Harrison Hoffman

"And yes, you’re right, Steve Jobs didn’t manage this way. He was a dictatorial, autocratic asshole..."

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:54:51 -0800

“And yes, you’re right, Steve Jobs didn’t manage this way. He was a dictatorial, autocratic asshole who ruled by fiat and fear. Maybe he made great products this way. But you? You are not Steve Jobs. You are not better at design than everyone in your company. You are not better at programming than every engineer in your company. You are not better at sales than every salesperson in the company.”

- Joel Spolsky on upside-down pyramid management

Last week’s Ben Gibbard solo benefit show at The Crocodile...

Tue, 09 Nov 2010 14:05:49 -0800

Last week’s Ben Gibbard solo benefit show at The Crocodile was really amazing. One of the highlights of the night was a new song about the Smith Tower in Seattle that he treated the crowd to. This video of the song from the show surfaced, so check it out!

I’m pretty excited for Conan’s new show on TBS, but...

Thu, 04 Nov 2010 14:01:18 -0700

I’m pretty excited for Conan’s new show on TBS, but the ad on Pandora kind of freaks me out.

Cool new video of The Whale Song from Modest Mouse.

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 13:08:08 -0700

Cool new video of The Whale Song from Modest Mouse.

Check out TechCrunch’s demo video of the insanely cool...

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 23:48:49 -0700

Check out TechCrunch’s demo video of the insanely cool Photo Fuse feature in the new Windows Live Photo Gallery. Full post here.

This is how you know that college is over.

Tue, 18 May 2010 18:12:10 -0700

This is how you know that college is over.

Silent dance party flash mob in University of Miami’s...

Tue, 04 May 2010 23:57:39 -0700

Silent dance party flash mob in University of Miami’s library, at midnight before final exams!

Microsoft-bound

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 10:35:48 -0700

Graduation is rapidly approaching, so with a few weeks left to go in college, I am extremely happy to announce my next endeavor. Starting in July, I will be moving across the country, from Miami to Seattle, to work as a Product Manager/Evangelist for the Windows Live team at Microsoft. In this role, I’m going to be working to spread the word about Windows Live and improve the overall experience for customers. I am very excited about the direction that Windows Live is headed and the team that I will be working on is full of very highly motivated and passionate rock stars. I think that it is going to be a great place for me to be.

As some of you may know, I have a long history of involvement with Windows Live. Back in 2006, I co-founded LiveSide.net, which is a blog/news site that has covered Windows Live since its inception. I’m hoping to bring my experience with the Windows Live and web communities to my new role at Microsoft.

After being a tech blogger for the last four years, both with my own site and with CNET, it will be very interesting to move to the other side of the table and work on a product. I’m ready to take on that challenge. Taking a position at Microsoft will almost definitely be a big transition, so I think that this will be a good venue for me to talk about that, as well as my thoughts on the industry, and other random bits moving forward.

Thanks to everyone who has been so supportive of me over the years and in making this big decision. I am extremely grateful. I still have a little bit of time before I get started, but I’m anxious to get out to Seattle and get things going!

The new Google design was just turned on for me. I’m...

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:16:52 -0800

The new Google design was just turned on for me. I’m definitely digging it so far. What do you think? Too drastic or just right?

Subscriptions are the new black.

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 21:06:26 -0800

Subscriptions are the new black.:

Dave McClure’s raw, unfiltered post on how the web industry needs to move towards more subscription-based models claims, “We have largely WASTED an entire web decade of time, energy & venture capital on extremely inefficient revenue models.”

I think that Dave hits the nail on the head on a lot of points here. A lot of the things that he’s saying are also in line with what Jason Fried from 37signals talked about at FOWA Miami last year when he proclaimed that, “Free is not the future of web apps.”

Watch the CEO of McGraw Hill totally blow Apple’s...

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 19:42:02 -0800

Watch the CEO of McGraw Hill totally blow Apple’s iTablet/iSlate/iPad announcement a day early on CNBC. He confirms an iPhone-style OS and eBook partnerships (specifically textbooks) for the device.

It’s not that we didn’t already see these things coming, but it’s surprising to see a partner confirm anything ahead of Apple’s announcement. My guess is that Steve Jobs will be less than happy.

MySpace's first foray into Facebook Connect

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 05:40:51 -0800

MySpace's first foray into Facebook Connect:

MySpace’s “Fan Video” page is the first implementation of the long-rumored Facebook Connect adoption on the site.

Songza Sets streams music with a human touch

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 17:57:15 -0800

Songza Sets streams music with a human touch:

The latest streaming start-up to challenge algorithms with real humans, Songza Sets offers up daily, themed music playlists, hand-picked by music experts.

Facebook iPhone app gets address sync, push

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 15:18:44 -0800

Facebook iPhone app gets address sync, push:

Version 3.1 the social network’s iPhone app brings welcome additions like push notifications and address book sync.

Flixster buys Rotten Tomatoes from News Corp.

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 02:10:34 -0800

Flixster buys Rotten Tomatoes from News Corp.:

User-generated movie review site Flixster has acquired critic-focused movie review site Rotten Tomatoes from News Corp. to compliment their offering.