On Radio 「知識迎人」 : 十月號

新城FM 99.7MHz

(節目係逢星期二晚8:30pm新城FM99.7MHz播出)

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On Radio 「知識迎人」 : 九月號

新城FM 99.7MHz

(節目係逢星期二晚8:30pm新城FM99.7MHz播出)

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也來談談教主 Let’s talk about Steve Jobs too

教主已離開人世差不多一個多月,傳媒對佢一生嘅佈導都未停過,加上剛剛上市嘅傳記,宣傳攻勢仍然強勁,攪到好似如果你唔識up吓教主嘅點滴,你就唔係地球人咁,有好多人讚教主以愛恩斯坦、牛頓、愛迪生咁相比,有報紙專欄作家歌頌佢發明咗Mouse, GUI同Multi-touch,為人類謀幸福云云。

教主確實係好叻,佢嘅business sense 同presentation skills係好掂,無可否認,但將佢同Einstein、Newton相比,我就覺得有點兒那個,有人話佢嘅發明改變了電腦業…其實只要上網或者睇吓一D講矽谷發積史嘅書、甚至睇有套荷里活B movie,都可以知道教主沒有那麼神,例如Mac用的GUI及Mouse,都是他及他的工程師在一次拜訪Xerox 在Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) 中「参考」返黎的,現在Apple在產品用上的Multi-touch技術也是從收購回來的,iPOD之前已有mp3 player,我覺佢最有頭腦就是用existing technology去製做美觀易用的devices,再用一個平台(iOS, iTunes, Apps)做一個生態環境出來,大家在佢傳記都知原來佢最初是反對Apps的。佢嘅為人太dominant 加上marketing又好,唔怪得一般人以為他是個偉大的發明家,其實佢係一個機會主義者,也是成功商業家的先决條件。

係十月其實仲有兩位電腦界奇才逝世,在13Oct, 電腦語言”C”的發明家Dennis Ritchie逝世,我的research也是用”C”完成的,C Language簡單、直接、快速, 因為Dennis冇諗過用呢個發明黎發大達,所以差不多所有不同派別、型号的電腦,總會有個C Compiler比你去寫software,對software development 黎講係好正,以後什麽Java, C++, C#, Objective C…etc.或一D scripting languages都有不少C的影子。Dennis亦積極參與UNIX的發展,相信大家都知Mac OSX、Linux也是UNIX。24Oct, AI Language LISP的發明者John McCarthy過了身。佢地沒有利用佢地嘅發明變成億萬富豪,反而豪不自私咁與大家分享,保持低調是高尚情操的表現!教主死忌16Oct已成為加洲的Steve Jobs Memorial Day, 反觀Dennis及John嘅死訴都係低調地傳出才由家人証實。對我來講Dennis及John的貢獻及精神更是偉大!RIP, Dennis, John!

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CEO係做乜架?What does a CEO do?

最近成日都聽到有人話邊個領導無方要下台咁,身邊都有唔少朋友投訴老細唔識帶領公司、唔識打逆境波。網上有好多錦囊教人點做一個好嘅CEO,但最近我係著名科技新聞網站TechCrunch睇到一份由過來人講CEO應該做乜,作者Seth Sternberg是Meebo (一個Web-based IM platform)的co-founder同CEO,當公司發展到有200人咁上下時,CEO應該要抽離細微嘅工序,要宏觀地主理以下三大範疇:

  1. Strategy策略: 成日都聽到呢個term,究竟係乜呢?Seth認為是listen, synthesize and communicate。其實基本上多聆聽,無論員工、顧客、傳媒、投資者或任何人,只要是関於公司嘅都值得聽。收集咗咁多資訊就要CEO去synthesize,分辨出有用(佔少數)的和沒有用的noise。呢d資料加上CEO的判斷就成為公司的新方向。有咗新方向之後就要同所有同公司有關人仕(尤其是你之前問過意見的)sell你個idea。呢三都曲喺冇止境嘅。
  2. People人事: 公司一變大,管人就會成為一件難事,如果200人公司嘅CEO要成日管埋哂d鷄毛蒜皮嘅事,咁係run唔到一間公司嘅,所以一定要trust你的同事,一定要找最適合的人出任最適合的岡位,然後附與足夠的權力及資源比佢地去發揮,CEO亦都要花時間去招攬人才。
  3. Resource Allocation資源分配: 公司每個dept都想爭取最多resource去完成佢地自己嘅goals,CEO就要平衡各方,要以公司的大goals為著眼點。

讀完以上,是否覺得有d「啊媽係女人」嘅common sense,話你知,我及身邊的朋友打咗咁多年工,都未見過有CEO可以真正做得齊、做得好以上嘅野!

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三個蘋果在香港 3 Apples in HK

Apple公司第100間Apple Store如無意外會座落係IFC2,聽講24/9就開幕,唔知有冇高層會黎剪綵呢?如果SJ黎,我都有興趣一睹佢嘅風采。香港係購物天堂,又冇消售稅,有Apple Store 係遲早嘅事,但今次傳聞話會有3間添!香港真係受教主寵幸啊!另外兩間相信會分別座落係CWB嘅Hysan Place同埋TST廣東道嘅彩星大廈,彩星係三間之中唯一一間由地鋪開始總共三層有成二萬呎,租金每月千一萬,好似話簽咗十年租約!真係比足臉!呢d消費旺區老闆們真多得蘋果唔少,扯高哂d租金!Apple佢地睇到同胞嘅消費力驚人,加上港元貶值,又唔打稅,落黎買野等如打8折,真着數,三間Apple Stores絕對受得起冇問題啦!反而做緊蘋果的專賣店到時會點呢?香港咁細都有3間Apple Store,會唔會意味着香港會同美國同步推出新產品呢?須然我唔係Apple嘅die hard fans,但係有國際大公司咁比面香港係好事嘅。傳聞十月中推出嘅iPhone5,會唔會令IFC2出現人龍呢?有咗3間Apple Store,希望Apple認真攪好d維修服務啦,用家d投訴聽唔少。仲有,聽講佢地呢幾個月正密密招聘人手,人工比一般Sales高(傳言$200/hr.),但要求亦相當高,第一條件一定要係虔誠嘅蘋果信徙,有好嘅溝通技巧,親切嘅笑容同流利嘅兩文三語唔少得。

【後記 11/9/2011】

Apple Store HK 需要請 Apple Genius(仲有其地posts),有與趣快d上網apply!可惜冇提人工。

Job Description 如下:

You’re fascinated by the way things work and the reasons they sometimes don’t. You sometimes rearrange your computer setup just for fun. You were the kind of kid who took things apart just to put them back together (correctly). If this sounds like you, you’re our kind of Genius. You’re here not only to help fix equipment, but to restore positive customer relationships with free technical advice and timely repairs.

A candidate we’ll love:

  • You provide white-glove treatment to customers.
  • You enjoy meeting people and building relationship with customers.
  • Your friends and family see you as an absolute technical guru.
  • You have some background in tech support or customer service.
  • You have a burning desire to solve problems.
  • You can communicate technical concepts in layman’s terms.
  • You have a sense of urgency—but also the ability to keep your cool.
  • You share a passion for technology and Apple products.

A position you’ll love:

  • Solving problems—things happen and you’re there to fix them.
  • Providing frontline customer support at the Genius Bar, including hardware and software troubleshooting and diagnosis.
  • Troubleshooting and repairing Apple hardware and software.
  • Juggling customer and product issues with a genuine sense of urgency.
  • Turning around repairs to customers as quickly as possible.
  • Being one of the go-to people for technical knowledge in the store.
  • Having passion about customer service and a commitment to exceeding expectations.
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遲到 Time keeping

我相信冇正常人係喜歡等人嘅,最近有機會同一d八十、九十後出街聯誼一吓,當然準時到達相約地點的是很少數,早到更家不可能。遲到的時間最低消費15分鐘,最長達一個小時!遲到嘅藉口來來去去都係果d,都無謂提,我相信遲起牀佔>90%的真正原因。致於歉意方面,當中亦有d一句sorry也欠奉的。亦試過有d活動plan咗上午進行(其實都只係10點),黎到d人一個又話未食早餐,一個又話要買呢樣個樣先可以開始得,結果攪得黎都已經中午先出發。想話利用新科技約人活動啦,原來在Facebook開個event,d人按attending係未必嚟架,我唔知呢個係人嘅問題,或者其實係唔應該對Facebook嘅野太認真呢?

科技實在太方便啦,好多野都變得好即興、随意,少了些計劃及準備,宜家約人都會用手機話「到咗咐近就打比你啦」、「出到嚟再上網揾去邊道食野」、「上網用Google Map揾咪得咯,唔駛預先睇地圖嘅」… 我反而懷念以前人與人之間的承諾及好好的預備功夫。

專欄作家「遊清源」話可以由遲到的時間分辨出你喺邊一代人:

  • 八十後: 遲到了三十分鐘,但竟然既沒有說半句「鎖你」,八十後根本不會當遲到三十分鐘是遲到。
  • 七十後: 一般都會遲五至十分鐘。
  • 六十後: 大部分六十後基本上都是準時的,即是正負大約兩三分鐘。
  • 五十後: 起碼會早到十五分鐘,然後打電話給你,問你為何仍未到?
  • 五十前: 更會早到起碼半個鐘頭,隨即打電話責怪你為何遲到?等到你趕來,即使早到十分鐘,他們仍會反覆說,已經等了你半個鐘。
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On Radio 「知識迎人」 : 七月號

新城FM 99.7MHz

(節目係逢星期二晚8:30pm新城FM99.7MHz播出)
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