I'm busily studying for the next MCPD upgrade exam: 70-552. I took 70-551 last week.

Now you don't have to take both (one is for Web and one is for Windows Forms developer)... but since they are free I figured “why not?”

And since the questions on both exams overlap, taking 70-551 actually gives me an advantage for the exam tomorrow. I have seen 1/3 of the questions before.

So if I didn't pass 70551 (or barely passed it), I should have a better score on this one.

 

Last year Seth Godin did a presentation to the folks at HP. Apparently, he told them HP wasn't remarkable, and in fact HP didn't have much of a reputation in the market one way or another. I would agree with that. If someone asked me, “What do you think of HP?” My answer would be, “I don't.”

HP seems like the kind of company that would be considered a fore-runner in technology - like Apple, IBM, Microsoft... But although they have a reputation for leading-edge research, not much comes of it when it comes to products. What does HP sell?

Well, there is printers. My father bought an HP LaserJet back in the early-80s and it is still working today. My mother mentioned to me this past Christmas that she is thinking of throwing it out. Is there any market for antique computer components? Would the HP Museum be interested in picking up an original “HP LaserJet II“.

Then there is digital cameras. They make the Photosmart brand.

Computers of course. A niece of mine has an HP desktop.

The iPaq Pocket PC.

They probably make more things. But I've reached the limit of my HP product knowledge.

So, here's some ideas for HP. Free. What I would do if I were in charge of HP.

I would come up with designer printers. Hire a really innovative product designer. There are two target markets for this. (1) Uber-geeks who must have the coolest gadgets out there. If you create an uber-cool printer, they will come. And (2) the fashion-conscious computer owners who want their technology to fit into their home decor. If my office has a “japanese art” theme, is there a way my printer could look like it fits in? Or executive theme? Or stainless-steel theme? Or a glass theme? (A glass see-through printer.... Cool!)

Oh, while I'm on the subject... stop screwing consumers on printer ink cartridges. Make cartridges reusable and refillable. Make them standard across all printer lines. Make them cheaper. Noone enjoys having to fork over $50 for a tiny cartidge of ink - ink has been around for 500 years! $50 is outrageous. Maybe I'm madder at Epson, but still. Stop it.

I would make some really funny commercials for your products. Try something new, something daring. You're a big company and you got the money. Hire a really hip ad agency for your Photosmart camera business, and go out there are set yourself apart from the competition. The problem with HP and camera is that you are not known for cameras. HP = Printers. Canon = Cameras. Minolta = Cameras. You have an inherent disadvantage in the field. So what? Go out there and play with it. Do something different.

Let me ask you this. Why do people who own Apple products love them so much and so vocally? Why does someone with a Sony Wega TV want everyone that comes over to his house knows he owns a Sony? Why do Acura MDX owners spend 20 minutes on a freezing cold day in March hand washing their cars outside?

Because they love love LOVE their products. They LOVE the companies that make them. Does HP make anything people love? If anyone did love their HP product, is there any way to show it? Why don't you cultivate a market for people who love HP. Start a special mailing list. Offer special benefits and incentives. A forum, a web site. Mail a glossy catalog. Give special one-on-one attention to your biggest fans and they will gladly shout their love of HP to everyone they know.

How about opening an HP Store? Sony is doing it. Apple is doing it. Does HP have enough products to support their own retail environment? If you had a steady group of people who loved you, like Apple does, an HP Store would sustain itself. But you don't, at least not yet. But going into the boutique space is not a bad idea.

Develop some amazing and innovative products. Set yourself apart from the competition using cool marketing. Find the people who love your products and/or your company, and spoil them. And let the cycle of profit growth sweep you off your feet...

And then when this all works, HP, you can hire me as a consultant to thank me...

 

Tonight, my wife was complaining about the application she uses at work. Her IT department should stand up and take notice, because what she says she needs fixed should be pretty easy to do.

But what made me laugh was her description of the application. “It is supposed to be user friendly. But right now it is user make-an-enemy.”

I've never heard an application described like that - it cracks me up. When your users consider your application an enemy, you know your application is poorly designed.

 

Just got back from taking the 70-551 exam (71-551 in beta).

3 sections, 30 questions each (for a total of 90 questions). Each section correlates to the Official Exam Objectives published by Microsoft. At the end of 90 questions (at around 87 actually), I was exhausted and could not wait to be done. Luckily, I felt I did pretty well on the last section so did not have to spend much time reviewing it and could just end it. The whole test took roughly 2 1/4 hours (although I had 3 to complete it if I wanted).

Each section allowed 60 minutes to complete. No going back once you've completed a question although the usual Previous/Next is allowed within a section, and a review at the end of each section.

I found the test hard in some places and easier in others. The first section (on .NET Framework) I may have barely gotten 60%. The next section, on web development, was also tough but I did slightly better, say 70%. And the final section, on design and development in general, I did better still at 80%-90%.

So who knows if I passed. I don't. The results come in 8 weeks apparently.

Anyways, on to the Windows test next Sunday. Don't forget to visit my 70-551 Wiki. I am starting one for the Windows exam 70-552 as well.

 

One fun way to learn - for me at least, your mileage may vary - is to watch a training video and do the exercise alongside the instructor. The instructor creates a new project, I create a new project. The instructor adds a TreeView control to the web page and creates a new dynamically bound data source, well... you get the idea.

Some great ASP.NET 2.0 videos are here. Useful for studying for the certification, hint hint.

 

I somehow signed up to take a couple of upgrade exams in the next couple of weeks - 70-551 for web development and 70-552 for Windows development. This will get me the new Microsoft MCPD certifications.

I have started adding content to my Wiki to cover this upgrade exam.

UPDATE: The wiki has been closed due to spam abuse. But follow my next MCPD adventures here.

 

I don't know what I did specifically to deserve it, but thanks to Microsoft for sending me a Microsoft Award for Customer Excellence (ACE) for Visual Studio 2005, otherwise known as the Ship-It Award.

It arrived today. A nice square Lucite cube. A bit smaller than I expected, but nice nonetheless.

The funnest part, oddly, was opening it. It came enclosed in three nested boxes. That's three times better than if it just came wrapped in one box.