I used my new-every-two credit from Verizon to upgrade to the new Blackberry Tour last week.  So far I am liking it.  The newer OS seems faster and the brighter, higher definition screen is very nice.  However there are 2 nagging issues I am still working to figure out.

1. My old 8830 I could get to vibrate when in the holster and ring when not in the holster.  I also had it vibrate for a text message when in the holster and play a sound when not in the holster.  I have not figured out how to do this correctly on the Tour yet.
2. With the new OS you sill cannot “reply to all” without opening the email first.  This was a big “miss” on the 8830 and is an even bigger “MISS” this time around.

So I did not try to log on to Facebook at 12:01 this morning to claim my username.  I figured I would get what I get and would be happy with it.  I was pleased to find that nearly 12 hours later that “shane.kenny” was still available.  If you want to find me on Facebook, you can now go to www.facebook.com/shane.kenny.  Maybe some old friends in real life will become new friends on Facebook and I will finally have more Facebook friends than Heather.

I just finished reading Tribes by Seth Godin.  It takes me a while to finish a book sometimes because I get distracted by other things.  In this case my Runner’s World came in and I got back into playing Fallout 3 on my Xbox.  Seth’s writing style took me a little while to adapt to but overall I enjoyed the book and pulled several good things from it.  Here is quote the I specifically enjoying in the closing sections of the book (the book does not have chapters, which is non-traditional, which is part of the point the book makes):

If your organization requires success before commitment, it will not have either.

The same thing goes for products.  If a company waits for a product to be successful before committing to it then it will never be successful.  There are very few products that hit the market and are an instant success.  Instead, you have to get the product out there, improve on it, market it, and work hard to make it into a success.  To use other business terms you may have to “invest” in a product well before it takes off (maybe years).  This is harder for a company that already has one successful product because the new product is always “behind” and you have to work harder on it.  But, in the end, would the time, cost, and effort be worth having two successful products instead of just one?

First, for the record let me state that I am by no stretch of the imagination a Miley Cyrus fan.  However, sometimes even the most unexpected person will say (or sing) something that makes you stop and think.  Her new song, Climb, hit a real chord with me this morning.  The chorus says:

There’s always going to be another mountain
I’m always going to want to make it move
Always going to be an uphill battle,
Sometimes you’re going to have to lose,
Ain’t about how fast I get there,
Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side
It’s the climb

For nearly 10 years now my brother and I have been climbing mountain after mountain in our business.  When you stand at the bottom of the mountain it is all about getting to the top.  When you get there, you realize that while the view is great there is a taller, and steeper, mountain on the other side.  But, in the end it’s the climb that is the most valuable part of the journey and it prepares you for what is on the other side.

On vacation last week I took a couple of books hoping to have time to finish at least one of them.  Since I was already a couple of chapters into “Churched” by Matthew Turner I decided to start with it.  Reading this book is like reading the story of my life growing up in the fundamental baptist regime.  Never have I read a book that I could relate so closely to or that I actually laughed out loud while I was reading.  If you have a chance you really should pick up a copy of this and give it a read.

Now I am on to reading “Tribes” by Seth Godin.  This is a complete switch from “Churched” but is something that is practical to my life now.  I am trying to finish this book up by the end of the week.  Maybe someday I will write a book.  My brother and I have even tossed around a title, “Oh Crap!  We Got the Deal… Now What”.