Jerry Michalski
Wealth is relationships. (Episode 8!)
Jerry Michalski is generous. He’s lavished me since Mobile Insights 1999 where we met. I was promoting my lab’s first endeavor, an import-export standard for tools for organizing thoughts like TheBrain and MindManager. Jerry’s Brain was and ever is the world’s largest. It is full of the ideas he keeps track of, but also people, notably anyone who inspires him with an “Aha” moment.
Jerry’s a key person in Silicon Valley. My best leads there this spring for the Includer were all people I met through him, including Peter Kaminski (then at SocialText, now at Dreamfish), Christian Crumlish (Yahoo!) and Charles Warren (Google).
Jerry was in Tanzania for three weeks. I had a chance to chat with him and share a few thoughts for his Brain!
Andrius: Hi Jerry are you back in the States or in Zanzibar? Greetings from Bosnia
Jerry: hi andrius. back home in SF now :: how’s bosnia? you sure get around!
Andrius: it’s nice here :: you do too! :: I’m teaching algebra for the semester
Jerry: cool!
Andrius: and working on our lab’s projects as usual :: I’d like our chat room to be 24 hours so that people could get help whenever they came on whatever they want :: I think there might be business potential in that (Episode 6)
Jerry: it’s not? or is it just that there’s nobody who can man it 24 hrs?
Andrius: yes we need to staff it (Episode 9)
Jerry: gotcha
Andrius: so it could be 90% helping each other for free
Jerry: it was very instructive being in Africa
Andrius: and 10% business :: great
Jerry: major connectivity woes, except for cellphones everywhere
Andrius: what did you see and learn -
Jerry: and hardly anything is paved. all the interesting stuff happens on rutted, muddy roads
Andrius: I suppose our idea for the Includer makes sense?
Jerry: to use the includer, they’d have to have access to a PC, which few have
Andrius: to have a device for reading and writing emails onto USB flash drives (Episode 0)
Jerry: I got very focused on what you can do w a cellphone
Andrius: our participants walk to the Internet cafe :: which may be a few kilomteres away
Jerry: they’re expensive and very scarce :: even in Arusha, for example.
Andrius: I have never been myself
Jerry: have u been to africa?
Andrius: so the idea of the Includer is that they be able to work offline – it could work with a phone as well -but should be comfortable for writing emails 20 hours a week or so :: I’ve never been to Africa
Jerry: you’ve been everywhere else! about time something brought you to africa :: I have to head out for a meeting. thanks for the ping!
Andrius: that’s where we’re strongest so maybe I shouldn’t go :: may I share our chat?
Jerry: sure
Andrius: thanks peace