Beverly Drive are pretty good.

We ate in Mako a "Japanese" restaurant. It has some rave reviews on Yelp. I quote from one "When you finish eating here, you think, "That was too good, the chef has got to have a crush on me."" The food was very good; everything tasted fresh and natural - no chemicals used here. Our pudding was stunning - a bento box full of choclate dessert and vanilla ice-cream.

However, the most amazing item was the Japanese Peking Duck. We are all fans of peking duck and eat is as often as can in Bristol. Mako's Peking Duck was something else. The pancakes were savoury crepes - not gallettes, made from buckwheat flour, but crepes without sugar. Also, unlike the peking ducks we get at home, this one had not been run over by a steam roller, and was served in large pieces (e.g. leg) rather than shredded. After we'd eaten we commented to our server that the Peking Duck was unusual and unlike we normally had, and she told us that was because Mako always tried to serve Japanese dishes traditionally.