- The announcement from Aptera of 2 cars arriving next year (their first cars, I believe) fascinates me. 300mpg on the hybrid. 120 miles per charge on the pure electric. A few things. First, I’m curious why, if the hybrid goes 300mpg they didn’t give it a 3 gallon tank. Would have made it the farthest per-tank hybrid out there. Second, some of the innovative features are very, very cool. Third, one of the biggest markets for hybrids is young families (trying to save a buck or two). But with only space for 1 car seat, they’re limiting their market a touch. Fourth, the huge trunk is welcome. Fifth, it’s nice to see some new designs.
All in all, I expect this vehicle to sell a few hundred units of each model. It’ll net them about 50-75M in revenue. But the next iteration I expect to be very interesting (assuming they hold out and don’t take a 200M offer from Chrysler just to crush the technology). The biggest problem with this is the form factor. It’s cool, but it’s also a requirement for that gas mileage. Cool on paper isn’t the same as cool in your driveway, after all.
- Some folk (like Mikey Arrington, see Scoble’s video) are really hammering the Kindle for things like UI, depth, etc. To me this is primarily a KoolAid drinking issue. I, for example, totally get that this isn’t really a device, it’s a book replacement. You want to be able to hold it and read it in bookish light for 5-6 hours without hurting yourself. As such, the depth of the device is actually a Good Thing, since it’s easier to hold in a traditional “bookish” manner. The price is a little high, and it should have come with a dozen free books of your choice. Personally I don’t care about the browser in this iteration. All I care about is books. Delivered to my fingertips. Instantly. As such, it’s an interesting device. And, no, I don’t care about the UI, cause all I’ll be doing is page up/page down’ing. And I won’t be typing, much (since your Amazon profile is pre-loaded on the device so you don’t need to enter CC details to order). Again, my focus is on this as a first iteration device. As a first device, I’d give it a solid 7. Not great, but not Etch-A-Sketch useless either
- It’s been interesting to see the huge number of inbound meeting/call requests that have come in post-BWE. Not just from BWE folk, but from folk who heard about b5 through BWE coverage. We’re now getting about a half-dozen per day (just for me). I used to take all of these myself, no questions asked, because I enjoy chatting to folk, and even if there wasn’t a match for b5 I could probably think of someone else who it would be a match for. Now, though, I’m having to cut meeting timeslots from 1 hour to 30 minutes, having to ask for details in advance so I can simply have the “right” person (sales for ad stuff, tech for platform stuff, etc) take the first call. I’m also not taking calls that aren’t core to where we’re going in the next 6 months. I’m pretty sure I don’t like this, but I’m not sure of a way around it. Any suggestions?
- I managed to apply for a lost birth certificate online this weekend. Very easy to do once you had all the info (thanks CDN government!). Apparently should arrive (”guaranteed”) by next Wednesday. Which gives me about 10 days to get my new passport. Which isn’t a major issue, except for the 6 hour wait at the passport office. 2 days in a row.Ugh.
- I’m really jiving for the local community. I’m hoping that in the new year I can free my schedule a bit so I can start co-organizing events. There’s so much going on that I *want* to be involved in, but 1) don’t know about til the day of (can we get an alerts system or something guys?!) or 2) just don’t have time for Right This Minute.
- I’ve been asked (and agreed) to sit on a board for a new startup. It’s a quarterly thing, so not a drain on my time (or resources), but I’m actually thinking I’d like to do a bit more of this. So if anyone hears of anything…
Nov 21 2007
December 24th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
I will put my deposit down on this auto please tell me where to send my deposit. I live in western Minnesota
June 3rd, 2008 at 10:11 pm
[...] Meetings … The announcement from aptera of 2 cars arriving next year their first cars, I …http://www.ensight.org/archives/2007/11/21/aptera-300mpg-car-kindle-r edux-managing-meetings/Norway&39s Think to Produce, Sell Small Electric Cars in US – Wall Street Journal… car in the US, [...]