The Technology Curve
May 20, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
This morning, I posted a blog entry entitled Don't Tell Me, Show Me. The entry concerns the power of technology.
Walking over to the Washington State Convention & Trade Center for the last day of the INTA 2009 Annual Meeting in Seattle, I realized that a brief corollary merits attention.
Technology increases, expands, and democratizes access to information -- how we receive it, distribute it, and store it. The ever-expanding spectral curve of access is tremendous. The dangers, however, are sometimes ignored, dismissed, or outright rejected.
A curve's not a curve without a downside, declared Machiavellian advertising legend Miles Drentell in the 1980's-90's yuppie drama thritysomething.
Miles' quote applies in this digital era of instant communications.
We post items about everyday occurrences on Facebook -- what we're thinking, what we're doing, where we're going. And photos complement our statements.
We post our thoughts in briefer form on Twitter. This micro-blog restricts us to 140 characters or less.
And we post our views, recounts of experiences, and opinions on blogs in whatever length we wish.
The danger is that we spend so much time writing about our lives at the expense of living our lives.
Summer is fast approaching. It's an opportunity to enjoy the weather, disconnect from the Blackberry or iPhone for a few hours, and reconnect with friends, family, and colleagues.
Here are my steadfast resolutions for the summer.
Get together with some friends for a baseball game, barbecue, or happy hour without checking E-Mail.
Read a best seller on a Sunday afternoon instead of texting, E-Mailing, or web surfing.
Take a re-energizing walk during lunch hour without talking on the Blackberry or iPhone.
I'm inspired. Thankfully, I can use my Blackberry Curve 8330 between INTA Annual Meeting workshops to find the Mets schedule, learn about this month's best selling novels, and research potential walk routes with GPS.
david@davidkrell.com
This morning, I posted a blog entry entitled Don't Tell Me, Show Me. The entry concerns the power of technology.
Walking over to the Washington State Convention & Trade Center for the last day of the INTA 2009 Annual Meeting in Seattle, I realized that a brief corollary merits attention.
Technology increases, expands, and democratizes access to information -- how we receive it, distribute it, and store it. The ever-expanding spectral curve of access is tremendous. The dangers, however, are sometimes ignored, dismissed, or outright rejected.
A curve's not a curve without a downside, declared Machiavellian advertising legend Miles Drentell in the 1980's-90's yuppie drama thritysomething.
Miles' quote applies in this digital era of instant communications.
We post items about everyday occurrences on Facebook -- what we're thinking, what we're doing, where we're going. And photos complement our statements.
We post our thoughts in briefer form on Twitter. This micro-blog restricts us to 140 characters or less.
And we post our views, recounts of experiences, and opinions on blogs in whatever length we wish.
The danger is that we spend so much time writing about our lives at the expense of living our lives.
Summer is fast approaching. It's an opportunity to enjoy the weather, disconnect from the Blackberry or iPhone for a few hours, and reconnect with friends, family, and colleagues.
Here are my steadfast resolutions for the summer.
Get together with some friends for a baseball game, barbecue, or happy hour without checking E-Mail.
Read a best seller on a Sunday afternoon instead of texting, E-Mailing, or web surfing.
Take a re-energizing walk during lunch hour without talking on the Blackberry or iPhone.
I'm inspired. Thankfully, I can use my Blackberry Curve 8330 between INTA Annual Meeting workshops to find the Mets schedule, learn about this month's best selling novels, and research potential walk routes with GPS.
Opening Day
April 06, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
Around the country, today holds promise for baseball fans.
Today is Opening Day.
For the moment, the season is a clean slate with the future yet to be written.
Baseball pitchers will continue their intense study of batters’ tendencies and vice versa.
Mets slugger Carlos Delgado keeps a notebook in the dugout where he details each at-bat pitch-by-pitch. His notes prepare him for the next at-bat against the same pitcher.
In The Seventh Game, Roger Kahn explains the phenomenon of studying, memorizing, and exploiting the opposition. The story revolves around fictional New York Mohawks pitcher Johnny Longboat during the iconic seventh game of the World Series against the Los Angeles Mastodons.
Like most great pitchers, Johnny Longboat kept a mental book of batters, categorizing their strengths and weaknesses, their eagerness, their poise, their terror.
A lesson is here for attorneys.
Law firm associates serve many masters, i.e., partners. However, partners differ in their preference for how associates present legal research, analysis, and conclusions. Like pitchers and batters, associates who keep a record of the partners’ preferences will be better prepared for future assignments.
In litigation, intense research and record keeping is an absolute must. Which briefs has the judge found persuasive in the past and why? Which circuits beyond the judge’s own does he or she find influential? How has the judge ruled before in cases with the same circumstances?
Today is a day of beginnings. Wiping the slate clean and beginning a detailed record of reader’s preferences could lead to, pardon the baseball metaphor, home runs with partners, judges, and clients.
Play ball!
david@davidkrell.com
Around the country, today holds promise for baseball fans.
Today is Opening Day.
For the moment, the season is a clean slate with the future yet to be written.
Baseball pitchers will continue their intense study of batters’ tendencies and vice versa.
Mets slugger Carlos Delgado keeps a notebook in the dugout where he details each at-bat pitch-by-pitch. His notes prepare him for the next at-bat against the same pitcher.
In The Seventh Game, Roger Kahn explains the phenomenon of studying, memorizing, and exploiting the opposition. The story revolves around fictional New York Mohawks pitcher Johnny Longboat during the iconic seventh game of the World Series against the Los Angeles Mastodons.
Like most great pitchers, Johnny Longboat kept a mental book of batters, categorizing their strengths and weaknesses, their eagerness, their poise, their terror.
A lesson is here for attorneys.
Law firm associates serve many masters, i.e., partners. However, partners differ in their preference for how associates present legal research, analysis, and conclusions. Like pitchers and batters, associates who keep a record of the partners’ preferences will be better prepared for future assignments.
In litigation, intense research and record keeping is an absolute must. Which briefs has the judge found persuasive in the past and why? Which circuits beyond the judge’s own does he or she find influential? How has the judge ruled before in cases with the same circumstances?
Today is a day of beginnings. Wiping the slate clean and beginning a detailed record of reader’s preferences could lead to, pardon the baseball metaphor, home runs with partners, judges, and clients.
Play ball!