Cracking the PM Interview: How to Land a Product Manager Job in Technology

Cracking the PM Interview: How to Land a Product Manager Job in Technology by Gayle Laakmann McDowell (Author), Jackie Bavaro

This book provides an introduction to the career of a product manager and the interview process typically involved. There are examples of some of the types of questions asked and proper ways to solve them. There is also a section on resumes. You want to have accomplishments written in the past tense, not activities that you were told to do. It is good to tell stories when asked. Bring up accomplishments as you are going. Talking in bullet points is also good. 

Some of the book is dated. (Yahoo! and Twitter are not at the top of anyone's lists now.) It also spends a little too long on programming questions (they have other books for that.) There is other content like case studies that also feels repetitive from their other books, but overall, this book has a better variety of content.

The War on Prices: How Popular Misconceptions about Inflation, Prices, and Value Create Bad Policy

The War on Prices: How Popular Misconceptions about Inflation, Prices, and Value Create Bad Policy edited by Ryan A. Bourne

Prices are an indication of the marginal value that buyer and seller place on an exchange. They don't explicitly represent the value that went into creating something or even the worth of the object. Water is required to live, but is cheap. Prices help allocate resources to those who are willing to pay for them.

Prices of individual items go up and down to match the desires of buyers and sellers. Inflation is typically caused by changes in money supply and velocity. Price controls may cause mismatches in supply and demand and may not alter inflation. Consumers will respond to artificially low prices by consuming more. Producers will respond by producing less or reducing quality. This can lead to shortages and lead to everyone being worse off. (Though it could possibly lead to alternatives.) Artificial prices may often substitute one cost with anther. Instead of paying in money for something, people may need to pay in time by waiting in a long line or hunting for a hard to find item.

The negative impacts of price controls can be far reaching. During World War II, the US implemented wage controls. To get around these, workers offered fringe benefits, such as health insurance. This became the de facto way that health care is obtained in the US and results in a complicated system that exists today and is very difficult to disentangle.

People also are not stupid. Is there a "pink" tax requiring women to pay more than men for the same products? If it were truly so, women would just buy the men's version. However, the female products are often different in ways that females value more. The "gender wage gap" is also explained by forces. (After all, what company wouldn't want to employ as many people as possible for a fraction of the cost?) Early career men and women in the same profession tend to earn the same. However, women tend to gravitate to less risky and less remunerated careers. They are also more likely to take time off for childbirth and child rearing. They are more likely to value flexible work schedules. (Increasing maternity leave for women can make this even worse, by encouraging them to take more time off, thus limiting experience. Perhaps more paternity leave is the answer?) 

The book looks at many other examples. The general theme is that meddling with prices will impact the economy and will often have unforeseen consequences. People are quick to adapt to find new loopholes in a regulatory environment. The more more friction there is in pricing, the slower the economy will adapt. It reminds me of an interesting analysis of the German industry. Labor has a seat at the board and influences actions of the company. This makes it very friendly to existing workers. However, this also makes it difficult for pivots to electric cars and other significant changes. Will they have much of a role in the future industry?

What is the best way to regulate a market? Is allowing uber-wealthy a necessary cost of doing business? How do we appropriately set markets for externalities (like emissions, deforestation, etc.)? The current regime of regulating the response to regulations doesn't help.

Chinese Characters across Asia: How the Chinese Script Came to Write Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese

Chinese Characters across Asia: How the Chinese Script Came to Write Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese by Zev Handel

For the most part, Chinese characters represent individual things such as objects or actions. In theory this would enable them to be understood across multiple languages. In some sense they can. Japan users Kanji to represent ideas that would be understood by those that know Chinese. Korea and Vietnam had also used Chinese characters for some communication. Ancient Chinese was primarily a literary language that would be used to communicate ideas and not necessarily one spoken by normal people. The pictographs were intelligible, shared ideas. However, they were just part of the language. Everyday speech also has some indication of sounds and grammatical structure. Ancient Chinese was similar to Latin in that it could communicate ideas across languages, but could not display the vernacular spoken language. Modern Chinese has adopted from ancient Chinese to write modern Mandarin. Japanese has incorporated Hirigana (and Katakana) with the characters for Japanese. Vietnamese and Korean have pivoted away from the characters altogether, adopting their own alphabet or a Latin letters for writing. The book has been adapted from an academic work for a general audience and still has some of its academic feel while covering the topic generally.

Collision of Worlds: A Deep History of the Fall of Aztec Mexico and the Forging of New Spain

Collision of Worlds: A Deep History of the Fall of Aztec Mexico and the Forging of New Spain by David M. Carballo

This academic book explores the histories of Spain and Mexico before and immediately after Cortes conquered the Aztecs. The language is dense, though the primary sources are meager. Both areas had rich cultures that were well developed before they met. The Aztecs had recently come to dominate and tenuously held a domination over other peoples in the area. The Spaniards were able to exploit these rivalries with alliances. The warfare culture was also different. The Aztecs fighters were focussed primarily on their own achievements and preferred prisoners, while the Spaniards would kill. Culturally, the Spaniards were fine killing unbelievers, but were repulsed by the Aztec human sacrifices. Mexicans had sports and ball games as well as language and worship that were interesting to Spaniards while at the same time seen as somewhat heretical. The Spaniards worked on the conversion with the conquering, with Christianity and churches placed over former Mexican pyramids and worship sites. It is also interesting that the Spaniards focussed on areas familiar to them. The Yucatan was a bit too hard for them to manage. Diseases also worked in the Spaniards favor as the Mexicans had little animal culture and the exposure to disease. Could things have turned out differently?

Lost on the Amazon (Choose Your Own Adventure #9)

Lost on the Amazon (Choose Your Own Adventure #9) by R. A. Montgomery

This 1980s book has been updated to include mention of cell phones, but much of the story remains the same. You are a doctor going to the Amazon to help people and rescue some friends. You battle with the situation as well as run into real "Amazons". I like to read these to find all the endings. Now I remember how annoying it was. I have various bookmarks to try to go back. The various endings are also not in the same universe. The multiple endings are not different outcomes from the same base scenario, but instead rely on different premises. 

Cracking the PM Career: The Skills, Frameworks, and Practices to Become a Great Product Manager

Cracking the PM Career: The Skills, Frameworks, and Practices to Become a Great Product Manager by Gayle Laakmann McDowell and Jackie Bavaro

What is a Product Manager? The role is primarily present in technology companies. It primarily involves providing direction and managing a "product" rather than people. Product managers don't have people authority and must rely on "soft" authority to get done. They often have both a computer science and business background. This book is written with Silicon Valley in mind. There are discussions of big tech, startups and VCs. The entire career is covered, with expectations for fresh-out-of-school product managers up to those that have transitioned to CEO. Product management is most often a "mid-career" position. People will transition into it and later move to management. It involves working both outwards to understand the market and customers as well as inward to the development teams. It can be a fun for those interested. The book ends with interview advice and bios from a number of people that have worked as product managers.

Transport for Humans: Are We Nearly There Yet?

Transport for Humans: Are We Nearly There Yet? by Pete Dyson and Rory Sutherland

Transportation planning often focuses on speeding up time. This is great for freight, but fails humans. Psychology can inform planners of the best way to improve systems for humans. The conditions of the transport and status may make a greater impact than the actual speed. Counteritivite improvements may be difficult in practice, even though they would theoretically help. (A variable speed limit that is lower than the maximum would help everyone to get there faster at a consistent speed. However, drivers have difficulty seeing how driving slower can make them faster.)

Planners often focus on the part of the system they control, without looking at a whole system. A train operator may shave 5 minutes off the travel time. However, a user would need to add time to travel to the train station and to arrive there early for security and check in. Reducing those times would reduce travel time without added expense.

The comfort of the transportation can also make a big difference. The Concord was fast. The 747 and descendents are much slower, but they have lay-flat beds in first class. The wealthy ended up opting for comfort over speed. Trains with clean windows or seat-back trays provide a more comfortable experience and make travel time feel shorter.

Numbers can also be misleading. A small speed improvement on a slower road will provide greater benefit than a similar improvement on a fast road. People don't care about "average" travel time. They want to know if their trip will arrive on time. Deviations and unexpected changes are of significant concern. Providing accurate up-date status on train arrivals greatly improves travel experience.

Will transit planners actually shift their focus to making transportation for people? Will they actually focus on making a good walking and biking experience for entire routes? It has yet to be seen.

Korean Hangul for Beginners

Korean Hangul for Beginners by Soohee Kim, Haewon Cho and Emily Curtis

Hangul is a logical writing system that combines an intuitive alphabet in a syllabic writing system. The letters are written in a way that relates to the way they are pronounced. They are then combined in blocks with consonants and vowels that make up a syllable. The sounds are almost always the same, though there are some special cases especially at the ends of the words. This workbook provides a good way of learning. It explains the symbols and provides details on how symbols are built upon previous symbols. There is plenty of practice with both writing and hearing the characters. It does require some effort to learn the characters, but just reading the book can provide some background.

My First Book of Korean Words: An ABC Rhyming Book of Korean Language and Culture

My First Book of Korean Words: An ABC Rhyming Book of Korean Language and Culture by Henry J. Amen Iv and Kyubyong Park, illustrated by Aya Padrón

This is an "ABC" book of Korean words. The only catch is that the romanization of Korean does not include all the letters. Thus some of the words are English with a Korean translation, such as "F is for flying - nalda". Other words use less popular romanization "G is for gimchi", though most of us would think of it as kimchi. They do have downloads of the words. However, the bulk download did not work properly and the individual words were each in a single file. It did work, but it could be a bit painful. The book was not bad, but kids did not seem too interested.

The Languages of Pao

The Languages of Pao by Jack Vance

This is the 2004 "Vance Integral Edition" of the book. It had reviewed various versions to produce an "authoritative" version of the book that as reviewed by Vance. It was not easy to find, and ended up coming from on library loan from New Hampshire. 

Pao is a peaceful planet with billions of inhabitants. The language stresses a strong sense of community and togetherness. People are content having their basic needs fulfilled. However, this also leaves them susceptible to outside interference. The leader is killed and a pretender takes over. He is required to pay regular tribute to a warrior planet. The man with a real claim to the throne is taken under the wing of another leader. This leader trains him in the language and culture of the planet. It is part of a long scheme to get power. As part of this scheme a number of other people are sent off Pao to study linguistics in order to become future leaders. Different regions of Pao are also set up for certain groups (such as a warrior class) with their own languages. The true inheritor of the throne returns and is able to assume power. He helps the planet to grow and kick out their oppressors. However, he discovers that the planet is losing its identity. The grops have their own languages and thought processes. He hatches a plan to unify the country under a common language to maintain the identity. 

The book has some interesting takes on languages and their influence on culture. The neighboring planet has a "selfish" society that has great power over others. The planet is almost entirely men. They import women as concubines. The healthy sons remain while the daughters return with their mothers after the concubine period is over. This allows the group to rapidly reproduce, but does make them highly dependent on having a continual stream of foreigners. Could a society like this really function for a length of time? However, even more concerning is the unity of the original Pao language. Could a simple agricultural planet really maintain a single language across 15 billion people? Would the society stay similar across this planet?

Inhabit the Poem: Last Essays

Inhabit the Poem: Last Essays by Helen Vendler

Poetry has a much greater "density" and requires more time and focus to read. The author of this book has taken it to an even greater extreme.  Each chapter typically starts with a poem. Then she starts to analyze the poem. Then the analysis goes off on tangents, bringing in other poems or the life of the poet or cultural events that may have a slight relationship to the poem. I got quite lost with some. My favorite one was Epitaph on a Hare by Cowper. The poem is a bit bizarre, but the analysis actually sheds light on the poem and the importance the poet had on the animal. Other poems are just as likely to talk about the poet as other poets that have referenced the poem. The author provided a simple definition of important poems: "poems that future poets continue to reference". That might be the most useful insight in the book.

A Guide To Korean Characters: Reading and Writing Hangul and Hanja

A Guide To Korean Characters: Reading and Writing Hangul and Hanja by Bruce K. Grant

I checked this out intending to learn Korean writing. It does cover the writing systems. However, the Korean characters are only in the inside cover. The rest of the book covers Chinese characters. From what I have heard, these Chinese characters are only rarely used in Korea today. I'd rather find a book that focuses on Korean writing.

Punch with Judy

Punch with Judy by Avi

A boy is orphaned and ends up with a traveling troop. This includes a girl, Judy. They find themselves in trouble with the law. They try to reach the New York state line, but don't quite make it before the law catches up with them. However, by the time they are reached must of the crimes are irrelevant. (Judy got married and now has a different last name.) Only Punch, being an underage orphan is in trouble with the law. However, they hatch an agreement that he will be free if they make the authority laugh. They put on a show that will use a "slapstick" as part of the comedy. The stick will make a loud sound by not hurt. However, in the middle of the show, the "block" that makes it work comes out, and Judy ends up slapping Punch for real. All is good because the cops have cracked up and they are now free. They were a "real life" Punch and Judy show. The historical setting made it a bit hard to get into.

A Place Called Ugly

A Place Called Ugly by Avi

A boy comes to a coastal vacation spot with his family every year. One year, they learn that their vacation home is set to be demolished to make way for a hotel. He does not take that well and wants to preserve it. He hangs out there and tries to convince the owner not to destroy it. He discovers the town doesn't like this idea when he gets beat up by some boys. He lives in the house in very spartan surroundings and seems to start a relationship with a local girl. As a final act of defiance, he paints the house with some unique paint scheme. Then right before it is to be bulldozed, he blows up the house (by filling it with natural gas and lighting it on fire.) The book is a short tale of teenage defiance and singular attachment to things. It seems to get lost on the way to its conclusion. Luckily, it doesn't take too long to get there.

Book Wars: The Digital Revolution in Publishing

Book Wars: The Digital Revolution in Publishing by John B. Thompson

I was only able to find a paper copy of this book on the digital revolution in book publishing. The author his plenty of knowledge on the topic. Alas, the book is very repetitive. (The last two chapters both rehashed the same topics that had been previously discussed earlier.) The most interesting parts are the detailed company case studies. The author provides detailed case studies for various start ups and their approaches. The digital revolution has changed the way books are written, produced and distributed. It has enabled crowdfunding, publishing on demand and self-publishing. Audiobooks have also exploded in popularity. Amazon has established a dominant position as a seller of physical books, audiobooks and ebooks. It also had detailed knowledge on customers and their preferences. Inkshares, Unbound, Smashwords and Wattpad are all explored in the book. However, since this book was written in 2021, Unbound has gone bellyup and not paid it's authors. Smashwords has been acquired by Draft2Digital. Does leave Amazon as the best self publishing route? Ebooks rose significantly in popularity and then leveled off. What will the future be? Will paper books continue to last a long time? The book was written before the rise of AI. How will this impact publishing? Will it be even more difficult to get through the noise? 

King Sejong Invents an Alphabet

King Sejong Invents an Alphabet by Carol Kim, illustrated by Cindy Kang

From boyhood, King Sejong loved to read. He wanted his subjects to be able to read and write also. However, it was difficult because they had to use Chinese characters. He invented an alphabet that represented how sounds were made that would be easy for everyone to learn. After many centuries this caught on and became the official alphabet of Korea. The book tells the simple tale and then has a brief historical explanation at the end. There is also a small explanation of the alphabet (though I wish there would have been more.)

Inventing Abstraction, 1910-1925

Inventing Abstraction, 1910-1925 by Michael Taylor, edited by Leah Dickerman; contributors:Matthew Affron, Yve-Alain Bois, Masha Chlenova, Hal Foster, David Joselit, Philippe-Alain Michaud, Lanka Tatersall

This is a big thick art book that has too much text. The text is not enough to get a full understanding of the rise of abstraction. However, it takes up too much space and interrupts the flow of the pictures. There were a few interesting pictures, but the narrative was lacking.I didn't feel like I learned a lot.

Ruin and Renewal: Civilizing Europe After World War II

Ruin and Renewal: Civilizing Europe After World War II by Paul Betts

What is civilization? The definition has changed over time and space. In the early 19th century, Germany was seen at the forefront of progressive civilization. They even thought of themselves as spreading "civilization" through less civilized areas of Europe. Even concentration camps were justified as ways of cleaning out impediments to civilization. The rest of the world did not buy this and after Germany was defeated German "civilization" was in the trash can. Both the US and Russia had differing views of civilization that they tried to enforce within the world. 

The European powers also wanted to return to their colonies after the war ended. They did not notice the irony of fighting a war in defence of "local freedom" only to decide to resume controlling their colonies. The locals saw the value of freedom and wanted it for themselves. The colonies achieved independence in various ways. Some had fought the colonizers. Others had a more peaceful handover. In some cases the colonizers acted "bitter" and took out much of their know how and "stuff" during the handover. In other cases, there was a more knowledge transfer. These colonies were also involved in the battles between the communists and capitalists both before and after freedom.

During the postwar era, global civilization came out. UNESCO was an organization to help protect global heritage. Other organizations such as the EU and the UN spanned multiple countries. Science and arts organization also worked together across country lines. Multiculturalism and identity sparked a backlash with a response of closed borders, nationalism and far right organizations. Where does civilization go from here? Have we learned the lessons of the past, or will we continue to cycle through the same problems again?

Sleep Better!: A Guide to Improving Sleep for Children with Special Needs

Sleep Better!: A Guide to Improving Sleep for Children with Special Needs by Dr. V. Mark Durand Ph.D.

A lot of the challenges with sleep can be solved in a fairly straightforward, though counterintuitive method. If somebody has trouble getting to sleep, it often works to gradually wake them up earlier and prevent them from napping. Many other fixes require similar gradual changes. Sleep drugs are often not helpful. They can also lead to addiction and get adaptation. Caffeine consumption can often lead to headaches in the morning. The book itself seems to be fairly repetitive, with practices repeated in different sections. There are a few anecdotes with different people and their challenges. Some were interesting, such as the woman who would "sleep eat" when she was supposedly on a diet.

Victor, the Wolf with Worries

Victor, the Wolf with Worries by Catherine Rayner

A wolf worries about a lot of things. He just can't do a lot of wolf things well. Then a friend helps him see that all wolves have worries. Then he goes on to be a good wolf. It is a fairly generic story.