P Edstrom

Umair Haque in America’s Economy Is Officially Inside-Out:

This is the first generation of Americans in modern history expected to enjoy lower living standards than their forebears. It is the first generation in modern history whose life expectancy is dwindling. It is the first generation of modern Americans whose educational attainment is declining. It is the first generation of modern Americans who face less opportunity than their parents.

[...] we are in truly uncharted water. The economy is indeed “growing.” But the top 1 percent have taken 95 percent of the gains in this so-called “recovery.”  The plain fact is that the average household is poorer in the “recovery” than during the “recession.” [...]

But when growth rises and living standards fall? That begins to hint that there is something wrong—very wrong, perhaps terribly wrong—with the way things are.  It suggest that what is happening to this society is not merely a simple, passing, self-healing ailment; but a chronic, possibly permanent, definitely debilitating condition. Not a flu—but a cancer.

  More important than immigration, gun control, health care, voter id, climate change … whatever political topic is your pet peeve. This is Disturbing. Distressing. Frightening. Alarming. Serious.

I just read an article by Sarah Perez, Startups Apparently Do Not Care That Android Is Better, a seemingly well reasoned article bemoaning the notion that startups need to build an app first for iOS because “Everyone Else is Doing It”.

I get so tired of these articles. Android is interesting, and Google is pushing the smart-phone state-of-the-art forward in some new areas. Android is good for some people with certain needs. iOS is not the Right Choice for everyone. But if you are a startup? A new business trying to make a splash as efficiently and quickly as possible?

It’s cheaper to make iOS applications that work on most people’s devices.

The application makes more money than the Android counterpart.

And iPhone users actually use the app.

Trying to grow your startup into a self-sustaining business, the screen size, system options, number of apps in the app store, device price, number of sold devices, whatever … are all just irrelevant metrics. Targeting iOS-first is cheaper, brings in more revenue, and drives more app usage.

This past spring I started biking into work — 5 days a week. I biked in 20℉ weather this spring, in the rain and in 95℉ weather this summer. My route varies day to day, but on average I am sustaining 60 miles a week. It’s been going so well, I’m considering biking into this Minnesota winter. Not sure how far I’ll get, but I received some good advice about picking up a spiked front tire to keep from slipping on the ice. Maybe.

Getting ready. 

The daily bike ride started with a considerable amount of time getting mentally ready. Last summer I kinda sorta biked once a week. Only when the weather was nice, and only when I felt like it. But the whole time I was psyching myself up. Next year, I told myself, I’m going to bike every day. Say that yourself every day for a year, and you’ll be chomp’ing at the bit to make it come true. I think the internal momentum helped me stick with it when the days started out less than ideal. I did need to buy a few things to make it practical — minor tune-ups to my 25-year-old bike, a biking jacket, a mask to keep my neck warm. But it’s been a great experience.

The unexpected side effect.

What has surprised me about the biking is how my perspective has shifted on driving into work. Every once in a while I have cause to drive in to work instead of bike. It always feels like the right choice — I’m running late, or I have a client meeting, or some other excuse to take the quick-and-easy car. GPS directions say I should be able to drive into work in 15 minutes where biking takes 25 minutes or more. But in practice the car drive surprises me every time. The traffic, the stop & go on the highway, the parking — they all transform the quick-and-easy car ride into slow-and-frustrating. Turns out on most days I can bike into work faster than I can drive. Driving – it turns out – is not the right choice. I still have a hard time grokking this. But I’ve clocked it many many times.

No brainer.