I Have One

After several attempts I have managed to get myself an iPhone 4. There were the several trips to the Apple Store when none were available. Then there was the waiting in line at West Edmonton Mall, only to have to bail to go to a wedding. I checked many other retailers to no avail.

Finally today I got in line about 8:15 am and at 4:00 pm my new iPhone 4 was activated.

This is a big jump from the 3G version I originally had. The screen is extremely clear. The camera is 5 megapixals. It shoots HD video. The processor is much faster and it has a lot of storage.

Like every Apple product it is easy to use and designed to to interface with humans.

I am very happy with my acquisition. It's going to serve me well. It is worth the long wait in the mall.

I have an iPhone 4 and this makes me very happy.

It Must Be A Popular Item

Last weekend I tried to buy an iPhone 4. After visiting about 20 retailers I'm fairly certain that none were available in Winnipeg. There is only one reason I could not get one. The system miscalculated the demand for this product. The only question is, did they miscalculate demand in general or was it just in the Winnipeg market?

Being out of stock is costly and foolish.

When someone makes a decision to purchase an item from your organization, you need to have it available. You need to be able to fulfill their purchase need. If you do not, chances are you have lost the revenue to another product or retailer.

The iPhone 4 may be a bit of an exception.

Apple has had a significant resurgence in the last 5 years. They have spent a lot of time studying how we interact with machines and their easy to use hardware and software has developed a loyal following. I know this first hand. I used Microsoft operating systems on various hardware platforms for most of my life. They have always been clumsy and difficult to use. When I started acquiring Apple products I discovered that computing doesn't have to be awkward.

I will continue my quest for the iPhone 4. I'm sure I will get one in the next couple of weeks. I'm sure I will be happy with my purchase. I'm also sure Apple will continue to put out great products.

And We Laughed

In the last few months I have rediscovered late night comedy. I'm not sure why I stopped watching but like many things in life, I forgot how much I enjoy it.

Comedy is important.

Although, laughing makes you feel good and usually relieves stress, that's not why comedy is important.

Comedy is important because if it is done properly it pushes boundaries.

For some reason, society seems to be moving further and further toward not offending anyone. People do not share what they believe because they fear the repercussions of rubbing someone the wrong way. As we have moved from a duty based society to a rights based society, creativity and honesty have taken a back seat to not saying anything that may hurt anyone.

By laughing about what is different we can move to closer together. Being able to poke fun at yourself, makes you human and approachable.

I know my humour is edgier than most and I find something funny in almost anything. I know not everyone shares my sense of humour. I'm quite fine with that. I feel for the people who don't share or pretend not to share my sense of humour. They are loosing out.

If you don't push forward you will risk withering away. Humour can move you forward and enlighten you. It can make you see the world around you. In this world of being highly connected it appears that people are less aware of the world.

We need to get out and laugh more. We need to find the funny in the world around us, we need to share this with those we know. We need to do this without fear. If we do this we will all be in a much better place in the long run.

Maybe This Was The World Protecting Itself

Very early this morning I was buying gas for my SUV. While I was filling up at the pay at the pump island, a woman pulled up to fill her car. Ok, there may be a bit more to this. In trying to park her car to fill it, she nearly backed into the pump. It appeared that she was trying to parallel park to fuel up. In the end, despite nearly backing into the fueling station, she really wasn't close.

To add to the situation she didn't know how to fuel her car. The pump she wanted to use would only work if you pay at the pump. She asked me to fuel her vehicle for her.

I did not fuel her car.

If you cannot put fuel in your vehicle, then eventually the car will not be useable. It will become a motionless piece of manufactured goods.

I'm not against women driving. Where I draw the line is, if you cannot safely drive or fuel your vehicle, you should not be be in a position to operate your vehicle.

Maybe this is the world protecting itself.

I realize this woman, not through skill or ability, managed to put more fuel in her car. I know for a fact that she didn't do it at the station I was at.

You could argue that being able to fuel a vehicle is a basic life skill or at least a testable skill for the issue of a driver's license. It appears it is not the case. However, the world is trying really hard to keep this woman from driving but since she managed to drive to the gas station, she will most likely continue to drive.

I only hope she doesn't hurt me while driving without a clue.

My, My, Hey, Hey, Rock 'N Roll Is Here To Stay

I have been to see a lot of concerts in my life. It is one of my favorite things to do. I have seen many of the biggest acts in the world. While enjoying music I love occasionally the talent of the performer is blatantly obvious. This was the case last night when I saw the Godfather of Grunge, Neil Young performed last night at the Centennial Concert Hall in Winnipeg.

This was a Neil Young show. This was not a Neil Young and Crazy Horse show. This was not a Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young show. This was not a Neil Young with a backup band show. This was not Neil Young and a couple of guys show. The only one who performed was Neil Young.

If it was an acoustic song he played the acoustic guitar. If it was an electric song he played the electric guitar. If it was an organ song he played the organ. If it was a piano song he played the piano.

His talent for songwriting and his love of performing was obvious. He engaged the audience in a show that was how I would imagine hanging out in his basement as he played music for a couple of hours. He played songs I love and songs I didn't know. All the songs were great.

Often my appreciation of a performer increases if I get a chance to see them live. Now that I've seen Winnipeg's favorite son I truly and fully understand his broad and engaging appeal. He can truly communicate through music. He can grab an audience and keep them listening for ever.

Last night I saw one of the most influential people in music in the last 50 years perform. I am very glad I did.

The Dog Days of Summer

The weather in Manitoba has been strange this year. First there was the very early spring. Everything was dried up and leaves were out by the end of April. Following that we had a very wet spring. I thought a pre-historic lake was going to return. In the last couple of weeks the weatherman has not been close. It has been nice a lot of the time. It has been the dog days of summer.

I like the dog days of summer. Nice lazy weather is how I remember summertime as a kid. It makes for great memories. It makes it easy to have fun.

The idea of sitting out with a cold beverage at the end of a lazy day with the most important people in your life is universal. It can quickly become one of those moments you look back on with fond memories. Those are the moments that help make life worth living. The daily grind, is worth it when you can enjoy the dog days of summer. It is worth it when you have one of those moments that defines your summer, year, decade, or life.

I am around a lot of driven people who work very hard and make sacrifices. I hope one of the reasons they work so hard is so they can enjoy the dog days of summer.

Creativity vs. Conformity

Creativity comes in many forms and is essential within a society in order to progress. Without creative thought about everything we do advancement is impossible.

Conformity is an important part of maintaining order. By having the group conform to a set of norms, safety and efficiency are increased, assisting with the overall quality of society.

A society requires both of these to function but blind obedience to either will lead to failure. This leads to a very obvious question. How much of each do we need?

I'm not sure I know the whole answer but I'm sure part of it depends on your role in society. Where you sit in the system helps determine how much creativity or conformity you require.

For example, controlling air traffic requires a high level of conformity. Everyone in the system has an expectation on how the others will behave. Deviations from the expected norm will lead to potential safety compromises. On the flip side, designing fashion requires a high level of creativity as there is very little safety concern but if you are not new and fresh you are probably not going to be designing clothes very long.

These examples are very obvious but do point out the extremes. These is however another consideration of your responsibilities within an organization. If you are in the lower levels it is your responsibility to run the system. If you are near the top you may very well be responsible for designing the system. There is a problem. The people who are designing the system are not going to run it in the end and the people running the system don't have the resources to design the system.

So where does this leave us?

Everyone needs to have a bit of both but depending where you sit in the world you may need a lot of one or the other. The perfect balance has been haunting most if us forever, but we must try to do the best we can and adapt to the changing situation.