Tag: nyt

The Daily: Distillation of Ideas

The Elusive Big Idea – NYTimes.com.

In the past, we collected information not simply to know things. That was only the beginning. We also collected information to convert it into something larger than facts and ultimately more useful — into ideas that made sense of the information. We sought not just to apprehend the world but to truly comprehend it, which is the primary function of ideas. Great ideas explain the world and one another to us.

I have always made lists of small ideas, thoughts, things to do. I have on- and offline lists that I am constantly trying to merge into a master list. I do this for writing – to remember story ideas – and for other facets of my life. The longer-run outcome of keeping these lists is that they evolve, as I learn to understand them and distill their content into some larger more meaningful (or at least more useful) thing that I can implement or use to create.

Do you keep lists? If so, are they on- or offline? The people want to know!

Future Creep

There is a NYT blog post titled, “I Love It, It’s Perfect, Now It Changes” that has received over one thousand comments about great products that people love, but have been discontinued due to “feature creep.”

Feature creep is a “phenomenon generated by market forces, media hype and twitchy retailers [that] creates a cycle in which products are constantly improved even if they don’t need to be.”

After reading about 100 of the comments, it seems that what people really miss is simplicity, dependability, and familiarity. A lot of the commentators don’t like additional features, whether the feature actually adds value or is purely extraneous.

I have felt this way at times. For example, camera phones. Until the phones came with a camera that offered one megapixal capabilities, I saw no use for them. The pictures looked grainy, and although they were a novelty that surely sold more phones, they were more of an annoyance than anything.

This all reminds me of a book I bought, but have yet to read, titled, “The Paradox of Choice.” I saw the author speak and was intrigued by the concept that having more choices often makes out lives more difficult. Instead of choosing between three pairs of jeans, we have hundreds to choose from. One of the pairs will fit perfectly, but at what cost?

Michigan Wine

“Michigan’s Wine Country Grows Where the Cherry Is King” – a NYT article about what great wine Michigan has to offer. The focus is on Grand Traverse and Leelanau counties in the northwestern part of lower Michigan. (By the tip of the pinkie finger is you look at the palm of your right had.)

I’m not a big fan of the cherry wines, which are very sweet. But both the white and red wines I tried at the Leland Wine Festival in early June were delicious.

It’s always fun to see your home area highlighted for good products.

Visiting Asian Cities

Two rules for visiting Asian cities (link – NYT)

1. Don’t walk — seeing an Asian city on foot is like cruising the Caribbean in a rowboat
2. Don’t attempt more than three things per day — each will take far longer than expected.

The article goes on to say that the Beijing metro is 3 yuan, the base fare for a taxi is 10 yuan and if you can stand the heat, a bicycle rental is only 20 yuan for the entire day. However, I would assume that means you have to store the bike at each place you visit and return it to the rental shop, which is probably confusing.

I’m wondering if taking a compass would be a good ideas so that I can remain oriented if I go on a walk or bikeride. Having absolutely no knowledge of the language I anticipate getting lost frequently.