Last week I got a call from someone from “Albion PC Care” claiming that they are calling on behalf of Microsoft and had a report that my PC was running slowly.  They were here to help!  Thank God.

But my PC isn’t running slowly.  And which PC?  I’ve got two servers, two laptops and a PC.  Which one is having trouble?  The tech guy thought they all had problems and he was ready to jump right in and fix everything.

Here are some facts from someone who works for Microsoft:  Even if your computer was on fire, we couldn’t call you.  We have no connection between your computer and your name, address or phone number.  Even if you registered with Microsoft when you bought your PC and first activated Windows.  The best we could do is send a notification to your computer, but never your phone.

If you’re having PC trouble, perhaps Albion can help you.  But make no mistake:  your PC didn’t call Albion.  What you’re experiencing is a telemarketing call with a clever introduction to make you think it’s an official call from Microsoft about your computer.  I think it’s underhanded, because it preys on people who don’t know a lot about how their computer works (which is most of us).

If your computer is running slowly, here are some things you can look out for:

• Remove any browser toolbars you installed into Internet Explorer (or whatever browser you’re using).  Browser toolbars are designed to send your browsing data to the company that made them, so that company can better serve you advertisements.  Really, you don’t need them, and too many of them slow down your browser.
• Remove all but one antivirus software product.  More than one of these will slow your computer to a crawl.  One is all the protection you need.  You don’t have to pay for decent antivirus:  Microsoft Security Essentials is all I ever use and it’s free.
• Only install software you trust.  Any program you install has the potential to slow down your computer.  Writing really good software isn’t easy and there’s lots of stuff out there that can slow things down or flat out break some subtle features.  If you’re not sure, use System Restore to create a restore point first.  Then, if something goes wrong you can restore back to the restore point.

Like many, I was shocked to hear of Steve’s passing yesterday.  Twitter, Facebook, all the major news outlets and even the president himselfpoured out heartfelt thoughts and condolences to his family.  I work for the other team so I shouldn’t be as sentimental as those who live or die by their Apple products, right?  Wrong.  I’m surprised by just how moved I am.

I experienced my first Apple product just four years ago.  Sure, I’d seen (and even touched!) Macs, iPods and even the occasional Apple II in high school.  But nothing had ever really struck me as something I had to have.  Then the iPhone was released.  At first I didn’t believe the hype or the videos of it in action.  How could they make the UI so fluid?  How could it be so thin?  It had to be a mock up.

So I bought one.  I walked into an Apple store and walked out a mere ten minutes later, iPhone in hand.  When I got home it turned out to be everything the hype said it was:  it was revolutionary.  It wasn’t the hardware or the software.  It was the whole package.  This is the magic of Apple:  from my first Apple store experience to my first product unboxing to my first usage of my shiny new iPhone, my whole expectation of consumer electronics had permanently changed. 

The experience matters.  The whole experience.  Apple carefully planned my entire iPhone experience from the moment I set foot in the store all the way through to buying my next iPhone.  They are experts at sweating the small stuff.  Because Steve was an expert at sweating the small stuff.  Steve taught the world that it matters how things feel in your hand.  It matters what kinds of materials are used and how durable something is through day-to-day use.  It matters how you’re treated when you walk in a store.  It even matters what color the box is.  All of these thousands of small details add up and create something larger than the whole. 

I know Apple will go on sweating the small stuff.  I’m sure that’s one of the thousands of small details Steve attended to before he left.  But the computer industry and the entire world has lost a very rare and unique visionary.

A few months ago we bought a new car.  We were long overdue.  One of the features that came standard on the new vehicle was a Sirius satellite radio and a free trial subscription.  We had no idea what we were getting into.

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Today at work some of the design team was passing around an email about color, and someone linked to a color survey done a while back.  You can read the whole survey results here, but this section really stood out for me:

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Cole had his first soccer game today -- just two days after his first practice. Some players were clearly more focused on the game, but everyone had a great time.