why don't laptops have ergonomic keyboards?

One more acquaintance of mine got added to the growing list of Carpel Tunnel disease sufferers. She's a consultant and works with her laptop for a good amount of her day whenever she's not busy with meetings at client sites.

It's a shame that none of the laptop makers have come not up with an ergonomic keyboards. Also, it's a shame that in a litigant society such as the United States of America anyone is yet to sue laptop manufacturers for the same.

The day will come when laptop manufacturers, similar to cigarette manufacturers, will be asked to put a note on their products - "prolonged use of laptop is injurious to health" ! The reasons contributing to it would be:

• poor keyboard designs leading to carpel tunnel syndrome
• fertility issues in males if laptop is kept on laps for prolonged periods of time due to poor heat management designs by manufacturers 1
• toasted skin syndrome

Given that laptops are unhealthy for humans by design (... because if you put it in a position to rest your hands, your neck will be in pain and vice-versa), here are some tips for healthy mobile computing. I believe every consultant, sales person, etc. must be aware of these tips.

1. "Laptops Can Damage Male Fertility," M. Hachman, Extreme Tech, 12-09-2004.

SAPped...

SAP was ordered to pay over a billion dollars in damages to Oracle in CA, US. SAP admitted that the firm's subsidiary illegally downloaded Oracle's software. At the same time, SAP estimated the magnitude of damages to be ~40m. However, the jury awarded 1.3bn as damages to Oracle for copyright infringement.

I bet SAP feels a bit SAPped !

PowerPoint = enemy or a friend ?

An interesting article from The New York Times caught my attention as the heading read:

We Have Met the Enemy. He is PowerPoint.

First, I didn't know about the PowerPoint culture in the U.S. military - Microsoft must've made some good dough getting them addicted to PowerPoint. Second, I didn't know that they were obsessed with bullet points - they should check out the Beyond Bullet Points methodology. Third, it surprises me because military folks are supposed to be detail-oriented and Powerpoints are usually not delving in the details. One of my acquaintances had an opinion that Powerpoints are for folks suffering from ADD.

PowerPoint is a way of life for management consultants, especially when you make tons of presentations to clients. If your job lurks around sales or pre-sales, all the more necessary to know powerpoint well. That brings me to the point to share some of important tips:

1. Learn how to make a good pot file.

A good consultant must always have a .pot file as a tool at his/her disposal. This helps you put up good decks in minutes. You don't have to run helter-skelter.

2. Learn how to present a PowerPoint effectively

A polished flawless PowerPoint deck by itself is not the key to success. It is a necessary condition but not sufficient for an effective presentation. Know how to present a powerpoint effectively and this takes us into the realm of why effective communication is important. Beyond Bullet Points is an interesting concept that started in the last decade and one should read it as a tool in their toolkit to effectively apply it if you know the audience hates bullet points.

3. Learn when to use them and when not to

As much as a polished powerpoint is important, it is imperative to know when to use it and when not to. Certain situations, especially in sales, may not require a powerpoint deck.