Nothing Special, Nothing New

Photo: kyokke tanaka (Onyx)

Three days ago, I got an email from a person. It had some questions for me. So, I wrote some suggestions from my point of view. Although those are nothing special and new, what do you think? Are those proper way to answer the questions or appropriate answers? If you wouldn't mind, I want to hear your comment to followings (*I added a few links and fixed some sentences on the original one):

• Do you think I'm stupid about my just keeping myself busy for my family or friends?

I don't think keeping busy for families or friends is stupid. At least, everybody spends some time with their family, friends and, more say, somebody. Social networking is a part of our essential job, as long as we live in a society. But, you should consider about how much you devote your time and endeavor to your family and friends. Just in my opinion, if you need something special like your own skills and competence -- in other words, to differentiate from others, you should make your own time in order to create who you are. For me, you look like you don't recognize who you are and what difference you are from others. Our tendency is that when we are close enough to each other, we couldn't see and create difference between us because we are likely to be being similar between us. Let's think about another way. It also means if you were someone, you should be close to him/her, inasmuch as we have the nature of similarity (This nature comes from the struggle for existence.).  So, I suggest that you should consider about this way. If you want to keep busy by taking care of your family and hanging out with friends, would your ideal and future be connected with them? Remember your family and friends are very important, though, yet they are not you, they live their own life and they don't replace your life. You have to invest your future. 

• Do you think I'm sacrificing myself not thinking anything??

I partly agree with your statement, even though I don't think you're not thinking about anything. Why do we sacrifice myself? Why don't we sacrifice others? Just thought. What is your role in your family, friends, groups, and society? Speaking of a baseball, each player has diffident role. For example, second hitter is generally supposed to do most sacrificed bunt. However, they don't do every time. How come? Because what they make a decision whether they do or not depends on what situation it is. Did you look at any situations? Sometimes they do choose a different choice from a sacrificed bunt, even if the situation is absolutely necessary to do the bunt. The reason is that they outwit a rival. This is not always needed, but, especially, when we need a big change, this strategy is useful. Don't beware I don't tell you thinking longer and more careful. Use your blink.

• Have you thought I'm selfish and just pretending to be nice to others?

I'm selfish too. Who cares? Probably you care. What's the matter? If you were pretending to be nice, I don't know and even care. I want to ask you what the difference between pretending and not is. For me, it's more significant that what someone or I did something nice was really so? If not, and then the cause was the pretentious attitude. Think about it. But, this is just in our mind. Who really knows the truth? The opposite case could happen high possibility. We do not handle everything, especially invisible things. And, we are easy to lie! Anyway, overall I'm really no concerned about the argument whether or not selfish and pretending is. If you are interested in it, you should ask Onyx (He is a shiba dog.). He is a really well socialist. In addition, we don't know what he think about, you know.

Thank you,

Taking Test

Photo: Sheknows.com

Who the heck loves taking a test? I confess that I hate a test. Whenever I take a test, it makes me nervous. And, if a test were a big deal like an entrance exam, it could make me crazy. In fact, before the quake and tsunami hit in Japan, cheating at entrance exams for college was a big issue. I would not say about how to prevent such cheating in this blog, but I would like to introduce a way to feel better to take a test.

Here is two pieces of research. One suggests that taking a test is the best way to learn, and another one introduces how to improve your test score better. These are just a tip.

First, Jeffrey D. Karpicke and Janell R. Blunt found that students who read a passage, and then took a test asking thiem to recall what they had read, retained about 50 percent more of the information a week later than students who used two other methods -- repeatedly studying the material and studying with concept mapping. Although this doesn't urge you to take a test more often as argued at an article by the New York Times, just keep your mind that an exam is one of the ways you study and retain knowledge. Also, I want to make a comment for this research. This study supposed school situations. Especially, if we were in school, we would be required many tests, and take again and again. This hatred ritual actually helps us retain taught knowledge at school.

Next, a study by Gerardo Ramirez and Sian L. Beilock showed that a brief expressive writing assignment, which occurred immediately before taking an important test, significantly improved students' exam scores, especially for students habitually anxious about test taking. This advice might be useful for some of readers who are facing on a significant test like an entrance exam and qualifying exam. I think this is worthy to try once because if it doesn't work well, we'll find another way to improve our exam scores. That's it.

Finally, I'd like to say if you have an opportunity to take a test, take it easy!! Because there is no royal road to learning. Although they may be useful, yet aforementioned researches are no more than some consolation.

How Changed by the Quake and Tsunami

Day by day, the catastrophe by the quake and tsunami in Japan has been revealed. Whenever I see news on a TV and in a newspaper, I'm disappointed, but I'm relieved by good stories at the same time. I really hope that its situations will be getting better.

The New York Times has uploaded interesting photos. Check them out!!

The top of that photos is of Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant I'm most concerned about now. Obviously, the radiation leak crisis is so serious. As long as I listened to comments by Mr. Goto, the former Toshiba Nuclear Plant Designer, it's already worse than the Three Mile Island accident. We should pay attention to what's going on the plants because radiation could have a bad affect on us not only directly but also through food chains for a long time. Hope quick recovery!

Take a Break

He is amazing!! How hilarious he is !!

He, a 3 years old kid, is one of the greatest conductors I've ever seen. He knows the music, 4th movement of Beethoven Symphony 5th. Especially, the end is my favorite! Don't miss it!!

And, if you need more laughing, visit Funny or Die -- there is also an interview with its founders on @KatieCouric.

"Laugher is the best medicine."

8.8 Earthquake Hit in Japan

Yesterday 8.8 magnitude earthquake hit in the eastern area of Japan with huge Tsunami. We are able to get information about Japanese situations from a Japanese Live TV program.

Photo by The Time

Hope the earthquake victims are safe and get a safe place! And, I offer my condolences to the families of those who were killed.

Just a Memo

I guess that the hard disk drive (HDD) market is not familiar to many people. The bottom of the figure shows us an example of the Kryder's law, which is one of similar laws of Moore's law -- a long-term trend in the history of computing hardware. Anyway, I'd like to think about the HDD industry through a current issue.

Figure: Hard Drive Capacity Over Time by the Wikipedia

Western Digital (WD) and Hitachi announced on March 7, 2011 that WD will acquire Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST) for approximately $4.3 billion, according to an article by Venture Beat and a press release by WD.

This news gives a significant impact on the HDD industry. To begin with, the leader of the industry is Seagate, which has occupied about 41% of the market share, according to Smart HDD. And, WD is the second at approximately 23%, and the third is Samsung at approximately 16%. Hitachi GST has held about 8% of the market share. As a result of the acquisition by WD, WD will be closer Seagate's market share (simply, market share of WD and Hitachi GST totals about 31%.). Additionally, as an interesting thing, Seagate is favoring heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR), while Hitachi GST favors patterned media (DTR or PBM) -- both have been known as a new technology. As long as I read a report of the HDD industry by Tom Coughlin and Ed Grochowski, it would be happened a format war between HAMR and DTR/PBM, such as the format war between Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD, and so on -- aka, a de facto standard. Therefore, competition between WD and Seagate will be harder, instead of the previous competition among to five companies; Seagate, WD, Samsung, Hitachi GST, and Toshiba.

It also implies another thing, which Samsung would take action like acquiring a HDD company or constructing a new factory to enhance their capacity of producing. It is because Samsung will keep away from the top two companies; Seagate and WD.

Thus, what WD is going to buy Hitachi GST is a big deal for the HDD market. How the market will be changed is interesting for me as a consequence of the acquisition.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Recently some articles on the TechFlash have introduced Microsoft's cutting-edge technologies. Each technology is cool and, needless to say, is expected to launch as up-and-coming products (visit for more other videos: Todd Bishop's Microsoft blog. However, stories of businesses by stunning technologies aren't generally in progress, and reach the happy end. There are some reasons why brilliant technologies don't promise to be success and to be accepted by consumers.

For instance, an electric car was already invented in the mid-19th century, and seemed to get legitimacy by consumers between 1890s and 1900s. But, the history was different. In fact, electric vehicles were defeated by gasoline cars as a result of competition regarding more popularity (A story of why people changed from horses to cars as a transportation by NOVA is interesting. If you are interested in it, click on THIS.). Since then electric cars have waited for a century to get the tipping point. They would seem to build status instead of gasoline cars within a few decades.

Why are technologies so difficult or taken much time to be accepted by consumers? Cameras, TVs, Computers, the Internet, Google, Facebook, Smartphones, and so on look like easy to diffuse markets. But, each had different difficulty in the way to accomplish the tipping point (btw, Malcolm Gladwell is actually my favorite author.). As far as I know, lots of books and theories tell us how to break the wall in order to get citizenship in markets (As references from a point of view of marketing and management, Blue Occean Strategy, The Innovator's Dilemma, Crossing the Chasm, et cetera.).

Here, from my point of view, I would like to make a comment. Obviously, some of technologies like the above video are too daring. They are hard and difficult for customers to figure out, and they are even far away from and beyond their life style. Thus, a problem for the hyper cutting-edge technologies is how to sell products with such technologies. In other words, it is a marketing problem. A good example is the Apple Inc.. iPhone is one of the great gadget and at the same time a blockbuster. Also, Mac series, despite having maniac functions, have contributed to build and acknowledge the Apple brand by consumers. A key for diffusion is that it is recognized as cool and stylish not like gizmo. On other hand, PlayStation and Xperia by Sony -- especially, PlayStation 3 and Xperia TM PLAY -- is too having functions and qualities, such as too beautiful screens and sounds, too much capacity to play game and use cellphone, and so on. Apparently, the target customers are not everybody but a part (and, actually I don't know how much they are sold, so this opinion is not strong and needed more information, though).

As long as I saw the videos by Microsoft, they are trying to promote their technologies with their familiar products like Xbox360 and Kinect. I think this is a good way. However, Microsoft should pay attention not to be caught a competency trap (aka an innovator dilemma), as examples for it; actually Sony's PlayStation 3 and more likely film cameras (More in detail: Organizational Learning, or The Innovator's Dilemma). They always have to stare at customers in order to avoid happening such situation (Unfortunately, Microsoft is already called as 20 centuries company). At the same time, we consumers have to catch up with their cutting-edge technologies, too!!