Signals

"I live my life a quarter mile at a time."

Who uttered that famous declaration? Was it: a) Confucius, b) Friedrich Nietzsche, c) Vin Diesel, d) Dominic Toretto? Of course, that is a trick question because both “c” and “d” are correct. The movie was The Fast and the Furious , a cinematic masterpiece about street racing and skid marks.

Sun Tzu was a Chinese general and military theorist living in the 6th century B.C. He was the author of The Art of War, a treatise on military strategy and tactics. In addition to its profound military importance, his work has influenced many other competitive enterprises. I imagine that business executives are studying Sun Tzu right now, as they plan for one of the greatest corporate wars of all time.

When you buy a fine automobile such as a Rolls Royce, you have a chauffeur drive you around. When you buy a fine automatic Rolex, you store it in a watch winder so it winds itself. And now, when you buy a fine piano such as a Steinway, it plays itself.

Today, Spotify is a privately-owned company. But in a few weeks, it will go public. That means you will have the opportunity to buy stock in the company. The question is, do you feel lucky?

If you're like me, you wake up every morning from a wonderful dream where you own a LP replication plant. In your factory, plastic goes in, and plastic goes out. Except that the outgoing plastic has magical shapes pressed into it. Now my dream, and yours, can come true.

The CES exhibits officially closed Friday at 4 pm, West Coast time, although a CES Closing Party was scheduled to run until 4 am. I did not attend that party.

Sometimes the headlines write themselves. Nevertheless, I have a certain fondness for wireless waterproof speakers. I take them out in the back forty. When it starts to rain, I don't care.