The highs and lows of CES

I’m still not 100% after CES. It’s amazing what a week of three-hour-a-night sleep does to your body.

Plus, we met up with John Welch and his fiance on Saturday. Yes, that John Welch. The one who is always giving me heck in my comments.

Turns out he’s a real sweetheart. Seriously. Didn’t call me a name in four hours we spent together on Saturday and he even wrote a really nice post about it.

Before I met John I was really nervous. He was totally different than I expected him to be. Wonderful guy. Hope to do something fun at next year’s MacWorld, which starts on January 14th. Speaking of January 14th, Happy Birthday to my son! Yesterday was his birthday. Thanks to Apple, Inc., for getting his computer back to him. He was SO happy yesterday.

What did he want for his birthday present? That’s right. He just wanted to hang out in the Apple store in Palo Alto. I’m so proud! He’s a teenager now and there’s so many worse things he could be getting into (drugs, or worse) that, while I give him heck for being a fan boy, I am so relieved.

It was a great end to a week that saw PodTech really take off with its BlogHaus, which, was a runaway success. Technology Evangelist said we had the best CES party. Doing a blog search on BlogHaus reveals hundreds of positive comments — Seagate, AMD, and Microsoft got a grand-slam home run here for a pretty small investment as CES parties go. Add to that we got a lot of great video (for an example, check out Geek Entertainment TV’s CES report).

But, there’s something else that I’m sad to report. Christopher Coulter, who was running camera for me on last week’s Bill Gates’ interview, is no longer a PodTech employee. I wish him well on his future endeavors (I give him a glowing recommendation).

Another bummer? I have 626 emails. Er, 628 (two more just came in) to answer and that’s after cleaning out all the spam, news releases, and other things. Ever have a line of 628 people waiting outside your office door for you to get your act together? It’ll take a while to catch up.

Tomorrow I am over meeting some of the top engineers at Sun Microsystems along with Jonathan Schwartz, Sun’s CEO. Anything you want me to ask him? John Markoff, top tech journalist at the New York Times, asked Jonathan some snarky questions last week. Er, or that should be “some questions about snarky comments on his blog.” Heheh. I should bring Irina along tomorrow. She’s the queen of snark.

Hope you had a snark-free weekend. It’s going to be a blog-lite week as I struggle to catch up on email. Whew.

60 thoughts on “The highs and lows of CES

  1. I had a killer time at Bloghaus! If I was not able to stop there and get off my feet I think I would have collapsed somewhere in the press room and died. It was really is a long week… It was a great chance to meet some interesting people too.

    I got some good ideas for next year’s Bloghaus though ; )

    Like

  2. I had a killer time at Bloghaus! If I was not able to stop there and get off my feet I think I would have collapsed somewhere in the press room and died. It was really is a long week… It was a great chance to meet some interesting people too.

    I got some good ideas for next year’s Bloghaus though ; )

    Like

  3. The BlogHaus Rocked!

    You’ve gotta get you son outa that cult!

    Ask Jonathan if he’ll cut his ponytail for charity.

    Windows Vista Launch tomorrow in NYC, we need another BlogHaus fast!

    Like

  4. The BlogHaus Rocked!

    You’ve gotta get you son outa that cult!

    Ask Jonathan if he’ll cut his ponytail for charity.

    Windows Vista Launch tomorrow in NYC, we need another BlogHaus fast!

    Like

  5. Reply to all of them with the same message …
    sorry I was out. If your message needs a reply still, please resend it. I appreciate that you may have already answered the question you are asking me because of my absence …

    Like

  6. Reply to all of them with the same message …
    sorry I was out. If your message needs a reply still, please resend it. I appreciate that you may have already answered the question you are asking me because of my absence …

    Like

  7. Robert – have you ever noticed the *substantial* delay that your blog experiences while trying to retrieve data from spa.snap.com? The more links in your post the worse it gets.

    Rob

    Like

  8. Robert – have you ever noticed the *substantial* delay that your blog experiences while trying to retrieve data from spa.snap.com? The more links in your post the worse it gets.

    Rob

    Like

  9. Hi,
    Great post from John Welch. But I don’t agree about the Scobleizer photo. I love it!
    I’m happy to see your son is a nice. It reminds me of myself. Have he tested Linux already? He may get some fun from there.

    Like

  10. Hi,
    Great post from John Welch. But I don’t agree about the Scobleizer photo. I love it!
    I’m happy to see your son is a nice. It reminds me of myself. Have he tested Linux already? He may get some fun from there.

    Like

  11. Coulter probably couldn’t take the liberal atmosphere of the bay area.
    No one to discuss Rush Limbaughs latest show with.

    Like

  12. Coulter probably couldn’t take the liberal atmosphere of the bay area.
    No one to discuss Rush Limbaughs latest show with.

    Like

  13. Looking forward to Coulter wherever he shows up, including picking on you here as before!

    Seriously I’ve noticed an often inverse relationship between the assertiveness of people online vs how they come across in person. Some sort of compensation thing that I’m sure a psychologist could explain. In-person I am universally loved, due no doubt, to my innate charm. I HAVE too go online to seek enemies!

    Anyway, be glad you can do several days in a row on little sleep at all. When you get to my age, one such night will do you in, and then at some point no doubt every day will be a struggle sleep or no sleep.

    Of course some people speculate that the more you abuse yourself (get your minds out of the gutter!) at a young age the sooner you will lose your youthful endurance. I for one regret at least some of my youthful recklessness and try from time to time to warn those younger than me.

    Of course they never listen. Just as I never did.

    Like

  14. Looking forward to Coulter wherever he shows up, including picking on you here as before!

    Seriously I’ve noticed an often inverse relationship between the assertiveness of people online vs how they come across in person. Some sort of compensation thing that I’m sure a psychologist could explain. In-person I am universally loved, due no doubt, to my innate charm. I HAVE too go online to seek enemies!

    Anyway, be glad you can do several days in a row on little sleep at all. When you get to my age, one such night will do you in, and then at some point no doubt every day will be a struggle sleep or no sleep.

    Of course some people speculate that the more you abuse yourself (get your minds out of the gutter!) at a young age the sooner you will lose your youthful endurance. I for one regret at least some of my youthful recklessness and try from time to time to warn those younger than me.

    Of course they never listen. Just as I never did.

    Like

  15. questions to ask Sun:

    1) since Apple finally dropped “computer” from their name (seems fitting as i’m always waiting behind a bunch of people with broken music players waiting to get my laptop fixed), when might sun consider dropping the word “microsystems”? yeah, I know “sun” is a pretty gay name for a company, but “microsystems” ain’t helping much either.

    2) if he refuses to rename his company during a low budget video interview, ask him what a “microsystem” is and if they’ve ever sold one. if he could show one on the video that would be cool… especially if it’s the kind of microsystem where the little fishies swim under the big sharks and eat the leftovers. i love those videos.

    3) Loren at 1938media did a spectacular piece about Sun a while back. y’all bloggers claim to be cutting edge, but i’m willing to bet there’s zero chance of you showing mr. Schwartz that video and having him address the correct and incorrect points within mr. Feldman’s post.

    4) until you do that, i suggest you tone down your repeated “bloggers call to arms” calls that are starting to feel a bit winer’1999. with an ‘h’.

    5) sadly, i cannot find the loren/1938 piece and i cannot determine what’s worse: the search engine at youtube or the search thingie that appeared on http://www.1938media.com after you guys got involved with that site.

    6) finally, congrats on BlogHaus (seriously), y’all clearly hit that one out of the park. still no real idea what it is that Podtech actually does or what you do there, but once you get caught up on email perhaps you could take a break from the zefranking and photowalking and clue us in? it’s not advertising if we’re genuinely interested and curious, you know.

    Like

  16. questions to ask Sun:

    1) since Apple finally dropped “computer” from their name (seems fitting as i’m always waiting behind a bunch of people with broken music players waiting to get my laptop fixed), when might sun consider dropping the word “microsystems”? yeah, I know “sun” is a pretty gay name for a company, but “microsystems” ain’t helping much either.

    2) if he refuses to rename his company during a low budget video interview, ask him what a “microsystem” is and if they’ve ever sold one. if he could show one on the video that would be cool… especially if it’s the kind of microsystem where the little fishies swim under the big sharks and eat the leftovers. i love those videos.

    3) Loren at 1938media did a spectacular piece about Sun a while back. y’all bloggers claim to be cutting edge, but i’m willing to bet there’s zero chance of you showing mr. Schwartz that video and having him address the correct and incorrect points within mr. Feldman’s post.

    4) until you do that, i suggest you tone down your repeated “bloggers call to arms” calls that are starting to feel a bit winer’1999. with an ‘h’.

    5) sadly, i cannot find the loren/1938 piece and i cannot determine what’s worse: the search engine at youtube or the search thingie that appeared on http://www.1938media.com after you guys got involved with that site.

    6) finally, congrats on BlogHaus (seriously), y’all clearly hit that one out of the park. still no real idea what it is that Podtech actually does or what you do there, but once you get caught up on email perhaps you could take a break from the zefranking and photowalking and clue us in? it’s not advertising if we’re genuinely interested and curious, you know.

    Like

  17. Yikes, Coulter didn’t last long. Wondering if he’ll be casting that snarky glow on his own inability to commit to something for the long haul.

    Now that Feldman has slept with everybody at Podtech, how long before he goes next? 😉

    Like

  18. Yikes, Coulter didn’t last long. Wondering if he’ll be casting that snarky glow on his own inability to commit to something for the long haul.

    Now that Feldman has slept with everybody at Podtech, how long before he goes next? 😉

    Like

  19. Seriously I’ve noticed an often inverse relationship between the assertiveness of people online vs how they come across in person. Some sort of compensation thing that I’m sure a psychologist could explain. In-person I am universally loved, due no doubt, to my innate charm. I HAVE too go online to seek enemies!

    The funny thing is, I don’t think it’s that at all. It’s that you’re more…complete in person, and you have FAR more communications tools. What you see of me here is such a small slice, and it’s a slice in a very specific mode. Secondly, my communications toolset is quite limited here. To make up for a lot of things, especially the reduction in interactivity, I change the tone so that there is *absolutely no doubt* as to my intent or meaning.

    In a text only medium, that means I lay the snark, or lack thereof on heavier than I need to in person. For example, when I was talking to Robert and Maryam in person, I had a far wider range of tone and body language to work with on my end. I could get a point across in a clear, definitive way with a lot more subtlety than I can here. In addition, if Robert’s face showed he didn’t seem to be getting my meaning, I could adjust on the fly to compensate. Same thing with him. I could pick up as much from his body language and expressions as from his words. You lose that in text, so the tone has to change.

    In person, you can get “that’s pretty damned stupid” across with a raised eyebrow. Hard to match that in text.

    I’ve little problem being snarky as hell in person, but I find there’s less need for it, because I can accomplish the same goals far easier without it. Snark is just a tool, nothing more.

    The other aspect is well, it was lunch. I mean, a chance for folks to actually meat up, have a meal and just BS. It wasn’t a *formal* debate, or anything, and Robert in person isn’t nearly as inflammatory as he is here. Again, in that situation, what would have been the point? Wasn’t that kind of situation.

    There were things we agreed on, things we didn’t, just like here. But we both had better tools to work with.

    Plus that, how can you get too snarky with a guy when you’re downing sliders with him? I mean, dude, that’s just not done. Sliders are peaceful food.

    Like

  20. Seriously I’ve noticed an often inverse relationship between the assertiveness of people online vs how they come across in person. Some sort of compensation thing that I’m sure a psychologist could explain. In-person I am universally loved, due no doubt, to my innate charm. I HAVE too go online to seek enemies!

    The funny thing is, I don’t think it’s that at all. It’s that you’re more…complete in person, and you have FAR more communications tools. What you see of me here is such a small slice, and it’s a slice in a very specific mode. Secondly, my communications toolset is quite limited here. To make up for a lot of things, especially the reduction in interactivity, I change the tone so that there is *absolutely no doubt* as to my intent or meaning.

    In a text only medium, that means I lay the snark, or lack thereof on heavier than I need to in person. For example, when I was talking to Robert and Maryam in person, I had a far wider range of tone and body language to work with on my end. I could get a point across in a clear, definitive way with a lot more subtlety than I can here. In addition, if Robert’s face showed he didn’t seem to be getting my meaning, I could adjust on the fly to compensate. Same thing with him. I could pick up as much from his body language and expressions as from his words. You lose that in text, so the tone has to change.

    In person, you can get “that’s pretty damned stupid” across with a raised eyebrow. Hard to match that in text.

    I’ve little problem being snarky as hell in person, but I find there’s less need for it, because I can accomplish the same goals far easier without it. Snark is just a tool, nothing more.

    The other aspect is well, it was lunch. I mean, a chance for folks to actually meat up, have a meal and just BS. It wasn’t a *formal* debate, or anything, and Robert in person isn’t nearly as inflammatory as he is here. Again, in that situation, what would have been the point? Wasn’t that kind of situation.

    There were things we agreed on, things we didn’t, just like here. But we both had better tools to work with.

    Plus that, how can you get too snarky with a guy when you’re downing sliders with him? I mean, dude, that’s just not done. Sliders are peaceful food.

    Like

  21. Robert,

    Solaris, Sun’s OS, has been used as a vehicle to push Sun hardware. Recently, they offered an open source version of this OS (Open Solaris) and expanded the hardware support to include Intel and AMD processors. There is a current effort to bring Solaris to the zOS, which run on IBM Mainframe hardware. Soon, Solaris will be available on all the major high availability hardware platforms.

    There could be a question in there somewhere.

    Tim C.

    Like

  22. Robert,

    Solaris, Sun’s OS, has been used as a vehicle to push Sun hardware. Recently, they offered an open source version of this OS (Open Solaris) and expanded the hardware support to include Intel and AMD processors. There is a current effort to bring Solaris to the zOS, which run on IBM Mainframe hardware. Soon, Solaris will be available on all the major high availability hardware platforms.

    There could be a question in there somewhere.

    Tim C.

    Like

  23. Happy belated birthday to Patrick! We are two Apple fans who have the same birthday. I’m still deciding what new Mac kit to treat myself to.

    Like

  24. Happy belated birthday to Patrick! We are two Apple fans who have the same birthday. I’m still deciding what new Mac kit to treat myself to.

    Like

  25. Sorry, Hey Robert, did you get my e-mail with the comic strip? Just wanted to get sure things have not been caught by your spam filter. Kind regards, Andreas

    Like

  26. Sorry, Hey Robert, did you get my e-mail with the comic strip? Just wanted to get sure things have not been caught by your spam filter. Kind regards, Andreas

    Like

  27. Robert, thourghly enjoyed John’s post. Even though, like John, I find some of your posts rather idiotic and enjoy watching you dig deep holes at times, I’ve always felt (and heard) you were a really nice guy! 🙂
    —–
    Question…How long did it actually take Apple to get the laptop back. Just curious.

    Like

  28. Robert, thourghly enjoyed John’s post. Even though, like John, I find some of your posts rather idiotic and enjoy watching you dig deep holes at times, I’ve always felt (and heard) you were a really nice guy! 🙂
    —–
    Question…How long did it actually take Apple to get the laptop back. Just curious.

    Like

  29. Thanks again for Bloghaus! We had fun there and I wish we’d had time to come by more. Also enjoyed seeing some of the same folks (and Robert) at the party at the Atomic Testing Museum.

    We were all very impressed at how Bloghaus was set up, from the hotel staff’s participation to the video games and fast Internet. Well done – better than CES’s official press rooms, in fact…

    Like

  30. Thanks again for Bloghaus! We had fun there and I wish we’d had time to come by more. Also enjoyed seeing some of the same folks (and Robert) at the party at the Atomic Testing Museum.

    We were all very impressed at how Bloghaus was set up, from the hotel staff’s participation to the video games and fast Internet. Well done – better than CES’s official press rooms, in fact…

    Like

  31. P.S. A suggestion for next year – if there’s any chance of having Bloghaus at one of the hotels closer to the show (Hilton, Venetian, Treasure Island, Mirage) it would help get more people there – we would have stopped by and used it much more if it hadn’t required getting in the car and dealing with parking.

    Like

  32. P.S. A suggestion for next year – if there’s any chance of having Bloghaus at one of the hotels closer to the show (Hilton, Venetian, Treasure Island, Mirage) it would help get more people there – we would have stopped by and used it much more if it hadn’t required getting in the car and dealing with parking.

    Like

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