Crete 2010 vacation at Villa Eleana

It started with a good sign. When we unpacked at Villa Eleana, I found a paperback copy of Anna Karenina* on the bookshelf. One of its 864 pages was ear marked. Just one page. Since I have already started reading Anna Karenina in my iPad - I was amazed to see that the bookmarked page was the exact page I was just reading. What a coincidence! The page describes the rural life of Constantin Levin, one of the main characters. Rural life - we had plenty of it in Crete.

This was indeed a great summer vacation: the accommodation was great, we enjoyed nice mountain view, private swimming pool, comfortable facilities and nearby attractions, such as Plakias with its beautiful beaches and Rethymnon, about which I will elaborate further.

Most of the time we cooked our meals out of fresh local ingredients. The yard's barbecue was very busy, so were the kitchen's stove and oven.

Did Google loot Facebook?

Choosing a name to a product is a skill for the masters. A known, embarrassing story is the name Mitsubishi picked for their 90s SUV - Pajero. None did their decision makers know about its meaning in some Spanish speaking countries' slang: masturbate. Ouch. Later models marketed in these countries carried a different name, of course, leaving a heavy dust cloud of doubtful reputation behind them.

A totally different case is Google's new social network name - Buzz. This name, though not awkward as the given example, fell as a ripe fruit to the hands of us, native Hebrew speakers. In Hebrew it can be used all alone or as part of other words, making a saucerful of meanings and sub-texts. To begin with, the English slang Buzz is commonly used in modern Hebrew, so Google did a good job here. We use Buzz for its meaning. Using "buzz" for describing a buzz is "cool", yet another English slang adopted by Hebrew speakers. It's cool to say cool in Hebrew and it's totally uncool to use the original Hebrew word for it, Giz'ii, literally meaning "pedigree".

So how do us, Hebrew speakers, roll, mince, chop, dice and reuse Buzz? Let's start:
"Bahz" (pronounced similarly to Buzz, with shorter z) stands for two different Hebrew words. Multiple meaning is a common practice in our ancient language. The funnier one in our context is to despite. So the first Hebrew reactions to Google Buzz could be translated into something like "I despite Google Buzz", making the reader pronouncing the word "Buzz" twice in two different meanings.

The other translation is falcon. My original reaction to Google Buzz's name was - "Hey, there is also Google Hawk, it anyone is interested". This opened an interesting bird-watching thread. One of the replies was - "I would prefer pigeon mail over Gmail. Pigeons are more sophisticated than falcons. Yes, a pigeon is slower, but at least it gives you the illusion that it cares for you." The responder continues: "I wonder whether Google decided to start a whole line of bird-named products. Google-Peres would be the perfect one for diplomacy". Some explanation is needed here: Israeli president Shimon Peres's second name. In English Peres is vulture. Got the idea?

We're not done yet. Being a syllable in other words, Buzz gets yet new, surprising meanings in Hebrew. "Mevuzbaz" (like many Hebrew words, use terminal stress in pronouncing) means "wasted". Just imagine the long tail of threads around this word and its declinations, a whole gammer world in Hebrew: Bizbez, Yevuzbaz, Bizbazti and so forth, don't bother with the translation. Bzahz, an Arabic word meaning "udders" was adopted in Hebrew slang as boobs. So it can be somehow awkward, but the pronouncing is a bit different here, where the two Zs (yes, two of them J) sound more like the letter J in Jargon.

Let's terminate this discussion with "Bazahz", terminal stress again, means to loot. Read the post headline again now.

WWI

No, this does not stand for World War 1.

I think that one of the most asked questions after an innovative product is presented to the world, usually begins with
"Why Would I?". Well, it's not just Apple's new iPad. I guess that decades ago, WWI questions were asked with the introduction of the telephone, radio and TV. "Why would I want to be interrupted by ringing bells during tea time, darling?", "Why would I want to host foreign people's voices in my living room?", "Why would I sit and watch movies instead of reading books or listening to the radio"? and so forth.

Of course, many more WWIs were probably asked about products or innovations that nobody really needed, ending up in history's garbage. God knows how many insomniac nights did I spend in front of some TV shopping channels, ending up not buying any innovative mop, because why would I need one. Better recollection now reminds me that I didn't have a nickel to spare that time, but that another issue.

But once a truly innovative product is adopted, no one questions it. WWI is then replace with IWI, standing for "I Wish I" / "I wish It". I wish I was able to call friends without the need for a human operator in the middle. I wish I could carry it with me everywhere. I wish it had colors, not just black and white. Or, in our case, you already hear IWI for built-in camera, USB, HDMI, multitasking, you name it. And the sucker hasn't hit the stores yet.

Indeed, I have a few WWI for the iPad myself. Why would I want to have email and other push alerts when I try concentrating in a book? This is where the Kindle shines - it does one thing perfectly. No interventions, great readability, long battery life. People use other devices for email, text or other alerts, usually their phones, laptops or Netbooks. Why would I want to watch movies on it? At home I have a variety of devices just for that - a plasma screen hanging on the wall, two desktop computers and one laptop, all have great visible quality and 16:9 screens. On the go I have my iPhone, why would I? the iPad looks a bit large and heavy holding it for a long time, standing in the subway.

In business trips I will always carry a laptop with me. I need some heavy duty software, like photoshop, integrated development environments and other geek stuff, not available on an iPad. Of course, during a boring meeting, it would be a breeze to use it, but that's about it.

So why would I, indeed? The answer is in the question. Unlike mops utilizing latest NASA technologies, this one really has something into it. We don't know what exactly this thing is, but unless it's a total technological failure, which it's not, you will see people using it everywhere. Home, office and on the go. No one will ask WWI. It will just be there. Easy to use, a bit irritating with alerts during Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, a bit needy on battery life, well - a bit of everything, annoying to pleasing.

Israel's first prime minister, David Ben Gurion, said once: "I don't care about what the people wants. I know the people needs". That what some of us love in Apple. As Steve Jobs himself once said, about his Apple exile period: “It took us three years to build the NeXT computer. If we'd given customers what they said they wanted, we'd have built a computer they'd have been happy with a year after we spoke to them - not something they'd want now.”. And if he's wrong this time?