The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous Roman candles, exploding like spiders across the stars, and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes, ‘Awww…’
It’s good to run across people like that once in awhile, although I haven’t lately. The above quote (by beat generation poet Jack Kerouac) reminds me of this old Apple Computer ad…when was that anyway?…that featured the unmistakable voice of Richard Dreyfuss. Click here to watch.
At school, I see kids who are different but awesome, guided by their own drummer/spirit — and who are made to suffer on account of it. It makes me sad. Here’s to those people today. Be who you are. Turn over some tables in your life. Love something. I will heart you for it.
FO
Wow, that ad wasn’t THAT long ago. I like how it has nothing to do with apple products. Individuality is a very difficult thing to grasp. I think in today’s world “not caring what others think” and “being my own person” are actually falling in line with a group of people who are trying to be themselves when in fact they are behaving like each other. I think being yourself means falling in line with whatever you agree with despite how “individualistic” that idea may seem. People should be themselves, even if that means falling in line with THE SAME ways of thinking as “acceptable society” may have. Besides, if people “don’t care what others think” of them nobody would be able to do a good job interview.
So young and so cynical…I’m glad I’ll be long dead when you’re 60. You’re gonna be a handful.
Re your opening sentence: spoken like someone who was still in diapers when this little OS war started. Truth is, luv…it *was* a big deal and the ad had an awful lot to do with what Apple were trying to do — especially since the world (with a few exceptions) was basically indoctrinated and assimilated by Microsoft.
You were also obviously not alive to enjoy the 70s.
Run along now and put your teeth in, dearie. Time to teach the kiddies.
You know, after reading this response I wrote, it doesn’t make as much sense as it did in my head when I was collecting my thoughts to write it. Ouch…
…and few would be man enough to admit it, Stein. Take it to the bank.
In 100 years, when people talk about Steve Jobs- who right now stands on the shoulders of some of those giants in that ad, he’s already secured his Colossus – he will be the towering figure of late 20th/early 21st century culture. Bill Gates will fill out histories as a major player but Jobs will be mythologized. Ubermensched. He has rewritten our day to day lives with the bookish brilliance of a businessman, the exquisite aesthetic of a grand tastemaker, and the iconoclast spirit of a pioneer. He is to the information age what Picasso was to the complete artist, what Ali was to methodical madness of sports, what Joyce was to the novel, Toscanini and the NYPO to symphonic music in America, Einstein to the Heavens. I don’t think for a moment I’m exaggerating.
Good lord. Just put Windows 7 on your Macs and get over yourselves.
Conger! Be nice! (Or I’ll get in the Ranger and come visit you at Hoity Toity U and kick yer…)
Who can afford a Mac? The only Apple product I have is an I-Pod. But I dream about the iPhone. That product – i don’t even have a cell phone period – but that product is outrageous. There’s a concept electric car called the Rinspeed iChange that’s keyless…you unlock the car and start it with an iPhone.
iPhones are nice indeed…BoomR and my daughter-in-law have them, and they are cool! I do happen to like my BlackBerry Storm, though. But it won’t unlock the Ranger, dangit…
1. I always thought my 2G iPhone was cool & then I stepped up to the 3G model. Both of them fell short in a few areas because they lacked some core mobile phone features that have been in the phones of mainline manufacturers for a long time (things like lack of MMS/”Picture Messaging”, and the ability to attach more than 1 image to an email using the phone’s email client). But that all got fixed in the 3.0 software released. I worked for Nokia as a technical writer & trainer for 7.5 years, so it was tough not having those features that I’d used for years. Now my head just spins with some of the applications that you can get for the phone – CLEARLY there are TONS of people thinking WAY outside the box in the iPhone/Touch developer community. Again, Steve Jobs continues to be the visionary…
2. Who can afford a Mac? Not sure what part of the country that you’re in, but we’ve got 3 Apple stores here in the DFW area… every time I go in them (during the day, nights, weekend), the places are PACKED, and there’s always at least 2 or 3 people heading out the door with their salesperson pushing a 2-wheeler in horizontal mode, stacked high with boxes of laptops, printers, iMacs, monitors, etc. Check the prices of the Macs & then compare with *comparably equipped* PC desktops or laptops. You’d be surprised at how quickly you can now put that old wive’s tale to bed…
I can’t explain to you how happy I was when I read that Jack Kerouac quote… I just got done reading “On The Road” for the first time like 2 weeks ago.