Hiatus
March 26th, 2008The Things You Carry (aka PaulDailing.com) will be going on a brief hiatus due to a family emergency.
I will resume posting next week.
R.I.P. Jethro
March 23rd, 2008My favorite dog in the world has died. His name was Jethro and he was the sweetest, cutest, coolest little pup ever.
He belonged to my friend Laurie and had a weird knack for playing when you wanted to play and resting when you wanted to rest. He was obliging, which is a good quality in dogs.
Mourn ya till I join ya, boy.
Since then, I’ve been sweeter to my roommate’s cat, a scratchy, bitey little number named Sauerkraut. Vicious little cat, but loves to play with string.
Last year, Americans spent $39 billion on their pets, accor (sorry to interrupt this conversation about how I’ve been sweeter to Sauerkraut. Had to lock the little bastard in the bathroom because it kept chewing on my computer’s power cord.)
Last year, Americans spent $39 billion on their pets, according to this San Francisco Chronicle article.
Makes you think. Jethro just wanted to cuddle, play with tennis balls and not have cancer. Sauerkraut is fascinated by pieces of string (I did leave the string in the bathroom with her, just to show I’m not a total jerk.) What are these people spending money on?
Hee hee. Spitzer.
March 20th, 2008It’s Wednesday now and, on Monday, PBS’ Frontline re-ran the truly excellent profile of the credit card industry.
Granted, the interview with then-New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is a lot funnier now, but the episode was a truly horrifying and in-depth look at a really shady industry that bankrupts a lot of people.
Anyway, just encouraging everyone who hasn’t yet to watch the online content.
It’ll make you sick to your stomach.
What’s that on the right?
March 17th, 2008If you look in the upper right, you’ll see a link to something called Blog 2.0. That’s a project for my grad class in which I outline how this site could better serve you.
Actually, though, I would prefer you click on School Work to get to the Blog 2.0. The information is the same, it’s just that that page has a really silly picture of my sister and I when we were kids, one of the few in which we weren’t hitting each other.
I’m the one with the fake mustache.
A quick one
March 16th, 2008A brief snippet from the European Youth for Action Web site. The bolding and italicizing is mine:
“In the West, the understanding of basic living standards is changeable, depending on lifestyle; a busy job, social life, travel etc. It is also a symptom of the boredom and laziness brought on by an over-effluent society, a society forever being encouraged to ’succeed’ by shopping. “
I think they might have meant “over-affluent,” but I think it works either way.
Who’s the boss?
March 16th, 2008The Innovator blog at the Sydney Morning Herald (that’s Down Under to you) had an interesting post on the role of consumers in product development.
Basically, the tenet is that companies should listen to the consumers and be open to ideas and innovations from the outside. Sounds interesting. Reminds me a bit of when Homer Simpson bankrupted his long-lost brother by designing a car that had a horn which played “La Cucaracha,” but that’s an extreme example.
(Public domain image courtesy of Wikipedia)
I am intrigued by the concept, though. It’s good for business to listen to people rather than try to make a bad product and shove it down people’s throats with a glitzy ad campaign (I’m talking to you, every movie Will Smith has ever made).
Actually, that’s not fair. I liked “Men In Black.”
The whole thing reminds me of Bill Gates, who sort of looks like a Men In Black alien. If I’m getting the story right, Gates was going to spend tons o’ money to give computers to children in Africa. Then he visited Africa and scrapped the whole project, spending the money instead on helping them get clean water. He saw what the people really needed and didn’t go ahead with the preconceived notion he had. Good for him.
More amusing examples include the stories my sister tells of her days working at an ad agency. There was the man who wanted them to come up with a campaign for his luxury birdcages. He was unbending on the name he had picked out ahead of time - The Pecker Palace. There’s a similar story she tells about the company marketing a new brand of flavored soy nuts. They wanted to call them Numm Nuts, because they’re nummy.
I guess I’m torn on the concept of increased consumer roles in product development. I like that it might lead to products with actual, as opposed to perceived, need. On the other hand, it doesn’t really make much difference to me if a company thinks I need this product or some random dude thinks I need this product and suggests it to the company. I’m equally ambivalent.
The Innovator blog had an interesting quote from Henry Ford. He said that, if he had listened only to consumers, he would have built a faster, cheaper horse.
Now, I’m wary any time that strike-busting antisemite seems to make sense. He’s a bad man. Read “The Flivver King.”
Either way, there’s going to be more crap on the market. It seems from the Innovator post that businesses will benefit from listening to people or “making the consumer boss,” but do you think we, society as a whole, will benefit from products being based on public perception? Will the public help create morally better products than the businesses would alone?
It’s not on the same level as newspapers running stories not on import but on how well they’ll play with single women aged 18 to 35 who make $50,000 to $100,000 a year or other such crap, but it’s always interesting to read about the arguments behind what some have termed “the death of authority.”
P.S.
March 14th, 2008Coming this weekend, The Things You Carry 2.0, a look at the possible future of the blog you know and might vaguely remember.
Luckiest guy on the Lower East Side
March 14th, 2008I couldn’t find a public domain picture of the place, so here’s a link to the Old Town School of Folk Music.
It’s a wonderful, community-based school and social center and I’m going there tonight.
I’m not going there because it’s a wonderful 501(c)3 non-profit educational program with long-standing ties to the community. I’m going there because the Magnetic Fields are playing there tonight. I would drive a Hummer to the BP/Amgen/Rumsfeld/Wal-Mart Multiplex (built on the site of the former Yellowstone Park) to see the Magnetic Fields. They rock.
I’m telling you this because I’ve been reading over my last few posts and they’re pretty preachy. In the interest of full disclosure, I have to tell you exactly what I would sell out for.
Stephin Merritt, you rule.
Screw bonds, buy crap!
March 13th, 2008A man named Fratto is telling you to buy a bunch of crap you wouldn’t have otherwise (i.e. don’t need).
There. That’s my anticonsumerist news for the day. Read it and get pissed.
Oh, yeah. Fratto is the deputy press secretary and he’s speaking on behalf of the US government.
Move to Canada. We can all stay at Josephine’s house. She’ll be cool with it.