Look how far you’ve come. People seem to forget your status as the underdog just a decade or two ago.
I remember.
I remember being reluctant to switch from the industry leader, to move from a PC to a (gasp!) Mac. The PC was king. IBM was a player — a blue chip/work-there-for-50-years-get-a-pension-and-a-gold-watch company. In fact, I remember having IBM as a client, touring a facility in Poughkeepsie, New York and marveling at the mainframes.
My guess? The vast majority of iPhone 4 owners (okay, well, at least my husband and I) believe the product is marvelous. Beautiful and efficient. Elegant and powerful.
Yet some critics delight in their schadenfreude over a pseudo furor that’s actually relatively insignificant.
Why?
It leads me to wonder (with some degree of sadness) why people like to knock other peoples’ success. Why they expect (demand?) perfection and then pounce (shine a spotlight on it?) when they discover the slightest flaw.
I believe in a principle of abundance, where people support one another and trumpet the greatest achievements of friends, family members and respected colleagues, then support them and encourage them through hard times or whenever they stumble.
So I applaud you, Apple.
And you know what?
The iPhone has improved the quality of my life. I often forget that it’s a phone because that’s the least important part of the device. People who don’t use the iPhone don’t understand that fact. It’s not about the telephone. Even the word, telephone, is so…last millennium.
Now, it’s all about the apps…and the developers’ passions. Not to mention the passion of each and every iPhone owner. Each device is so customized, so specific to each user that it becomes special. Each owner makes it special, depending on his/her own interests, needs and passions.
It’s now. It’s tomorrow. It’s very Jetsons. And it works. Simply. It helped me endure some recent trips away from my family. Heck, it made them feel as if they were right there with me. It affected our quality of life. It brought us immeasurable joy.
So forget about those naysayers, haters and foes.
Congratulations on another extraordinary creation.
No matter what you may think about the iPad, the iPhone and all things Apple, it’s hard to resist giving credit to Steve Jobs for making that company what it is. He’s authentic and not afraid to say, “I don’t know.” I love that about him.
Check out some of his remarks at this year’s All Things Digital Conference:
This one (above) is on the iPhone and the iPad.
And how about that whole Gizmodo mess?
Finally, watch him when talks about Google (below) and at the end softly says, “Just because we’re competing with somebody doesn’t mean we have to be rude.”
Wonderful. Very nice.
For more videos (brief enough to view selectively) click here.
Have you heard that Oprah is searching for a new personality to host a talk show on her new network, OWN? Well, as soon as I heard about it, I thought it would be fun to put together an audition video. The guidelines were fairly expansive: be creative, smart, and passionate and tell us a little about your show.
My family and I got to work, shooting a week’s worth of video, full of different skits, shorts, and scenes. We had a blast. The vast majority of footage ended up on our cutting room floor. But I didn’t want it to completely go to waste. So I’m putting together bits and pieces of it, hoping you’ll find it entertaining.
Take, for example, something that started out to be an example of a technology segment but ended up sounding more like a commercial for an Apple product. So…yeah…we nixed it. Here it is:
And the title of the show? “Let’s Talk About It”? Turns out it’s nearly identical to Greg Grunberg’scharity effort he co-founded a while back, called Talk About It. So…even though, my daughter did a great job designing that logo, we all thought we should just stay away from it. Thanks anyway, sweetheart! You did a great job!!
Then there’s this one – where I just couldn’t keep a straight face when I tried to defend my qualifications to speak about parenting:
More to come (about the iPad as well as our cutting room floor clippings, some of which are quite amusing).
Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher.
I think that we can learn a great deal about collaboration and competition by watching this interview* (again?), especially now, in 2010. Let me know what you think.
Love it.
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It’s from 2007. Jobs and Steve Ballmer are expected to speak at this year’s D8, (the eighth annual All Things Digital Conference (June 1-3). For coverage click here.
My favorite part? It’s too hard to choose.
hi-res color iBooks, the keyboard dock, the revised iCal (that looks much better (and resembles my ancient(no, wait, did I ever actually use one of those?)Filofax)) or the ability to view all my apps on a larger screen.
Honestly? It is so very tempting for me. To say the least.
I was in a bus filled with middle school kids today and they were all atwitter, excitedly chattering away about how each and every one of them wanted to get an iPad. Mmmhmm. Those naysayers on Twitter don’t know what they’re talking about. This baby is going to be sizzling hot. I can feel it.
What about you?
Just another gadget you don’t need or want? Or are you dreaming about it and frequently thinking about it? Giving up your Kindle for this thing? Or sticking with your hardcover bestseller?
Hmmm….
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No, I did not get an iPad. And, sadly, this post is not sponsored. It should be noted, however, that Stephen Colbert got an iPad because, well, because he shamelessly begged for one. David Pogue, my absolute all-time favorite technology reporter (in fact, my dream is to do a tech review vlog with him! Or, okay, at least to participate in his next “I Want an iPhone iPad” movie – I can sing!), did not get one!! Outrageous! So…I am prepared to shamelessly beg for one.
Some BlogHer attendees were a tad uncomfortable with items being placed in our rooms, but I have to admit, I thoroughly enjoyed these fresh flowers (which lasted for the duration of my stay).
This video is the best review I’ve found (so far) to determine whether you should invest in the latest version of the iPhone. Also provides a quick overview of some of the new features:
Now that spring break is past, I’m looking forward to summer. Each year I wonder whether I’m forcing my kids to play tennis because of my passion for the sport or because I recognize a sincere interest coming from them. When I hear my friends who love to play golf tell me that their kids all play golf, I wonder whether the kids become interested in the sport after seeing their parents play it and watch it or because they simply find it interesting. Would the desire exist if the parents didn’t play?
Anyway…
my daughter knows I love Roger Federer, so when I got a new app called ColorSplash, she made this for me:
Original Image by Jonathan Fickies from the 2006 US Open
Nice.
What do you think? How much do we influence our kids?
I remember arguing with Mac people, insisting that most of the software I bought was only made for PCs so I had to stick with them. My sisters were some of the strongest advocates for Macs. We would debate pros and cons until they would give up, throw their arms up in the air and say things like, "Suit yourself! Maybe someday you’ll understand."
Somehow, one of them convinced me to get an iPod for my hubby for his birthday. Shortly after that we bought our first Mac. It was one of those sleek, shiny MacBook devices. That Mac led to another iPod, then another Mac, then another iPod and, before I knew it, I was seeking out information on that mysterious new device that was supposed to change the way all phones were made – they called it the iPhone.
