I’ve never been a big fan of Apple computers. Now, before you stop reading and flood my inbox with hate mail, keep reading. You may be surprised. One of the main I’m not such a big Apple fan is that I’m kind of a D-I-Y person. I’ve built my last couple of computers myself.
I also never understood the closed mentality that Steve Jobs had with his company. I always thought they could be so much bigger. On the other hand I’m not a fan of Microsoft. I feel they dominate the marketplace by squelching competition and by doing so are able to flood the market with grossly inferior products.
Before I turn this into a rant, let me get back to my main point. I decided to readWalter Issacson’s biography on Steve Jobs (affiliate link). Actually, I’m reading it for the second time. In doing so, I learned a lot about the man; his past, his search for identity, and how those things shaped his philosophy on product design.
As a design engineer for a material handling company, the big impact this book had on me was not that it made me want to run out and buy a Mac Book Pro or an iPad, but that Jobs’ story me look at my own designs in a different way. A lot of the projects I work on involve a tangle of hydraulic hoses, electrical harnesses that look like spaghetti, and fabricated parts from large sheets of steel. Our factory has welding, air tools, and robots- a fairly typical factory. We turn out a great product.
But, and there is always a but, we can improve. We can streamline our processes, we can improve our product, and we can improve our customer’s experience. Our product has evolved over decades of changes. We have modernized it, made great improvements, and our warranty is at ridiculously low levels. Many times when I redesign a component I start with the old part and do just what needs to be done, make a hole bigger or add a bend, to complete the task.
Since reading about Steve Jobs’ design philosophies I have vowed to take another look. Can I make a simpler, more aesthetic part? Can I make it easier for the customer to use? No matter what your industry or occupation, I urge you to read a great story about a complex man with a simplistic philosophy. Who knows, it may just change your view on life.
This week, Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota did a broadcast on the Keystone XL Pipeline that President Obama is blocking. We should be outraged that Obama is going to let this opportunity pass us by. Canada is not waiting, the Prime Minister has already said if we don’t want their oil, he is going to China to sell it. And the meetings between the two countries are already scheduled.
Even if the administration wants to push green energy initiatives, we are no where ready for them. It will be years before we can be off coal and oil. Not to mention the jobs this project will create immediately.
Another example of how Obama would rather talk than do, and it is becoming more and more clear that his talking points and the facts don’t line up.
Here are a few of Sen. Hoeven’s comments:
“The point is this: If the Keystone XL pipeline isn’t built, Canadian oil will still be produced and transported—700,000 barrels a day of it—but instead of coming to our refineries in the United States, instead of creating jobs for our people, instead of reducing our dependence on Middle Eastern oil and keeping down the cost of fuel for American consumers—that oil will be sent to China. A number of year-end stories recently made much of the fact that the Keystone XL pipeline project isn’t on the President’s agenda before next year’s election, which is unfortunate, because it is private-sector projects like Keystone XL—and the hundreds of others cited by the U.S. Chamber study—that will get our nation working again.
“I have worked towards approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, first as governor of North Dakota, and now with my colleagues as a U.S. Senator, because it is just the kind of project that will grow our economy and create more jobs. And that’s the larger point here. We must empower private investment and create sustainable jobs through private enterprise to lift up our country. The President and his Administration need to join us in creating the kind of legal, tax, and regulatory environment that empowers private investment. That’s the approach that will grow our economy and get people back to work. That’s the approach that will reduce our deficit and debt, and strengthen our nation.”
Sen. Hoeven’s full address is here:
Disclaimer: Any similarities between characters in this blog post and women suffering from Black Friday Traumatic Stress Syndrome are purely coincidental.
Another Black Friday has come and gone. Every year I say to myself, never ever again will I even open the blinds on Black Friday and peek out. But every year I am lured outside by the promise of some new gadget that I really don’t need, but think I can’t live without because the price is just insanely low. Such was the case this year.
All I needed was a new flash drive. After all, how crowded could an office supply store be on Black Friday? I even waited until the sun came up thinking all the hard core BF shoppers would be back home. Little did I know I would end up like Jeff Bridges in Tron, stuck in a video game fighting for my life.
Usually I prefer MMORPG’s like World of Warcraft to FPS games like Gears of War, although occasionally I do venture in to the faster paced kill ‘em all let God sort ‘em out games. Not in my worst nightmare did I envision being lured into the Dead Island live survival event known as the BF Shopping Mall Parking Lot!
The office supply store was great, not crowded at all. I got what I wanted and got out. I even stopped to pick up a few impulse buys. “Wow, that wasn’t so bad,” the game narrator in my head told me. “I bet other places aren’t bad either.” It went downhill from there!
Twenty minutes later I was scrambling, ducking, and running for cover, trying to make it back to my truck. Geritol-crazed, blue haired little zombies, spurred on by the thoughts of falling prices, slashed and careened their Buicks across parking aisles, over top of planters, blowing horns and talking on cell phones. The tails of their jackets hung out the bottom of their car door and their packages remained precariously atop their car rooftops.
The saddest sight was one little mummified shopper, barely tall enough to see over the steering wheel of her battle- scarred Oldsmobile. I couldn’t tell if the elderly gentleman in the back with his panic stricken face pressed up against the window was a hostage or her husband. With a cell phone pressed firmly to her ear she jumped the curb and shredded shrubberies. The poor soul in the backseat was tossed around like a rag doll in a spin cycle. With his last ounce of energy, I saw him cling to the seat, look out the back window and mouth, “Save me.” But it was too late. With a puff of blue smoke and a backfire, the Oldsmobile was out of sight.
Using all the of the zombie skills I remembered from playing Left for Dead, I managed to make it to my truck. I dove in and locked the doors just as I saw another shopper exit the mall and make a dash for her car. She was being followed by a walking mound of packages, obviously some sort of undead mage performing a magic trick. As I backed out, I learned it was not magic at all, but a frazzled minion carrying her bounty.
I navigated out of the labyrinth of the parking lot and onto the main road, returning by back streets and alleyways to the fortress of my home. Never again, I told myself for the umpteenth time, will I venture out on Black Friday. This time I mean it.
- Happiness doesn’t have to cost a lot.
It’s that time of year again, time to ask ourselves where the year has gone. I’m reminded of it every year when I see the city street department hanging the Christmas decorations or when Kroger puts turkeys, cans of pumpkin, and boxes of instant stuffing on sale at the end of every aisle.
I sat in a board meeting for a non-profit today discussing our budget for next year. I thought to myself, “Wait, didn’t we just do this?” It also means time for property taxes, Black Friday shopping (or not) and the general panic everyone feels over buying Christmas presents. The thought process usually goes something like this, “Let’s see, what can I get Susie? I haven’t seen her or her family or talked to them since last year. Wait, I didn’t even do that last year, I just sent them something. I wonder if they liked it? What did I send them? I hope I don’t send them the same thing. I wonder what she likes? Does she play soccer or cheerlead? I could send her a gift card but that is so impersonal.”
Meanwhile Susie is thinking, “I wonder who that was that sent me that tacky soccer ball snow globe that didn’t even get a second glance in my garage sale? Geez, they could have sent a gift card. I hope they don’t send me a stupid gift this year. I don’t even know those people and I have to write them a thank you card.”
This year I’ve been all about downsizing. I have gotten rid of stuff that all of my life I felt compelled to save because, you know, someday I might need it or read it or wear it or, well you get the picture. All I ever did with it was move it around because I was tripping over it.
I suggest this year, instead of spending a lot of money on a snow globe, sorry snow globe industry, or some other trinket, give a gift that will make a difference in someone’s name and let them know. You have to be careful about doing this though as some charities take quite a bit of administrative and other costs out of your donations.
If you are interested in giving a gift like this to someone at Christmas, a good place to start looking is the Better Business Bureau. They have a list of charities and reports in their BBB Wise Giving Alliance website (link here).
The best thing about giving a gift like this is that you don’t have to get up at 3am to stand in the cold, fight mobs of screaming middle aged women wielding shopping carts as weapons only to find out the last 46 inch plasma high definition 3D television with built in surround smell for only two dollars was bought by the person in front of you.
Ok, maybe that is the second best thing.
This past week America lost an icon. CBS 60 Minutes commentator Andy Rooney passed away at 92. A lot will be written about his life, his long career, the many lives he influenced and touched. I heard him described as America’s curmudgeon, I thought that was a great description.
I may have disagreed with Andy Rooney’s politics, but I did love his way with a commentary. Rooney had a way with words and an impeccable timing with his delivery. Andy Rooney carried that timing over into his final days, dying only a month after his final commentary.
When I go, that is how I want it to be, I want to be doing what I love right up until the time God says enough. Can we really ask for much more than that? Rest In Peace Andy Rooney, you will be missed.