i-Yawn

I wanted to wait a while before posting about the new i-Pad. So much hype preceded the launch of the latest device from Apple, so it wouldn't have been fair to discuss it without some time going by and letting thoughts settle.

But really? An oversize iPhone is all Apple could come up with? Granted the pricing is attractive, but netbooks continue to drop in retail price, and satisfy the needs of the casual websurfer just fine (albeit with some performance issues, but these should diminish with time). So Steve Jobs couldn't have thought this was going to displace the mobile computing marketplace (especially since the iPhone is already leagues ahead of competition in this regards).

No, I think the real value of the iPad is going to be in the eBook space, and the skirmish this has started with Amazon. There are several things going for the iPad in this regards - the iTunes-like store for books, the ePub format, and an interesting revenue-sharing contract with publishers are a few of them. Amazon doesn't need to worry about it's online bookstore engine, but the proprietary Kindle format and its pricing agreements with its publishers is of concern. I own a Kindle, and love it, but already the iPad has forced Amazon to move away from its loss leading $9.99 price for eBooks. I won't be too happy to see prices for books go up, so I'm waiting to see what happens.

Extra competition is good, and eventually you'll see innovation drive advances in the electronic publishing industry. As a consultant, I worked on eBook projects in 1999, but the platforms just weren't there, and projects fizzled. Now, with the iPad and Kindle going at each other, I'm looking forward to some true change (I haven't played around with the Sony Reader or the BN Nook to form much of an opinion on those devices).

But to come back to my original reaction to the iPad. Only the Apple fanboys can truly believe they are getting a successor device to the iPod and iPhone when they buy the iPad. For the rest of us, it's the shot fired across the electronic publishing world that should get us salivating.

What defines career sucess?

In the next six months I’ll be making a transition in my career. I’ll be staying at the same company, but will be moving off from a program that I’ve been part of for the last three years. The opportunity is a rare one – there are only so many times in one’s career where there is the opportunity to choose from multiple positions, knowing that some of these can take one’s career in a completely different direction. However, let me be clear - given the economic environment, there are multiple candidates vying for these same opportunities, so it’s important to network with senior management and get your name out there.

So last week I set up time with a Senior Manager to discuss opportunities on her team, but more importantly to get general career advice regarding the division in which I am interested. This individual has been at Abbott for a few years now, and has several staff reporting to her. Most of the half hour conversation was spent discussing my strengths, and what sort of a fit positions on her team (if they materialize) would be for my goals. Towards the end of our friendly conversation, she asked about my transition to California, and how the experience here differed from other places where I had lived.

When I mentioned that I had started out on the East Coast, her eyes lit up. Probing further it turned out that we were alums of the same institution – the University of Virginia. She mentioned that she obtained her MBA from the Darden business school at UVA in 2002, and I responded that I had attended UVA as an undergraduate.

“So did I,” she said.

“Really?” I asked. “I graduated in 1998 from the Engineering school. You?”

“1998. From the Engineering School.”

Although I should have been excited to find an alum from the same school and program all the way out in Santa Clara, CA, I felt like the air had been sucked out of the room. Here I was, having spent 30 minutes getting career advice from a personable, accomplished Senior Manager who had clearly achieved success. And yet we were the same age, and had started our careers at the same time. And she was my senior (by quite a bit).

I tried to recover a little by expressing surprise at what a small world we lived in, and asking who else I should network with.

“Do you know X?” she asked. Of course, I replied – he was a General Manager in charge of our Asia-Pacific operations, and I had heard his name mentioned often.

“He also graduated from UVA. 1998”

I don’t remember the rest of the conversation, other than her telling me to stop by if I had any other questions in the future. I was too busy trying to figure out where my career path had slowed down relative to these successful individuals, to do anything other than meekly thank her and leave.

So that remains the question. How does one define career success? A title, a corner office, multiple direct reports? A high salary, great responsibility? Personal fulfillment? And what timelines should be attached to those goals? I understand that I switched careers – from consulting to healthcare – and that I should not measure my path directly to the Senior Manager I met with, since she graduated with an MBA three years before I did. But how should I advise my daughter as she grows up? Should she try to get to b-school as soon as she can? Is working for seven years before grad school (like her dad), going to slow down her career trajectory? Or is the perspective that comes with time in the industry reward in itself?

Whatever the answers, I know I’ll continue networking. After all, I have lost ground to make-up.