Monthly Archives: January 2010
iPad? No, uFail.
Yesterday, the highly anticipated ‘Game Changer’ was finally released. A new device between a smartphone and a laptop. Something they’ve advertised as “Revolutionary” and “Magical”. The iPad!
Wow this is… err… well… it’s kind of like a Unicorn, without legs. It looks pretty and magical at first, but then you realize it doesn’t really do too much. It’s a boring device when you compare it to other Apple innovations. The iPad actually isn’t an innovation at all. It’s a large iPhone with less features!
One thing Appleheads have been saying is “It’s better than a netbook, but it’s not even competing with it. It’s revolutionary because it’s in a category of it’s own.” Really? Well, Steve Jobs brought up that this was a netbook killer and that netbooks “don’t do anything better”. So we’ve established his goal is to kill the netbook market.. thus… COMPETITION! I’ll address the second part of his comment a little later.
Let’s just look at some of the features, or lack of features. And to do so… let’s have a conversation with myself!
“So what does this thing do?”
“Well you can use the Apps you already use on your iPhone! ”
“Oh… Why wouldn’t I just use my iPhone? ”
“Irrelevant, this has a bigger screen! And it has pixel doubling!”
“Well can I go to Facebook.com on it?”
“Why would you? There’s an App for that!”
“Can I make a phone call on it?”
“Of course, Skype!”
“Oh awesome, I can see it being useful for video calls.”
“No, there’s no camera. But there is iBooks!”
“So I can read and listen to music at the same time?”
“Well there is no multi-tasking. One thing at a time! That’s why it’s good for productivity.”
“So why would I buy this if I can do all this stuff already on my iPhone? Plus make phone calls, plus it has a camera, plus it fits in my pocket, plus it’s easy to type on with thumbs?”
“I said it already! That’s irrelevant! This isn’t an iPhone, it’s bigger!!!”
Maybe I’m not getting it. Did I see a different presentation than everyone else? I don’t see how anyone could like this recycled operating system, cut back features, no real selling point other than ‘It’s Bigger!’ device. What am I missing? Oh right, the Netbook comparison, how this is better.
Well… let’s see… I can run a word processor, Windows Live Messenger, have a browser opened to Facebook.com and another one to Twitter.com. I have 3 USB ports that I can connect my mouse too. I have a built in webcam to do conferencing. I can watch movies/Youtube and with this new Crystal HD video decoder, it does so perfectly without any kind of stuttering (which admittedly is a problem without it.)
The fact is, the Netbook in terms of productivity can do a lot more than the iPad. The iPad is nothing more than a bloated iPhone, but with less to offer.
Apple got this one wrong. It’s a horrible mistake. They billed it as an ‘in between’ item, but didn’t deliver.
BUT!!!
Yes, there’s a but. Compare the very first iPod to the iPods available now. Big changes. In 2-3 years this iPad may be what it should have been already. Then again it may not. The first iPod was revolutionary, so it had momentum. The iPad has no legs.
This is one time, I’ll agree with Hitler.
My First Lesson in Body Language
Body language… the universal language we all speak incredibly well, but barely know how to read. We’re taught some of the basics, such as a firm hand shake, making eye contact during presentations and keeping good posture, but beyond that, there is no real education in reading body language.
Body language is the natural language of flirting. What your body does, says more about you than words. We can all fake interest in a conversation, but our body cannot. If you try to pick up a girl at a bar by approaching her from behind and she only turns her head to address you, what’s that say about her interest in you?*
Boys, in our teens read the generalized cliff notes on body language… We learn from movies or magazines (Maxim) that if she plays with her hair, she’s interested in you. If she leans in, that’s a sign of interest. If she smiles a lot, she’s interested.
The problem with these is that they are broad generalizations that have been pushed for years. A girl smiling doesn’t mean she’s interested, she could just be friendly. All girls play with their hair. If she leans in, she might not have heard you because you’re talking too quietly. But, men have said they are true, and we are only boys (and they seem to work on the girls in our class), so they MUST be true!
My first year of college, with my cliff note knowledge, I went to the first pub night determined to pick up a girl… My target, this blonde with a one shouldered red shirt(is there a name for this?) that she was wearing as a dress. She had on these red high heels that are burned into my head. God she was sexy!
But she was talking to this another guy, but looked like she wanted out. Didn’t see any hair twirling, no leaning in really close. I knew I had to save her!
In an act of Alpha-ness, I put my one arm in between him and her, and the other around the back of her chair. I said in my smoothest voice “Hey, looked like you needed a save. I’m Zach.” She turned her chair the opposite way and walked away without saying a word. Boom! In that instant I questioned if I’d ever have the courage to talk to another girl again! I had just been blown out of the sky.
What had I done wrong? Wasn’t I suave enough? Did I not seem confident in what I was doing? I took control of the situation like a man, why didn’t she respond? It turns out, I knew nothing about body language.
I sat down in her chair, and tried to establish who the hell I was. As I sat there, a brunette who’d been sitting on the other side of the gorgeous sniper who killed my confidence with a single shot, turned to me and said
“You didn’t do a very good job there did you?” I turned to her and said
“No not really.” She replied,
“You didn’t see that she was into that guy?” I turned my chair to face her.
“No! I thought she wanted to be saved!”
“You didn’t notice her punch him in the arm playfully? The way she was looking at his eyes and then his lips? The ‘accidental’ touches of her swinging foot?”
I hadn’t noticed any of these things… She was hitting him, how is that an indication she was interested in him? How was looking at his lips a indication? Maybe he just had something in his teeth, and maybe those ‘accidental’ foot touches really were accidental!
“Everything she was doing screamed interest! And you just looked like a stupid player asshole trying to pick her up.” She said. (This girl had just kicked me when I was down, but she was giving me advice, so I didn’t blow her off.)
“Then you come up behind her, put your arms in front and behind her… you trapped her like an animal. She had to escape the prison you instantly put her in.”
I didn’t say anything. She read my body language. Could tell I felt pretty lame and she wasn’t helping in that moment.. So she stopped. Put her hand out and said
“Hi, I’m Tiffany.”
In that 3 minutes, I realized I knew nothing about body language. I realized that body language actually meant something now. But where would I start? Then I stopped. Turned to Tiffany and said “Hi, I’m Zach.” I quickly replayed what she had just said to me while I was contemplating my existence. I realized… I had just gotten my first lesson in body language!
*It says she’s not interested. Never approach a girl from behind.
Positives in All Things Negative
One thing I pride myself in, and people easily recognize is my ability to see, think and find positives in any situation. I’ve gone though major changes over the past year that people go through daily. But my approach is not to focus on all the bad, but instead look for the good.
Ever been fired? Silly question. Most of us have been fired at one point in our lives. Common reaction is a sudden fear and worrying “How will I pay my bills?” “Will I find a new job?” “What do I tell my family?” These are reactions that are negative in focus. What you need to do is reframe the situation!
First, what is reframing? Well, imagine a picture of a car. Pick something sporty. Exotic. Expensive. Pick a car that turns heads. Picture that car in a garage. Now imagine that car needs to go into the shop for bunch of work. Now picture the garage. No car right? Ah, but what you see now is a bike. Now think about what riding that bike will do for you that the car wouldn’t. Sure it’s different, but you’re going to lose weight, you’ll feel healthier. No more sitting in traffic jams. You also save money! Help the environment. Et cetera!
Reframing is about switching your focus. It’s not easily done until you train yourself to do it, but once you learn, it improves the quality of your life immensely!
Let’s take the getting fired situation and reframe it… Well, one… if you’re getting fired, it wasn’t the right job for you anyway! (Very few, if any, get fired from their dream jobs.) You get the opportunity to change your lifestyle. Had a business idea? Explore it a little more. The instability of a job loss leads many people to give up the rat race and become self sufficient. The movie “Up In The Air” has a great quote, that while they joke about, actually is very true “Anyone who changed the world, did so because they were sitting in that exact same chair.”
How about losing a lover? Well, you get a bunch of time back to do the things you love. You get to save some money. You can flirt with anyone, look at anyone. You can use your new found time to pick up a new hobby. You get to find someone better.
Broke your leg and can’t play golf this summer? Well, you can finally learn to play guitar!
Reframing is about looking at what you CAN do, have, get, be and not about what you have ‘lost’. Anything lost can be replaced! Jobs, men/women, cars, iPods, money.
There is positive in all things negative. You just need to look. Reframe your situation and start living positively!
TTC Sleeper Photoshops
If you have others, please link me and I’ll add them! If not, Enjoy!
3 new ones courtesy of “Sasha” (don’t have a link for you.)
Credit to Myself on this one.
Credit for several goes to Hugh and Mondoville.
A High Class Problem
The other day, one of my Twitter followers mentioned that a couple 19 year old guys hit on her thinking she was their age. She was frustrated by this because she’s not. This is what you call a high class problem.
It’s the company that decides to overpay you one week.
It’s a roommate who cleans your apartment every single day.
It’s the cute girl that calls you every day.
These are examples of high class problems. These are the problems you WANT to have. So when they happen, DO NOT complain. Look at the alternatives…
1. 19 year old guy flirts with you because he’s ‘Into MILFs’ or Cougars.
2. The company underpays you and you have to track down that money.
3. The roommate never cleans.
4. No girl calls.
Enjoy high class problems!
