Crazy Enough to Change the World?

"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do."

Apple ad, "Think Different", 1997

[Thanks to a friend, who pointed this video out to me today.]

Should a new phone really make me that happy?

Image by The Pug Father via Flickr

This post has been on the back burner (and on my mind) for a few weeks now. The story that it reminds me of most in my own life has to do with all the words exchanged about whether the Palm Pre is/was a better phone than the iPhone.

Here's my take, "Who cares?"

I'll be happy with my iPhone and you be happy with your Pre, cool? Honestly, I'd hope that technology continues to improve itself and, in conjunction, improve our lives. If the iPhone didn't have competition... well, let's just say that Apple is good, but can't be relied upon for every technological advance to be made in mobile phone technology.

Right about the time I was secretly laughing at the arguments amongst friends about whether the Pre or the iPhone were "the best," Seth Godin wrote a blog post that really hit home; the objectivity and subjectivity that occurs in the world...

"The external world is remarkably consistent, and yet we blame it for what's going on inside of us. People who think the world is going to end always manage to find a new thing that's going to cause it to end. People itching to be bummed out all day long will certainly find an external event that give their emotion some causal cover. The thinking happens long before the event that we blame the thinking on."

So true. Half full or half empty? You are what you eat; you are what you tweet.

Seth then asks the question, "Should a new phone really make you that happy?" And, I answer, it depends on how long you waited to upgrade. :-) I got sold on the iPhone when I was sitting in the The Tune Inn on Penn in DC and remembered that I had to send an email to our membership base, some hundred thousand plus strong, when my friend turned his iPhone around on the table, slid it over to me and said, "Can you do it with this?" Oh yeah, cheeseburgers, beers and nothing like sending a political email blast from one of the greatest dive bars in America.

iPhone Sh1t

I want my iPhone to sh1t RFID tags & then track them... like in that cab where I lost my wallet... or like in that plastic bottle that I wonder whether it made it to the recycling plant... or like on my girlfriend's car keys so she won't freak when she's late and can't find them... you know?