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Business: A Sequel to the Parable of the Good Samaritan

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My post today for The Institute for Faith, Work, and Economics.

Here’s the beginning:

When we think of the parable of the Good Samaritan, we tend to think of the importance of charity and giving to those in need. That is one of the chief points Jesus is making. But is it possible that the parable might have something to say about work and business as well?

A Sequel to the Good Samaritan

We are all familiar with the parable of the Good Samaritan. A man is going down the road from Jerusalem to Jericho and falls among robbers. Two religious people see him and pass by, but a Samaritan stops to help (and, it might be added, helps him generously and holistically).

One of the main lessons is: your neighbor is anyone in need. Now, go about the world looking to meet needs, treating others the way you would want them to treat you.

With this in mind, in his book Generous Justice, Tim Keller encourages us to consider a “sequel” to the parable. Imagine that the next day the Samaritan is traveling the road again, and comes across another person bleeding on the side of the road. A few weeks later, this happens again. And then again.

As it turns out, every time he makes the trip from Jerusalem to Jericho, he comes across another person laying in the road. Then he looks up, and sees hundreds of people likewise lying along the road, beaten and robbed. What should he do?

See the whole thing.

The Funniest Part in Isaacson’s Biography of Steve Jobs

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I’ve been meaning to blog this for two years now. From Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs:

Even when he was barely conscious, his strong personality came through. At one point the pulmonologist tried to put a mask over his face when he was deeply sedated. Jobs ripped it off and mumbled that he hated the design and refused to wear it. Though barely able to speak, he ordered them to bring five different options for the mask and he would pick a design he liked. The doctors looked at Powell, puzzled. She was finally able to distract him so they could put on the mask.

He also hated the oxygen monitor they put on his finger. He told them it was ugly and too complex. He suggested ways it could be designed more simply. “He was very attuned to every nuance of the environment and objects around him, and that drained him,” Powell recalled.

That is absolutely hilarious. Here is Steve Jobs, barely conscience and virtually fighting for his life, and he asks the doctors to bring in five different options for the oxygen mask because he doesn’t like it’s design. Hilarious!

And, awesome.

The Best iPad Case I've Found So Far

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Finding a good iPad case has been quite a challenge for me. I don’t tend to like Apple’s overly minimalistic smart covers. On the other hand, many cases overdo it.

However, I found out the hard way that it is very important to have a good case. Last fall I bought a new case, only to discover a few months later that the thing that holds the iPad into the case was not very durable. As a result, it quickly broke and my iPad would no longer stay in the case.

So I decided to go without a case, at least for a while. Would you believe that shortly thereafter my screen cracked from falling — of all places — off the side of my bed? It hit the bed frame just wrong and cracked right in the corner.

This was frustrating. It is also an example of actually doing good quality work and creating products (in this case, iPad cases) with good design. Sure this was my fault. However, the fact that it is so hard to find a decent iPad case was a major contributor to the situation. If the case I had obtained hadn’t broken so quickly, for example, this likely wouldn’t have happened.

A poor quality product, in other words, caused harm to come to another product. This is annoying.

I’ve finally found an iPad case that I like, and the interior-thing that holds the iPad in place seems to be based upon a new design that looks robust and relatively unobtrusive. I think they may have hit the mark here. Here’s the case:

And, if you prefer a case that is able to hold business cards, this one looks good:

Google Reader Alternatives

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With Google Reader shutting down on July 1, here are the best alternatives in my view.

If you read this blog by RSS, thanks for subscribing and don’t let the Google Reader shut-down get in your way with keeping up! So here’s some info on how to make the switch to a good Google Reader replacement.

Feedly

It is super easy to switch to feedly. It easily transfers all of your Google Reader feeds, and the interface is very similar to Google Reader. Just go to the feedly site and it should be self-explanatory.

Digg

Digg has also launched a new reader that looks like it has a lot of potential. It looks like they are adding users in batches, so if you enter your email they will notify you when they are ready to add you.

Here’s more info on the Digg Reader.

General Info

And here’s a very helpful article from Tech Crunch giving an overview of Feedly and Digg Reader and some other alternatives.

 

One Thing That is Good to Procrastinate on Right Now: Getting a New Laptop

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Walt Mossberg has a super helpful article in the Wall Street Journal on what is coming for laptops later this year — both Windows and likely Macs — and why you should hold off on buying one now so you can take advantage of these improvements in the late summer or fall:

If you’re thinking of buying a new laptop this spring, my advice is to think again. Unless your laptop is on its last legs and you have to move quickly, there are compelling reasons to wait until at least the summer, and probably the fall, to buy a new machine, especially if you are looking for a Windows PC, but even if you are in the market for a Mac.

That makes this annual spring buyer’s guide a bit different. People always worry that buying tech products today carries a risk of obsolescence. Most of the time, that fear is overblown. But this spring really is a bad time to buy a new laptop, because genuinely big changes are due in the coming months.

Here’s a quick summary of what’s coming.

For Windows Users (if you must!…)

  • Windows 8. Windows 8 is scheduled to be out in the fall and will be a major redesign. It will likely be oriented to tablet-like touchscreen navigation, and many PC makers are “planning convertible Windows 8 models for the holiday shopping season that can act as tablets or regular clamshell laptops.”
  • Touchscreen laptops. Here’s a simpler way to put it: sounds like touchscreen laptops are coming. Current laptops will be able to upgrade to Windows 8, but won’t be able to take advantage of all the features.

For Mac Users

  • Mountain Lion. Mountain Lion will likely be out this summer. Of course, this will run on previous Macs as well (unless Apple does something really strange). But:
  • Redesigned MacBook Pros. As most know, “Apple is overdue for redesigned laptops, especially in its MacBook Pro line.” I think Mossberg is right that “it is a good bet that new, possibly heavily redesigned, models will begin appearing later this year.” I would expect the new MacBook Pros to be closer to MacBook Airs, without sacrificing performance. However, I don’t know if the spring refresh will do this, or if the spring will see another small refresh with the more major redesign coming in the fall. See MacRumors’ buying guide for more.
  • What would be best of all. My wish, though I have little basis for this hope right now: 500 GB solid state drives becoming standard on MacBook Pros. Spinning hard drives should no longer exist. Enough with them. They crash, they are slow, and solid state drives are awesome.

If you do need to get a new laptop this spring, at the end of the article Mossberg gives some helpful guidelines on choosing.

Other Interesting Things (Not From that Article)

  • The iPad Mini. Apparently Apple is considering an iPad mini. My first reaction: this should not exist. If someone wants an iPad mini, they should just get a regular iPad so they have the full experience. Cost should not be taken into consideration when getting iPads.
  • The iPad Mini, part 2. But, my more measured reaction is: I see a place for this given that it will likely be priced between $249 and $250. That’s a big savings over the regular iPad (typically at least $600 if you do it right), and that level of costs savings just might make it a good idea for it to exist.
  • The iPhone 5. It looks like the iPhone 5 will probably be out in the fall.

Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?

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An article in The Atlantic. I don’t agree with everything, but it’s interesting.

Here’s the summary:

Social media—from Facebook to Twitter—have made us more densely networked than ever. Yet for all this connectivity, new research suggests that we have never been lonelier (or more narcissistic)—and that this loneliness is making us mentally and physically ill. A report on what the epidemic of loneliness is doing to our souls and our society.

And here’s a core part:

The idea that a Web site could deliver a more friendly, interconnected world is bogus. The depth of one’s social network outside Facebook is what determines the depth of one’s social network within Facebook, not the other way around. Using social media doesn’t create new social networks; it just transfers established networks from one platform to another. For the most part, Facebook doesn’t destroy friendships—but it doesn’t create them, either.

I disagree there. I have five things to say here, but I’ll only say three.

It’s true that Facebook alone doesn’t create friendships. But, as Christians at least, when we “meet” other Christians on Facebook, we are indeed establishing real relationships because we already have a relationship with them in Christ, apart from ever having met them in person. If you are a Christian, when you interact with other Christians on Facebook, you are interacting with a true brother or sister in the Lord — and what a great thing it is to know of them and be able to interact with them, even if it’s just electronically.

Second, I like Twitter better than Facebook and find that much more conducive to relationships.

Third, the real value of Facebook is when it is combined with travel. I have gained many new friends through Facebook, Twitter, and blogging not simply because of interacting with them on those sites, but because of then meeting them in person when I’m at a conference or wherever. Because of social media, I have met a lot more people when I travel than I otherwise would. And, because of Christ, those are real relationships and it is fantastic to meet and get to know more and more people in the body of Christ around the world.

While it perhaps comes close to pulling a Jesus juke on the article, I would say the problem is not Facebook or social media, but Facebook, social media, and anything outside of Christ.

Goldman Sachs, Self-Interest, and Greed

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The Institute for Faith, Work, and Economics recently wrote:

On March 14, Greg Smith, an executive director at Goldman Sachs, announced his resignation in the pages of The New York Times. He described a culture that had become “toxic” and outright callous to the interests of the firm’s clients.

The Institute for Faith, Work & Economics (IFWE) saw the news of his resignation as a teaching moment. Without taking sides, we sought to point out the important and often misunderstood difference between greed and legitimate self-interest.

Their visiting scholar, Jay Richards, and Vice President of Economic Initiatives, Anne Bradley, did this in a very helpful and brief op-ed for The Washington Times. Here’s an excerpt:

On Wednesday, Greg Smith, an executive director at Goldman Sachs, announced his resignation in the pages of theNewYorkTimes. His reasoning: The company’s employees and culture have morphed into a gross entity that sidelines the interests of the client in favor of making a quick buck. By his account, Goldman Sachs‘ culture has become “toxic and destructive.” Mr. Smith no longer wants to be associated with the Wall Street giant. “People who care only about making money,” he argues, “will not sustain this firm — or the trust of its clients — for very much longer.”

Amen! To care only about money is not only unbiblical; it is also — contrary to what many people think — out of sync with capitalism. Contrary to the 80’s movie “Wall Street,” greed isn’t good, and never has been. Greed does not drive the free market, but actually ruins it. What drives the free market is legitimate self-interest — which is very different from greed. Richards and Bradley explain:

This paradoxical biblical principle, that self-denial is in our self-interest, is also an important economic principle. The greedy miser who hoards his wealth closes himself off to greater economic gains. And in a free market, the greedy merchant who swindles his customers is not likely to maintain profitability.

On the other hand, if we seek to meet the needs of others – whether we are hedge-fund managers or plumbers – we are likely to reap personal benefit. Great entrepreneurs who risk their wealth, delay their gratification and successfully anticipate the needs of others can become fabulously successful as a result.

This is the beauty of the free market: It harnesses our narrower self-interest for the common good. Markets bring together the most willing suppliers with the most willing demanders, and exchange takes place. You freely pay the grocer for groceries, he freely sells them, and you both end up better off than you were before.

Read the whole thing.