On the passage from Hakuba back to Tokyo, I enjoyed the scenery from my window seat. I recognized the clusters of Sugi trees, remarkably straight and tall. They would be good for making log cabins, or for beams in a house. Ahead of me were two young boys, scrambling around like bear cubs. Little sibling […]
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This website is an extension of the book, Fastlane: My Japanese Roadster on the Information SuperHighway.
OnSale Off Sale
I had expected great things from Jerry Kaplan’s company, Onsale. Online auctions represented a new way to connect buyers and sellers like no other. Moreover, I liked Jerry’s approach toward business to business marketing. Onsale wasn’t just a bulletin board of items in a public garage sale. The company had its IPO debut in April […]
Sesame Whiskey
Having planned to meet Hayashi-san for dinner, I hurriedly approached what looked like an office building. Glancing at my watch, I found an elevator. In and up I went. I wandered around, unsure of which illegible sign signified the doorway of an eatery. Hovering near one, a maître’d emerged and asked if I were looking […]
Looking Into the Internet
I walked into the offices of The Smaby Group in Minneapolis. “Hi. Jim Chandler, here to see Gary.” The receptionist directed me to a conference room where I waited with some curiosity. I had heard of Gary from Ann Winblad, who had founded and sold a tech company in Minneapolis before moving west to start […]
Post-war Japan
In San Francisco in the 1970s, I bought a sewing machine at a garage sale. Sewing was just construction — carpentry without the splinters and purple thumbs. This machine referenced a complex time in the history of our two countries: printed were the words, “Made in Occupied Japan.” My guess was that after the war, […]
Pre-internet Collaboration
The connectivity afforded by this new medium suggested some wonderful potential for interaction well beyond simple email. Indeed, ahead lay the promise of new virtual worlds. I reflected upon some earlier attempts. In the mid-eighties, I’d used the Dialog service at work. It was basically a grouping of databases with strict search terms, good for […]
Toshi’s Struggle: Alone in a Group Culture
On Wednesday afternoon I took some time to meet a friend from California. My wife Annie met Toshi when Annie was earning her Masters in Psychology at California State University at Hayward. Toshi was studying the same discipline while on leave from a training company in Japan. We invited Toshi and his wife for dinner. […]