21.06: Random Thoughts of the Week

Found on the news

• We’ll probably never know who was the PM behind this feature, but it is genius. It solves a problem affecting almost every iPhone user through the purchase of another Apple device. I’m sure the guy has now an office next to Phil and Craig.

Ideas I’ve shared

• Because of the overabundance of content on the Internet, more often than not, we’re trapped in an information consumption overload. We skim over an article, watch a video, read a book, listen to a podcast… yet we don’t stop and think. I’d argue that plain thinking has become one of the most underrated skills in modern society.
• Eunoia and words that don’t translate. For example, Schadenfreude refers to the pleasure one takes from watching others’ misfortunes. There’s no word in English that directly maps to this idea. However, I referred to Schadenfreude on countless occasions. Eunoia is the ultimate aggregator for all these concepts that have a unique meaning in their own language.

#TIL Tsundoku (積ん読) a specific Japanese term that captures this phenomenon of acquiring books, and letting them pile up at home without never reading.

— Marc Collado (@MarcCollado) August 6, 2019

• In times of Notions, Airtables, or Codas, trying to come up with the next productivity bundle, this is the most creative use of Google Docs I’ve seen so far.

Things I was into

• Products come and go. Human needs never change. Every day I’m more convinced that, beyond solving for a real problem and market readiness, timing remains the single most important factor to determine product success.
• This week at Safareig we spoke about Substack and how the dynamics of the Internet are shifting towards a creator-led economy. Even one in which the creators accrue more value and influence than the very platforms its content lives. It is a time for tools, not networks.

Random thoughts

• ☎️ One of the factors pushing kids back to school during Covid’s time was the lack of Internet access at their homes. While this fact won’t come as a surprise to some of you, it made me realize that we’ve probably been living in a “connectivity bubble” for longer than most. Shouldn’t it be universal Internet access a fundamental right nowadays?
• 💅 This podcast raised an interesting point about the mental models we generate around office spaces. For example, why is it not OK to work on a side-project while in the office at 11am on a random Tuesday? Somehow we come up with these artificial social contracts in which we blend time, space, and duty under a rigid pattern. I don’t have the answer, but I presume it is mostly because of how we construct our personal values.