Japan

...has always fascinated me.  I've been on business a few times, always to Tokyo, though once spent six memorable hours in Kansai  - Osaka's airport - in the middle of the night with my family (incl. two toddlers) after our Cathay Pacific flight needed to unexpectedly stop for fuel enroute from LA.

Japan is the Switzerland of the east - so well run, so efficient and just as picturesque.  From Fuji's iconic silhouette and the cheery blossoms in spring, to the hustle and bustle of Shibuya in downtown Tokyo.  Bullet trains to zen-filled shrines and temples, Japan is magical.

Which is why I've always wanted to spend some time there, get off the grid a little and get to know it more.  So that's what the next few weeks have in store for me and number one son.  I envision getting lost, confused, filled with mind-blowing sushi and sashimi, and various other delicacies we won't be aware of.  Plans including climbing the mountain above, getting to see the Hiroshima Carp in Mazda "Zoom-Zoom" Stadium (best stadium name ever? - I think so) , and sleeping on the floors in many rural inns.

To quote James Bond from You Only Live Twice (the one where he goes undercover in a Japanese fishing village)  and they notice his chest hair "Bird never make nest in bare tree." Japan is anything but a bare tree to me.

Oops

I think I've made a judgement error.  I've elected to join something and it's not turning out the way I'd wanted.  Which sucks.  But, life goes on I guess.

Despite my professional training, I'm wondering if I should linger to see if it gets better, or just depart on whatever terms can be salvaged.

When I made this choice, I knew it could go either way.  But it's still unfortunate.

At times like this, I ask myself if one of my kids came to me with this very situation, what would I tell them... and the answer is that we learn more from our mistakes than we do from our successes.

Some days I really hate learning.

My Apple Watch Experience

I've had the little black watch now for 7 weeks, and for those that like their headlines right up front, I really enjoy it.

I admittedly had a defined use-case up front - I wanted an activity tracker, a watch that could help me with running feedback, and my old watch had experienced an issue that made it unwearable.

The fact that the balance of the interactions would be smart, and I'd get to mess with haptic feedback were all bonuses.

It hasn't disappointed.  The running app is integrated and seems to work well, tracking distances and heart rate to offer a number of mathematically derived conclusions such as pace, caloric burn and so on.  The activity tracker actually does motivate me to get up and to move.  Not a bad thing and it's not really a nag, at least not yet.

The most pleasant surprise has been that my phone stays in my pocket significantly more than it used to.   I heard a characterization of the various types of tech interactions we have using engagement time as the variable. For most things we interact with - the silly emails we all get, the notifications on sports or news that flash up, the watch is perfect for the 2 second glance and dismissal those things deserve.  For slightly more complex engagements, a longer work email to respond to or create, or a website I need to review then the phone is still the best tool with it's deeper interface.  For significantly larger efforts than we revert to laptops to write a paper, do research or capture a spreadsheet meaningfully.  The watch therefore addresses a need I unconsciously had, and for that I've enjoyed it.

There are some nice little things about that exceed expectations too.  It's really very water resistant. I've not swam with it, but it's been soaked numerous times. The haptic feedback when your wrist is tapped is an interesting new way to get involved with your world, and the build quality seems very high, as you'd expect from an Apple product.  Not everything's fantastic - it's much more a slave to the iPhone than I understood initially, and while the battery is good for a day and a half for me, it'd be nice to have it last longer.

I'm sold on the concept of wearables now though.  More so than a laptop, and more so than a phone the form, function and interface are crucial.  The watch seems to me to be the most personal of all the little digital world toys.  I know I'd have a very small tolerance for one of these done poorly, but this one is good and will only get better.