Ramblings | The Unknowledge Tree

Category Archives: Ramblings

In this category I ramble on and on and on and on and what was I talking about again?

October 6, 2011 · 1:00 pm

I’m a PC?

As a PC user, I never really got into Macs. It was too foreign to me, the OS, the one button mouse, etc., so I developed a holier than thou attitude about my PC skills. Possibly I feared that I would be sucked in like the rest of the population, hypnotized by whatever it was in those imacs or iphones that made people buy a new one every six months. Whatever it was, I wasn’t buying it. You could call me a mac hater. But that is exactly my point. When it comes to Apple, you either love ’em or you hate ’em. For many Americans and people around the world, they were lovers, and will continue to be, and I respect that, because damnit he made one hell of a good product year, after year, after year.

This is why I have the utmost respect for Steve Jobs and the company he has created. In fact, I was taken aback by the amount of emotion I felt when I read the myriad headlines on every major news website announcing his death; which has undoubtedly ended a golden age of technological consumer innovation. He was able to marry design with functionality in the technology field like no one has ever done before, and I sincerely doubt no one ever will.

In my opinion, one of the most important things he did was invest in and develop Pixar Animation. These movies, beginning with Toy Story, highlighted by Finding Nemo, and most recently the critically acclaimed Toy Story 3, revolutionized animation and touched the hearts of millions of people across the globe in ways that we haven’t known since the golden age of Disney (who would eventually buy Pixar). I cannot thank him enough for what he has done for the genre.

Steve Jobs is a household name, just as Bill Gates, Barack Obama, Warren Buffet, Bono, or any other important person in politics, business, or celebrity. But what separates Mr. Jobs from the rest is that we share an emotional connection with him through his dedication, persona, products, services, and public appearances (most notably his unforgettable Stanford commencement speech). The public knows that Steve has been directly involved with Apples products, and these products are undeniably beautiful and functional. People love them, people hate them, and people watch as other people use them. Either way, we feel something, whether we know it or not. In the end, all roads lead to respect and admiration, which is all I have left for the greatest innovator of our generation, Steve Jobs. May you rest in peace.

Self Control

I am a frequent multi-tasker, however I rarely accomplish anything. At any given moment I can be doing anywhere from two to seven things at once, and at the same time doing absolutely nothing. Welcome to the age of technology. In fact, just before I started writing this post I was on gchat, facebook chat, finding music on youtube, watching baseball, and eating a delicious snack of fresh strawberries from my favorite grocery store, who I am not at all ashamed to mention, Central Market (CM). By the way, if CM had apartments on top of it, I would be first in line to pre-lease them, but I digress. Wait…what was I talking about? You know, before CM? Oh look, Jersey Shore is on! How I love these innocent, charismatic guidos, let me count the ways…

My generation, which I adore, has been at the forefront of technological innovation for the past decade. Alas, it is because of these innovations that I find myself lacking the ability to be productive. Not because I choose to be unproductive, but because I lack the self-control to do otherwise. That being said, I know for a fact that I am not the only one who falls into this category. Self-control, or lack thereof, in my opinion, is not something that is easily thwarted. It is a ghostly figure that lurks just under the surface, poking and prodding at my brain, nudging it in the direction of leisure and entertainment. Being a ghost, it is very difficult for me to fight it off (as we know, ghosts are notoriously difficult to locate and deal with, mainly because of their invisibility and shyness of humans).

So many times I have heard the phrase, “Just do it!” To which I am accustomed to responding, “Does this look like a Nike commercial to you? Do you see me wearing swooshes?”

This only serves to irritate the person attempting to motivate me, who is most likely telling me this because this person cares about my well-being. I then assure them there is no phrase on this earth that will motivate me to do whatever meaningless thing they are requesting of me, which then usually ushers on more motivational speech type phrases, which only serves to further distill my attention until it resembles pancake mix being poured out of the bowl into the frying pan, where it will become delicious pancakes and then served to eagerly awaiting children on a crisp and cool Saturday morning. Please excuse me while I go make some pancakes.