Newsletter the Twenty-first

You know how sometimes you suddenly realize that you're living in the future and just didn't know it yet? Like, my teenage boys are learning to play poker, so I pulled out the chips (handed down to me from my grandparents!) and explain, "white is 1, red is 5, blue is 10, black is 25 — just like coins."

They looked at me with a blank stare and replied, "um, we don't really use coins. What are the values again?"

Wait, what? I had to pause and look around on the floor for my dropped jaw.?

They're not toddlers… we're talking about a kid in college and one about to finish high school.?

Me? I've kept a few coins in my pocket almost every day of my life for decades, just in case I need to make a phone call at a payphone or use a parking meter. Granted, I haven't actually done either of these things for years, but… you know… what if?

So I patiently explained the coins again, just like I did when the boys were 5 years old, though that knowledge may be about as relevant to them today as it was back then.?

But it made me wonder: In what other ways am I still blissfully living in the past, with outdated knowledge, or habits, or beliefs… And what am I going to do about it?

Worst Mistake Ever

The worst, costliest mistake I ever made… wow, I almost don't even want to talk about it, because… well, it's embarrassing, right? But OK, about 25 years ago, I finished writing and producing a book for Peachpit Press. It was a book about software, over 800 pages long, and we were pushing up against the final, final, drop-dead deadline.

One of the last steps in creating a print book is to build an index. And a good index is much harder to make than most people expect — partly because an index shouldn't include just what's in the book… it also has to include words that the average person will look for! Plus, formatting can be tricky, edits can be hard, and so on. So, as you can imagine, getting a great index is a struggle under deadline… and in the midst of that struggle:

We sent the book to press with the wrong index. Yup. The words were correct, but almost every page number was wrong — like, 2 or 3 pages off, enough to be meaningless.

I say "we" because while I was writing and laying out the book, the publisher and editors and production staff were all involved… and no one noticed until thousands of books were printed and shipped to bookstores around the world. It was horrible. My publisher called back as many books as they could, destroyed the inventory, and re-printed at massive expense.

But some books must have snuck through, because for years after, I would get emails and see comments on forums and in reviews: "what a great book… but the index is useless!" Ouch.

The Bronze Medal Goes To…

OK, let's play a game: What's the next character in this progression: Z, X, C, V, B… The answer may literally be staring you in the face right now!

The solution to this puzzle is not mathematical, or cryptographic… it's just a matter of looking down. After all, everyone knows QWERTY, right? And you probably recognize ASDFG. They're the first and second lines of keys on standard keyboards.?

So why doesn't anyone talk about ZXCVB, the third line of keys. And the next key, of course, is "N".

The third biggest company (Amazon or Apple or Alphabet… keeps changing!) is talked about; the third biggest country (China) or US state (California) is important… But the third row on the keyboard is bubkes?!?

Let's elevate ZXCVB to its proper recognition. After all, it's easy to pronounce (after a drink or two), and it's fun to type.

Come Work for Us

As you know, I run a company called CreativePro, and we're growing the team: hiring a membership manager and an editor. If you love the design community and want to work with a kind, cool, virtual team on some great projects, visit our jobs page and read all about it.

Thank You!

I enjoy sharing my musings… and I enjoy hearing yours! Feel free to follow this newsletter, share it with a friend, follow me on LinkedIn, and send me feedback. You can always reach me at [email protected]