I’ve just finished a 3 week holiday and feel pretty relaxed, but also like things have moved on without me a lot. In the 3 weeks I didn’t even use the computer very much. However, I’ve been playing with the iPhone a lot.

I know there has been some bad press for the iPhone 3G, but I have to say that this is a very cool device. I’ve had no regrets for giving up the old qtek 9100 I was using before. The keyboard takes a little getting uses to (I’m using it right now), but the browsing experience Is fantastic. I can check baseball scores while standing in the lens room waiting for my kids to finish (I used to have to reads the instructions on the hand dryer or condom machine to entertain myself) and I can watch YouTube videos on the train. Definately cool.

It seems that every network now broadcasts they’re shows on the web for a set period.  In the UK, we have the iPlayer for BBC.  The networks provide this service–not to please audiences–but because piracy has forced them to.  By showing the best TV programmes on the web, they can still generate ad revenue and make it easier to watch than finding a dodgy download.  It’s a great idea, really.

But then you try to use it.  I’ve been to the big US network sites and tried to watch their videos, but always get told that they are not available in my country.  While visiting my hometown newspaper site, Sign-on San Diego, I read a glowing review of Hulu.com and the future of web tv.  But, when I try to view a show, I get this:

“Unfortunately this video is not currently available in your country or region.  We apologize for the inconvenience.”

This is where the lawyers got involved, I think.  They’re still trying to get ad revenue to feed this.  “It will be just like TV, but we’ll put it on the web!  People will still see that Ace Hardware commercial three times an hour–but it will be on the web!  There is no Ace Hardware overseas?  Well, we’ll just let people in the US see it.”  They’ve probably not even thought about charging a reasonable subscription price.  This is where it falls down when trying to beat piracy.

Since moving to the UK 10 years ago, I’ve become increasingly annoyed that the industrial age companies still insist on making countries outside the US wait for things.  A hit blockbuster movie might be release in the UK 6 weeks after being released in the states.  By the time it gets here, all reviews have been read and all clips have been seen.  All this so they can fly the stars out and do the red carpet thing in Leicester Square?

Back in 1999, the news here would show a story of some UK guys who flew out to New York to see the premier of the “Phantom Menace” since it came out in the UK 2 months later.  These guys camped out in a queue for weeks.  Imagine their disappointment when they found out how crap it was.  But now, this doesn’t happen.  Now, people find the pirate copies.  They are either offered up by Chinese dealers on the streets of London or downloaded.  The same is true with TV. 

The net savvy are all caught up on Lost and other TV shows.  They are not trying to steal.  These people participate in global forums talking about their favourite shows.  They are tired of trying to avoid spoilers.  They would happily watch some adds or pay a few dollars a month to see something when everyone else sees it. 

I’m a big Tom Peters fan.  I’ve read a few of his books and read his blog regularly.  He had a radical approach to the business life and I find that comforting in my current world of commutes and cufflinks.

One of the things that Tom Peters often says is (I’m paraphrasing only slightly) “Only in business do you see the best salesperson promoted to sales manager.”  In a symphony, the best violinist does not become a conductor.  The best managers in major league sports were often very average players when they played. 

I’m finding myself in the position where I do more code reviewing than actual coding.  I look at timescales and can’t believe someone would think such a trivial bit of work would take so long.  I often find myself aghast at someone’s lack of javascript knowledge or how they rely on WYSWIG editors for page design.  In the .Net age, do we really think we can drop basic HTML and javascript knowledge?

A few weeks ago I gave someone a task that would have taken me three hours to complete and he took over two weeks.  I know it would take me three hours, because I had to redo the bit of work afterwards anyway.

It’s difficult to move from coder to code reviewer/developer manager when the coding always seemed so easy.  In baseball, I’m sure managers where were very talented players probably had the most difficulty with players who struggled to perform basic actions.  A manager who was a mediocre player would be able to give a struggling player better advice. 

It’s difficult moving to the next level.  But God knows I had enough people help me when I was struggling.  Now it’s time for me to be one of those people.