Seven Forces That Will Transform Book Publishing
During the past few years, technology has transformed the music industry. As music went digital, it was pirated, deconstructed, and mashed. As music stores and labels disappeared, their lobby, the RIAA,...
Steve Jobs: One Last Thing…
In preparation for landing at SFO, I had closed the MacBook Air and turned off the iPad, but as I touched down, my iPhone beeped. The text from my son made...
Freedom Comes Out
Gay Freedom does not matter yet to most Americans — but it will, soon enough. Andrew Cuomo’s profile in political courage in mobilizing the New York legislature to allow gay marriage...
Mills and the Future of All-Women Colleges
At the end of last year’s hit movie, The Kids are All Right, Nic and Jules (Annette Benning and Julianne Moore) drop off their daughter Joni (Mia Wasikowska) to begin her freshmen...
Venturing in the Slipstream: the Magic of Astral Weeks
Sometimes an artist captures lightning in a bottle. Usually they aren’t sure how it happened and few can repeat the magic regularly. In 1968, Van Morrison recorded Astral Weeks under awful circumstances....
Ben Horowitz: Tech’s New Andy Grove
If Silicon Valley is rich, how come it ain’t smart? How is it that we consistently generate innovative companies but rarely produce management thinkers of consequence?
Part of the problem is that...
Atul Gawande: America’s Doctor
Who is Atul Gawande and why is he having a bigger impact on your life than any physician in America who is not treating you?
Gawande is a cancer surgeon in Boston....
Billionaire Amazon CEO works in his own warehouse
He may look like a leprechaun and laugh like a hyena, but do not ever underestimate Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos. Back in 2006, Amazon accounted for 5.1% of all...
The Thriller is Gone
I was down two Ouzos in a country taverna when a snappy kick, snare, and hi-hat commanded my attention. A repetitive bass followed by a four note synth and shaker hooked...
Redesigning California
Most clichés about California are true: we are both America’s most urban state and its most agricultural. We are home to more national parks, more immigrants, and a better public university...
The Horrible Choices Facing the US Auto Hospice
The United States will either lose its car industry and with it much of the industrial midwest, or the federal government will force it to restructure against its will -- something...
Bicentennial of Heroes: Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln
Today two of my most cherished heroes celebrate their 200th birthday. Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln were both born on February 12, 1809. Neither man was especially popular during his lifetime. Both...
The Man Who Loved Scholars
I am a huge fan of Simon Winchester -- a peripatetic Brit who writes brilliantly about geology, lexicography, and sinology. At his best, Winchester turns science into biography by demonstrating how...
The Economics and Politics of Choice Architecture
Some years back, I passed through Schiphol in Amsterdam and realized why some designers consider it the world’s finest airport. Its layout is logical and efficient, public internet terminals are numerous...
Media Wants to Be Digital and Free
Intel founder Gordon Moore famously observed that chip density doubles about every two years. Thanks to Moore's Law, computer processing gets cheaper exponentially, not arithmetically.
Metcalfe's Law is a lesser known but...