You can’t always judge an eBook by its cover: a review of the Amazon Kindle

So a week ago today, on November 20th 2007, I applied for a job at PC Mall, as account manager. To make a long story short, MTEQC has been my main bread winner for a decade, and I feel the need for a change, to prove myself once again against new challenges.

This felt like a good opportunity: Contrary to the name, PC Mall has 20% of their sales in Mac business. The company, insofar as I could gather from blogs and other reports,takes care of its employees and offers great training and skill development programs. And, not to be discounted, their compensation and perks package is definitely top tier, one of the best in the industry.

As long as you keep your expectations in line with reality – such as not expecting much more than your base salary for a year or so – it looks like a great company to work with.

The day after my candidacy was sent, I missed a call from PC Mall HR. The Montreal call centre deals with US companies, and so follows the American statutory holidays – they were closed for Thanksgiving, and so it was not until Monday the 26th that I finally got to a phone interview with R. from PC Mall HR, which went so well as to get me invited to an on site interview the next day.

By then I have done my homework on PC mall. I know their sales figure, their growth rate, I’ve even read their leases. Before you can honestly state you would like to work for an enterprise, it’s a bright idea to accretion that you KNOW that company inside and out.

INTERVIEW

I show up early to the call centre at 1100 University. A wise idea – I walked out of Central Station to find that building, and eventually realized it was that same building I had just exited!

That’s a nice plus – once in the subway, you don’t need to go out again. Will be handy in February when the temperature hits -40C.

So after all this, I am still there with time to lose. Plus they are running a bit late with the interviews, so I cool my heels at reception for a while. There’s a Powerpoint presentation running on a large LCD in the corner. Ir run numbers in my head base on the information in offers – based on recent sales, about 40M$ growth in sales year over year. My target salary/commissions of 80K$ after three years building a client base is validated as well.

Then the game is on.

R. takes me to a small board room, where I.sit in front of a PC running Windows, and I am asked to complete a small test. I won’t spoil it for future applicants. but let me just say that, if you are unable to complete this easy Office suite test, perhaps a career review should be made. IT may not be for you.

I read the test instructions four or five times, to make sure I don’t do any dumb mistake. I perform the test. That takes eight of the allotted fifteen minutes. I review again.

Eventually I am led out to an interview with the HR manager.

Sometimes, interviews are hard. At other times, like now, it feels like recalling parts your life over with an old friend. It has nothing to do with romantic chemistry, get me straight – perhaps it’s shared values, or having met in a previous life, or whatever… All I know is that you feel instantly at ease. The interview process actually turns out to be fun!

Don’t you just love it when it happens!

OFFER

So you know an interview went well when it closes on “I don’t usually make offers on a first meeting, but…”

That’s the way this one went. I had a verbal offer for Account Manager, business. Nobody likes rejection, and you have to face it so often in a job seeking process that elation follows acceptance. So I felt quite happy there and then.

But it gets better!

When doing my research on PC Mall, one thread I followed was on how to best proceed with biz dev in the US market. I like efficiency, and I like learning from other’s failures and success. I don’t like mistakes – so if someone can save me from making them, I am grateful.

One field I considered was government procurement and educational markets, where I still have a few contacts in the US. I like the idea of building longer term relationships with IT guys and buyers; and while there is less “action” in selling to these channels, one single procurement contract can mean a huge amount.

Sadly, part of the research pointed out that PC Mall has a special division dealing with those sectors, so I resigned myself that they would not be open to me. It went into my long term, possible promotion grab bag.

My interviewer pulled a Steve Job imitation with “Oh, one more thing…”

Turns out there was a signal position left open in Gov/Edu, and I was seen as an ideal candidate, based on my previous experience in the field!

Yes indeed, would you make that offer I would be extremely interested!...

How’s that for cavia? I’ve been hired for five minutes and I already got a promotion.

TIMELINE

So I start Monday, December 3rd as US Account Manager – Government and Educational markets for PC mall. I don’t yet know which territory I will be assigned, each thing in its own time: Training is extensive and runs around 8 weeks.

I am both excited, enthusiastic and apprehensive. Fear is normal on the even of some major life change, and if I could throw my rear out of an airplane at 15 000 feet, I have little concern regarding fear. It’s there, I accept it – next!

I am looking at the adaptations I will need to do for this new situation. Nothing is insurmountable. Indeed, part of it feels more like a vacation: After a decade of working 80 hours a week or so, from 6:30 until 22:00 almost every day weekend included, the appeal of a “normal” life is strong.

I think the most difficult one will be schedule. As one day blends into another, I am used to work when there is work, and rest when I can. Most of the time I need to look up the calendar and the clock to know the day and time. But that’s just a matter of applying discipline to new conditions. I know my limitations – I am not disciplined by nature, so I compensate with an act of will and proper tools.

I feel like a kid: Weeeeee! This is going to be fuuuuun!

ok Andy – I will follow the advice given in

your Sun-Times article…
Avoid the loony Zune!

(http://www.suntimes.com/technology/ihnatko/147048,CST-FIN-Andy23.article)

November 23, 2006
BY ANDY IHNATKO

Y es, Microsoft’s new Zune digital music player is just plain dreadful. I’ve spent a week setting this thing up and using it, and the overall experience is about as pleasant as having an airbag deploy in your face.
“Avoid,” is my general message. The Zune is a square wheel, a product that’s so absurd and so obviously immune to success that it evokes something akin to a sense of pity.

The setup process stands among the very worst experiences I’ve ever had with digital music players. The installer app failed, and an hour into the ordeal, I found myself asking my office goldfish, “Has it really come to this? Am I really about to manually create and install a .dll file?”
But there it was, right on the Zune’s tech support page. Is this really what parents want to be doing at 4 a.m. on Christmas morning?That might not be Zune’s fault. After about a year of operation, it’s almost as if a Windows machine develops some sort of antibodies that prevent it from recognizing new hardware. But what’s Microsoft’s excuse for everything else? ...

---

Posted on REUTERS: Apple says shipped iPods carrying computer virus

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Some of Apple Computer Inc.’s iPod digital music players shipped in the past month carry a computer virus, according to a posting on Apple’s technical support Web site.Apple said since September 12, less than 1 percent of Video iPods—the pocket-sized devices that can play music files and video clips—left the company’s contract manufacturer carrying the virus RavMonE.exe. The virus affects computers running Microsoft Corp.’s Windows operating system.”So far we have seen less than 25 reports concerning this problem. The iPod nano, iPod shuffle and mac os X are not affected, and all Video iPods now shipping are virus free,” the company said on the site.An Apple spokesman declined to name the contract manufacturer or specify how many iPods were affected.

Apple said the virus can be detected and removed using many popular anti-virus software programs. It said that Microsoft and Apple shared the blame for shipping the virus.”As you might imagine, we are upset at Windows for not being more hardy against such viruses, and even more upset with ourselves for not catching it,” Apple said on its Web site.Microsoft fired back in a statement, saying the virus does not appear to take advantage of a Windows vulnerability.”We encourage all third party vendors to follow best practices and help protect their users regardless of platform through careful scanning of the software they ship, so that they do not expose their customers to unnecessary risk from malicious software,” the company said.

From Yahoo!
Finance:

Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal
September 27, 2006

A startup formed by Apple Computer Inc. co-founder Steve Wozniak and two other Apple veterans bought a Newport Beach semiconductor company for $260 million.

Wozniak, former Apple chairman and CEO, and former COO Gil Amelio and CTO Ellen Hancock formed Acquicor Technolcogy Inc. and their first acquisition was the all-cash transaction for Jazz Semiconductor Inc.

The Acquicor Web site said the new venture is “for the purpose of acquiring, through a merger, capital stock exchange, stock purchase, asset acquisition or other similar business combination, one or more domestic and/or foreign operating businesses in the technology, multimedia and networking sectors, specifically on businesses that develop or provide technology-based products and services in the software, semiconductor, wired and wireless networking, consumer multimedia and information technology-enabled services segments.”

Newport Beach-based Acquicor reportedly received more than $160 million in funding in March to form a “blank check company.” Amelio is Acquicor’s CEO, while Hancock is COO and Wozniak is CTO. Jazz, a privately held specialty wafer manufacturer, said it will no longer pursue an initial public offering and will withdraw its registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The deal is expected to close in the first quarter, after which the wafer maker will be merged into an Acquicor subisdary. The purchase price is subject to adjustment and for possible future contingent payments. The purchase will be funded with cash from a trust account and about $65 million from Wachovia Capital Finance. The deal will bring $100 million into the books of Newport Beach’s Conexant Systems Inc., which co-founded Jazz in 2002 along with the Carlyle Group.

I can’t say how this relates to Apple jumping ship and switching to Intel processors, but anyway: Remember that company, Freescale, which was spun off from Motorola Inc. in 2004?

THAT Motorola, that used to make the hearts of our Macs?

Well, Freescale Semiconductor Inc. has just agreed to be bought for $17.6 billion, or $40 a share in cash, by a private equity consortium that includes Carlyle Group, Permira Funds, Texas Pacific Group, and Blackstone Group.

This is said to be the biggest leveraged buyout ever of a technology company. The deal price offers a 36 percent premium over Freescale’s 30-days average closing price.

The agreement allows Freescale to solicit alternative proposals for the next 50 days. If the company accepts a superior proposal, it will have to pay a break-up fee of either $150 million or $300 million depending on the timing.