Playing piano and composing have played an important role in my life since I was fifteen years old. Now as I approach this quarter of my life (my wife won’t let me say “the last quarter of my life”), I feel the urgency to both have the experience of writing music and the need to leave something behind that others including my grandchildren might enjoy someday and have posted a link to a piece I am working on. Continue reading
Author Archives: avram miller
If I was born in 1995 instead of 1945, would I be a billonaire?
Reading this article in Forbes about Nick D’Aloisio, the 16 year old created of Summly (a new search program for the iPhone and Android phones), I had to ask myself if I could be a teenage billionaire if I was born in 1995 instead of 40 years earlier in 1945. After all, I was only … Continue reading
I thought I was done writing about Jobs until I read Inside Apple
I thought I was done writing about Steve Jobs when I wrote this post but then I read Inside Apple by Adam Lashinsky (editor at large at Fortune Magazine). I finally understand why Apple was able to achieve so much. We all know of Jobs the visionary, Jobs the communicator and Jobs the bully. But … Continue reading
I don’t believe that Israel will attack Iran before the 2012 election. This is why
Dear readers, I have redone the blog post. It turns out that a draft copy was sent to all my subscribers which had even more grammar and spelling mistakes than normal. I apologize and ask you to read it again. Thanks. These are my views on a very complex situation. Iran is trying to provoke … Continue reading
Is God a Superhero
Karen Santorum, Rick Santorum’s Wife, Says “Campaign Is ‘God’s Will” I understand that some people believe in God or some other spiritual force. My relationship with God would be best described as “its complicated”. There is a lot we do not understand about the Universe and our own existence, such as “How did the Universe … Continue reading
Tales from Rotterdam or how I met a Princess and killed the Computer Division of Philips
How I killed Europe’s Largest Computer Company In 1973 I took a train to Appledorn,the Netherlands. The CEO of Philips asked me to give him my opinion about the viability of his company’s Computer Division. Philips at that time was one of the leading electronic companies in the world and extremely important in Holland where … Continue reading
Life Blues: My reaction to Outlaw Blues by Jonathan Taplin
In reading Outlaw Blues by Jonathan Taplin, I realized how easily my life could have gone in a different direction. Maybe, if I liked the music better, I would have become part of the rock music scene. My management and leadership skills might have taken me on a path similar to Jonathan and eventually my creative side might have emerged as it did for him. I had a similar experience reading Holy Beggars by Aryae Coopersmith whom I recently met. In reading Aryae’s book, I realized that I could have easily continued to explore the spiritual side of myself and may have ended up in Israel as a Rabbi. But I fell in love with technology. By 1966, I was working at the Langley Porter Institute, UCSF Medical School, designing equipment for brainwave bio feedback. From that point on, I had a continuing connection to technology. Now I am back to studying music. Jonathan is a Professor at USC. Continue reading
Hong Kong and Me: How I became the highest compensated advisor in the world (for a little while)
Here I am in Hong Kong some 49 years after I first arrived here. I wrote about that experience recently here. In looking for photos to use with this post, I found some that were taken in 1963 by a family that actually traveled on the President Cleveland,the ship on which I worked. I … Continue reading
Rewired not Retired
It is not about being retired but as my wife, Deborah says, it is about being rewired. I have to confess that I find it personally a bit confusing. As I often joke, I no longer enjoy what I am good at doing and I am not good at doing what I enjoy. This is actually a true statement. The expectation for the last third of life is changing with more and more seniors being both physically and mentally fit. Continue reading
How I got the iPad right in 1994 but was wrong about the Information Furnace
Now before you think this post is all about how insightful I was, and I was, it is really about how things turned out differently than I thought and wanted. It really is about a failure to implement a vision and an exploration of the possibility that things could have ended up differently.
In that very same article (again 1994), I coined the term i-pad (see the Article). Sixteen years later, Apple announced the iPad on Jan. 27th, 2010. Coincidentally, it happened to be my 65th birthday. Continue reading
Two Thirds Done 