What I've Been Reading Lately: Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

This engrossing biography is about one of the geniuses of the last century who is in a pantheon along with Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and, perhaps, a few others.

His genius was comprised of two aspects worth exploring:  his unusual psyche and his innovative/forward thinking.

First was his irascible and erratic psyche/personality. If he didn't like your opinion, suggestion or the design and prototype you were working on, he could and would often lash out at you in front of others by saying this "sucks" along with other derogatory terms.

He was quick and summary in his judgments, which most of the time were accurate and on target.

It would take an equally strong personality to stand up to Jobs and convince him that you were on the right track and a few of his associates were not intimidated by his unpredictable outbursts. The latter would go on to earn his respect and build up his team.

Jobs was always interested in hiring and surrounding himself with A team players--people of talent and energy to express that talent.

His teaming up with Steve Wozniak is a perfect illustration of Jobs working one-on-one with an engineering genius. Together the duo would go on to build the early Apple computers culminating in the Macintosh.

He operated in what has been called the reality distortion field. This is a term borrowed from the "Menagerie" episodes of Star Trek "in which aliens create their own new world through sheer mental force." (118). What this means is that once you came under the charismatic, indomitable will of Jobs, you were forced to change your thinking and side with his view of reality.

By this stretching and manipulating reality, Jobs was able to push his team to meet deadlines for product introduction that the team thought impossible.

He forced them to think out of the box.

The second aspect of his genius was his obsessive lifelong belief in the integration of hardware and software. (Jobs was a master- a perfectionist- of design and would pour over dozens of shapes before he would chose the right one for a new product).

Unlike Bill Gates of Microsoft, he would not allow other hardware manufacturers the right to use Apple's software system.

It is this tight control of content (music, photos, etc) hardware (iphone, ipod and ipad, MacBook Air MacBook Pro, etc) and software (OSX, Leopard, etc) that allowed the syncing of all Apple devices; this, in turn,  propelled the sales of all Apple products (including shared revenue streams)  from its itunes library to down loading apps, books and magazines for its iPad.

To summarize: one of the major themes of the book is that Apple has become the number one company in the US because of the driving, obsessive, compulsive personality and integrative thinking of its co-founder Steve Jobs.

But, will Apple continue to thrive without Jobs to lead?

PART ONE: Remembering Dan Lucey, A Highly Ranked Spunky San Francisco Tennis Player: My Coach and LIFE MENTOR:

Dan Lucey at a Tournament in 

Stockton, California (Thank You  Rena Lucey

for the photo--she is a  friend for over 50 years) 

It was in the mid 1970's that I came under the wing of Dan Lucey at San Francisco's Golden Gate Park tennis facility.

Tall, thin and lanky, Dan had the most fluid strokes of anyone I met. He was a pleasure to behold as he gracefully moved around the court with short, movements always returning to a central position awaiting the next shot.

His strokes were always clean precise and consistent.

He knew how to coach the fundamentals of the game: the serve, ground strokes and volleying.

He was also a  master of strategy.

He would hop on my court (as I was practicing with a partner) take my position and quickly modeled the fundamental strokes and strategies of the game. Then I would take over and Dan would continue to coach me.

He was ranked in the top ten statewide in the 45's; tournament play had evidently honed his competitiveness and spunk.

 In 1974, he was ranked number 2 in the Men's 55 Singles in the Northern California Tennis Association's tentative rankings just behind John Morrison of Sacramento at number one, with Norm Brooks of San Francisco following Dan at number 3. 

Dan worked for The Water Department and while doing fieldwork often visited the tennis courts during his lunch hour.

He knew every tennis player at the facility-- their strengths and weaknesses.

Tom Brown

on the cover of his Tennis Memoir book

As Tom Goes By

He often commented about Tom Brown's aggressive ground stroke game  as we watched him beat local ranked  players 25 years younger  (Tom lost to Jack Kramer in the US Open finals in 1946 and the Wimbledon finals in 1948) ; He also commented  about Rosie Casals' feisty style as we watched her matches at the Park. 

Whitney Reed 

from www.whitneyreedtennis.com

He directed my attention to the unflappable Whitney Reed, the top seeded player at the annual San Francisco Open tournament. Whit, as he was called, hailed from Alameda across the Bay.

At one point in the early 1960's, Whit displaced Chuck Mckinley to be the number one ranked men's singles player in the US. In his career, he had wins over Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Neale Fraser, Frank Sedgman, Gardner  Mulloy and Manuel Santana to name a few. All the latter have been enshrined in the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Dan always would observe my game and worked often with me (and others)-- ALL GRATIS!

Of course, I admired his patience as he devoted time to coaching his boys, Glen and Marco. 

 
He matched me against other players on my level and encouraged me to play some Bay Area satellite tournaments.

This was how I improved my game--thanks to Dan.

We miss you Dan.

I thank Rena Lucey  Dan's loyal and dedicated wife (and my friend for over 50 years ) for sending me photos of one of my life's hero so I can complete this  posting originally  published on May 13, 2012-over 10 years ago.

It is wonderful to to connect--recently- with Rena  (remembering her visit to NYC in the 90's)  so I could complete Part I of my saga and move on to Part II.

Dan inspired me with what he repeated to me over and over again. So do go on to Part II. 

A Preview of Stamford's Art in Public Places, June-August 2012, Horsin' Around

4/29/2012

MTA Art at Times Square Station, New York City

This slide show presents a sampling from 35 ceramic relief panels created by the artist Toby Buonagurio. Each is set in a wall of glass blocks. Three themes are represented: the performing arts, fashion and street life.

To learn more about the artist visit the MTA Arts for Transit website featuring a podcast about this installation. 

Facebook buys Instagram for $1 Billion

This is an amazing story.

About one and a half years after going online, the start-up Instagram is being bought by Facebook for an outrageous sum of money.

The idea behind this free app is simple. The technology allows you to touch up your photos with various lenses, borders and special effects (such as creating sepia photos) and then share your pictures with friends via Flicker, Facebook,  or Tumblr.

The app is being accessed by over 30 million users.

A recent article in the Financial Times, "The Aesthete of Silicon Valley Who Makes Photos Beautiful" compares founder Kevin Systrom to a gourmet chef who infuses just the right taste and aroma to his foods.

Systrom's philosophy is that a "product designer must  give people a sense of surprise and delight as they swipe and tap their phone." A friend says "Kevin notices details that most of us don't. He takes time not just to smell the roses, but to analyze the roses."

What I've Been Reading Lately: Going Solo by Roald Dahl

This autobiography begins in 1938 when Dahl left England aboard the SS Mantola and culminates in his experiences as a Royal Air Force Pilot ace during the war.

He was  en route to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to work with Shell Oil on a three year contract.He describes all the dotty (eccentric) characters aboard. He then relates a bizarre encounter with a lion.

One of the highlights is when his plane crashes in Libya and he nearly dies. He does recover and goes on to become a fighter pilot outwitting and outflying dozens of German Messerschmit 109's.

The book is an enjoyable read.

A Jewel of a Park in Gramercy

Gramercy Park was founded in 1851 by Samuel Ruggles.

To this day, it continues to be a refreshing oasis in the heart of Manhattan.