Craig Fisk & the Palm Pilot Prototype
Sometimes it’s pretty cool to be older! You get to know and understand some amazing people and the value of history in the making of business.
Such was the case at last night’s Event Host Happy Hour for those of us presenting at #tcsw2022. I had the privilege of getting to know Craig Fisk, who will be presenting his company’s virtual networking concepts (which are way cool, too!). As we talked about each other’s presentation opportunities, one of mine is pairing Alberto Savoia‘s Pretotyping Principles + Ash Maurya‘s Lean Canvas concepts to create the best way for #startups to hypothesis-test their products or services. As we started exploring these topics further, I brought up the Pretotyping learning that I would be sharing with TCSW and specifically, Jeff Hawkins’ “Pinnochio Pretotype” of the Palm Pilot. Craig’s eyes widened and he said, “You know, I SAW that actual block of wood, myself!” I knew then, that I needed to record that small snippet of history in a photo – a person who saw and understood the shape of our collective futures at a time when it hadn’t even been built yet. If not for Jeff Hawkins, we’d never have hand-held anything (except maybe sandwiches). Thanks to his block of wood Pretotype, we now have incredible computing, intelligence, phones, and connections in the palm of our hands.