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Why Nolan Bushnell ROCKS!

Let me start by saying, meeting folks like Ken Kutaragi (founder of Play Station), Nolan Bushnell (founder of Atari) and Joe DiMaggio (wow...JOE Effing DiMaggio...DUH) are moments that I have cherished. 

I have been around a fair few celebrities growing up, not because I am anything important...but because friends of mine have been around those types (read as Bill Cosby, Debbie Reynolds, Sammy Davis Jr etc). I really don't think much, if anything of it...as deep down I feel badly for them that they live in a bubble and can't hang out at a coffee joint and read without being bothered!...but that's a different story. 

I attended the LA Games Conference (great show) these past few days, and was able to listen to Nolan in both a public and semi-private way...and whilst walking to Coffee Bean this morning had a thought of why guys like him just kick ass.

He is a life long learner, with an amazing absorbent capacity. While most folks can only take in so much new information, he continues to be a more absorbent sponge of information, trends and life stuff.  He loves to learn, and loves conferences and has even wandered into a 'carpet convention,' as there's always something new to learn.

Consider what you, me or anyone 'knows' or thinks we know. We learn...we dive in...we make mistakes and learn from experience...and TYPICALLY, we stay within the same field most of our lives for a variety of reasons, including (and not limited to);
1. Comfort - like knowing the answers
2. Leveraging time - the old, 'heck, if I have been doing it for a long time, I might as well keep doing it cuz I don't wanna start from scratch' feeling
3. Who we know - we create lasting links in a field and don't want to abandon those links or the time it took to build them 

So, what am I really saying? Pushing ourselves to continue to learn about anything we find of interest is only going to make us better! It's easy to feel 'over saturated,' and like you can't learn or take on another thing...do it anyway!!

A friend of mine who is a brilliant web designer says, "it's better to take 100 steps in one direction than 10 steps in 10 directions." I used to agree with him...and now I suggest a compromise! It's better to take 25 steps in 4 directions...as the things you will learn, and the connections between industries you will be able to make is really v.ccol!!

From my experiences...
- professional baseball
- aviation consulting & services
- government security
- online travel & product development
- credit card processing
- billing in a cloud (SaaS applications)
- virtual item sales & management
- monetizing games, new media and entertainment

I find each day that I draw lots of interesting parallels, and connect dots others may not...simply because my love of learning has taken me to places...versus any love of money/fame/whatever. 

Have a great day! Thanks for reading! 
All the best
Jamy
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