Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Steve Jobs (CEO of Apple Inc.) does it again!

If you watched the news earlier today, you must have heard that Apple Inc. unveiled its anticipated, rumored, new tablet device - iPad Tablet. You know, just when I thought Apple couldn't revolutionize technology any further, Steve Jobs and his posse proved me wrong! Boy, am I glad they manage to tickle my writer-fingers every single time! They create products that redefine “handsomeness” and make Jane Austen’s heroes look hideous!

As you can probably tell, I am a proud member of the Apple cult. I humbly confess that I ONLY use Apple products – right from music, to phone, to my laptops(s). If they made soap or soup, I would use them too! So much so, I can spend my free time browsing through their different stores in NYC and soaking in the ridiculous awesomeness of creativity. In fact, on several occasions, I have asked the Apple customer service folks if I could work for their company. And they seemed unfettered. I guess, the other cult members must have asked the same poignant question. I think blue, the T-shirt color worn by most Apple customer service reps, wouldn’t look too shabby on me. I would totally appreciate wearing their chic, placid, ingenious, and nirvanesque uniform!

Okay. Now that you have some background information on my Apple-loyalty (devotion/ insanity), back to the iPad. Of course, as someone who is an Apple aficionado, I am ecstatic about the iPad. I mean, what’s not to like? For instance, if you enjoy hamburgers and then someone tells you that there is a Big Mac available with triple the amount of cheese, meat, onions, and tomatoes compared to the regular burger, what are you going to say? Do I hear a “Hell yeah, dude!” See, the iPad is like the Big Mac of iPhone with its 9.7-inch IPS screen versus 3.5 inches of the iPhone. The iPad weighs 1.5 lbs and it is half an inch thick. Ooh, the battery life is 10 hours, or a month on standby. It comes with 16, 32 or 64 gigabytes of flash memory storage. I mean, can technology get sleeker than this? Best of all, it’s not that expensive! Prices start at $499, $599 and $699 - depending on the storage size.

So, do I see myself purchasing an iPad in the near future? Who knows! Never say never! Though if I decide to partake in the frivolousness, I will have to justify, to my conscience, why my MacBook and MacBook Air weren’t inspirational enough for the poor writer in me.

Anyways, despite my positive reaction to another phenomenal Apple product, I am bothered by one thing: Who came up with the unimaginative name, “iPad”? Seriously, as one of the critics said, “iPad sounds like a feminine product!” I couldn’t agree more! Why do I feel some dude came up with it? What do you all think? 


More until next time,

Xoxo

Copyright © 01.27.2010

 

“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower” - Steve Jobs

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

What are you going to be doing?

Welcome to the New Year and a new decade! Hope you all had a good holiday season. You might feel that I am a little late in wishing everybody but then think again. See, until the first week of January, people aren’t really receptive to the outer world. Can you blame them? With the general festivities, innumerable parties, vacations, relaxed season, and pumpkin lattes over, the first week of January feels like a tight slap across the face. So, I decided to post my thoughts, along with my warm wishes, today.

Can you believe we have entered a new decade? That’s huge! Have you thought or made plans for the next ten years? In case you are judging me and thinking, “No one does that, dude,” you’d be surprised at how wrong you are. For people in their twenties, this is the decade (There are always exceptions!) to consider making personal commitments. Not to say one couldn’t find a partner at fifty, but the options and opportunities get limited in today’s world. Will you be able to last at parties and bars past midnight once you are in your thirties, forties, and fifties? In fact, will you have the time to make as many after-work social commitments on weekday evenings? If not, then where else will you meet people? Your coworkers? Nah! By the time you cross the glorious twenty-bridge, your colleagues are the people you see the most. Unless you are a masochist, you wouldn’t want to date someone you spend fourteen hours of your day cooped up inside an office space. If you have a television show, then sky is your limit. After all, Rakhi Sawant organized a “swayamvar” to meet the caring and doting guy she had always dreamt of. She is apparently still engaged to Toronto-businessman, Elesh Parujanwala.

For thirty plus folks, this decade is crucial career-wise. It is the “Make it” or “Break it” time. My generation has been cursed with pre-mature aging – an aspect of globalization no one talks about. We already have school, car, house and million other loans – an overwhelming feeling our parents didn’t have to deal with until they hit fifty. It’s not a surprise most of us hit our mid-life crisis in our early thirties itself. Ironically, my generation is such a slave to work; even our pre-mature crises revolve around our careers. Gone are the days where men bought themselves a Porsche and a blond as an accessory or women obsessed about their altering looks or widening waistline. Mid-life crisis is about revelations for us - the fear of waking up and realizing that you had a passion, but you didn’t act on it when you had the chance. How do you deal with that feeling of not knowing whether or not something would have worked?

I will write more about my personal story and mid-life crisis another time, I promise. But until then, think about what you want to do with the rest of your life because now is the time.


More until next time,
Xoxo

Copyright © 01.13.2010


"A man who does not think for himself does not think at all" – Oscar Wilde