Monthly Archives: May 2017
The Deppths of a Salesman
Quick question: Have you ever bought pens over the phone?
Famed character acting savant Johnny Depp is one of the biggest movie stars on the planet. He’s currently promoting the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean movie: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. If any of the previous movies in the Disney franchise are any indication, Dead Men Tell No Tales should be a wild, fun movie adventure. And, as part of the film’s promotional tour, Mr. Depp stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live! (which isn’t live, but that’s for another day) and revealed his not-so-Hollywood, yet also very Hollywood beginning in Los Angeles.
This living man tells no false tales.
Das Engine of Life
Star Wars is part of us.
All of us.
On this Throwback Thursday, let’s recall that brilliant TV ad from Volkswagen that perfectly joined the forces of business and imagination.
That cool, original one-minute story conceptualized by the advertising team at Volkswagen achieved something that far exceeded the normal expectations of a TV commercial. And that was suspension of belief with a tether that was surprisingly tied to reality. Above all, the TV ad above showcases the necessity and power of creative storytelling. Telling a story, however seemingly other-worldly is one of the most important things in life and it connects us to each other in profound, sometimes unexpected ways.
Just ask any Star Wars fan (excluding Episodes I-III).
Sheldon Cooper’s First Roommate Agreement
Have you ever been curious what would happen if The Big Bang Theory became TV friends with The Wonder Years?
Come this fall, you’ll wonder no more.
My reaction to the brand new TV trailer for Young Sheldon, in a single word, which would surely appease the relentlessly efficient conversationalist, Dr. Sheldon Cooper:
Yes.
P.S. Looks like Chuck Lorre has done it again.
Is Tech Navigating a Roundabout Future?
Similar to Clark W. Griswold, the potential technological roundabout ahead may not have the easiest exit strategy. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing is still in the TBD phase.
Literally.
But it’s intriguing nonetheless.
The innovative new headquarters for Apple, Inc. (at least there’s still some form of innovation still happening there) is receiving its finishing polishes as I write this sentence and as you are reading this awesomely intriguing sentence. Many have labeled the gigantic circular design as “space-like.” Actually, there’s some credence to that description. Recall the circular, clocklike spaceship in 2014 science-fiction epic Interstellar.
The sleek design and environmentally sustainable compound campus will likely serve as a model for future buildings in myriad industries (possibly including schools?), business mentalities (hopefully, not like the 2017 big brother film The Circle) and, brace yourself…
as a future handheld device?
Rumors surrounding any Steve Jobs-like inventions have been lacking under the Tim Cook era. Apple, for lack of a better word, has been grounded in recent years. Ironic that the new Apple HQ looks like a spaceship, right?
Was that deliberate?
Is it possible that Mr. Cook has been cooking up (had to) a new wave of Apple products right underneath our noses? My random Tuesday, May 16th hypothesis is that Apple might soon be releasing a product or line of new products that utilize the circular structure seen in the video above showcasing Apple’s new HQ in the near future. This is not to say that the next iPhone will be circular, but that some brand new product or series of products just may capitalize on the power of circular motion. Or that a new revolutionary feature in Apple’s products will take on a prominently round shape.
Why not? The symmetry between Apple’s daily lifestyle for its employees at the circular spaceship would be perfectly synched with the gadgets of its tech consumers spread around the globe. Plus, as Apple’s competitors are focused on the rectangular, square-like shapes for its devices, a circular product of some sort would stylistically one-up its rivals.
As they say, you can’t fit a round peg into a square hole.
Or vice-versa.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, could be Apple’s next insanely great competitive advantage.
Jimmy's Daily Planet 