From Chris Anderson
Pixar Quiz
I recently had coffee with a friend at Pixar and he mentioned a surprising stat, which I’ll phrase here in the form of a quiz:
Q: On 1995 computer hardware, the average frame of Toy Story took two hours to render. A decade later on 2005 hardware, how long did it take the average frame of Cars to render?
A: 30 minutes
B: 1 hour
C: 2 hours
D: 15 hours(Hint: designer ambitions always expand to fill the computational space available.)
Nick Carr’s been brooding about Google’s long-term product strategy. Here’s what he predicts:
Google Search (“Google” goes back to meaning just search: for all information types, on all devices, personalized) AdMarket (a unified market place for buyers and sellers, spanning web text, web video, web banners, print, radio, TV) YouTube (YouTube expands from video to become the common interface for all media sharing) YouTools (what Apps for Your Domain morphs into, with different tool sets for businesses, families, universities, and hospitals) YouFile (a personal information management service, covering health data, finances, etc.)
From today’s New York Times…
“I’m used to being in companies where I am in a rowboat and I stick an oar in the water to change direction,” said Mr. Berkowitz, who ran the Ask Jeeves search engine until Microsoft hired him away in April to run its online services unit. “Now I’m in a cruise ship and I have to call down, ‘Hello, engine room!’ ” he adds with an echo in his voice. “Sometimes the connections to the engine room aren’t there.”