Here it comes, the chance to buy yourself back into bondage! Now instead of buying your mp3 straight from the source or atleast cutting out hardwhere (which should’ve also cut out cost by the way), now you can go back to buying hardware and worrying about a player!
The slot card is a new format (out in September) and found a places like Best Buy and Wal-Mart (nuff said) and is pushed by the music industry big guys. They are promising more content (music, videos, pictures, notes, etc.) and a more “interactive experience” in exchange for you going from mp3 downloads to purchasing a microSD card (memory card).
This has been put forth by the people at SanDisk who’s products currently allow us to load any song we want from any artist along with tons of other content on an card they sell. Why they would want us to do otherwise is beyond me but it might have something to do withUniversal, Sony, EMI and Warner Music supporting the effort.
I want to make sure it’s said here that this is not to your benifit. It is yet to be seen what will come of the slot card but I for one am not trying to go backwards into the future.
I put forth this question not necessarily about apples notebook but as something you should consider if you are a earth friendly individual. What you have to consider more than ever is language. You have to be aware that terms like “green” or “clean coal” or “organic” can be used just as much to sale a product as much as it can to tell you what the product or company is actually about.
With any company selling you “green” products have you considered that making you buy a new phone or notebook every year or two or even suggesting you should means you are contributing more waste then necessary. This is especially true when it comes to electronics that are hard to dispose of in a “clean” way that doesn’t affect the earth.
When you are considering “clean coal” you MUST consider the fact that making coal clean-er doesn’t not make it clean, it is a term made up to sell you on the technology and make sure that you don’t question what is going on.
I’ve seen cigarettes on sale as organic because the leaves harvested to make the cigarettes were grown organically. Does that make the cigarettes any less deadly or is it a way to “sale” you in this new sustainable world?
The essence of being independent is what we call “doing the work” translated simply it is thinking your way through and not being “sold” on what something is or isn’t. Cars should be built to last, the same is true of computers, cellphones, and any other product. A true quality product is the kind that hardly if EVER needs replacing.
Be sure you know what’s what and think past the products being sold and consider what’s being told.
Reading through daily inspiration, more specifically a post on The Skinny (@Veer.com) makes CJ and I click through and take notice–a Gap ad encouraging voters to vote. Quickly an IM conversation starts:
CJ — “interesting social responsibility campaign! like the design and message… too bad it’s the gap!”
kc! — “good example of big business doing responsibility? or just another way to seem indie?”
And so launches another episode of Editor’s Battle:
kc! — Honestly, watching the ads, they feel really sincere and honest. In fact, they made me want to watch all of them. I imagine the design team sitting back with the marketing team and wanting to just get the message of voting out to the masses. Behind every big corporation, there are tons of independent people.
CJ — No doubt… it’s a well put together, timely, campaign. The message is invaluable in that voters, ALL VOTERS, need to make their voices heard! Fact is: That message is still being put out by The Gap Company– a publicly traded, gigantic corporation, that makes homogenized “fashion” for pennies (actually yuan), then charges the highest possible margins for those threads. Publicly traded companies have one mission: Use any-and-all means necessary to maximize profits for shareholders. This is a feudal attempt to seem relevant given the current circumstances. All the while, even their die-hard, burb customers can’t help save the sinking ship; let alone this poser, indie attempt.
kc! — So does this mean that any attempt at social responsibility by a corporate entity will be read as pandering for our dollars? Or is there a more viable way that big business can participate in conscious thinking?
CJ — It’s all about the dollar. What has Gap really done to get out the vote? Has there been ANY grassroots efforts in making registering and voting easier? This campaign should be highly visible in swing states. This campaign should bombard critical states like Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. But why will it play more in safe state centers like NYC, LA, and Chicago? Because they will pick up on the indie-cool factor. Indie=young, mind-share=more, sold=more, profit=higher stock price. Not saying it’s bad, just not indie.
kc! — Time will tell, that is for sure… but I don’t think it is right to assume that just because a company is out to make money, that advertisements such as these don’t help both the consumer and the business image without necessarily having to promote money-making endeavors. I still feel that there is room for individual independent thinking bubbling up from within a large corporation. Unlikely, yes… but possible.
Independence has this will of it’s own and like an 19 year old freshmen in college it hates to be tied down. You see what comes along with your every bill that you accumulate is more freedom or less freedom and you have to make sure you’re accumulating the right kinds of bills.
I mean don’t take this to extreams, most people aren’t looking to be a nomad with no mortgage, no phone to communicate, and no material things to call their own, as Americans these things come natural to us. I the trick is to get these things on your own terms and ALWAYS remember for a happy life having a good amount of independence is key.
Here’s a great example. There are alot of people and companies alike with real estate and what almost inexorably becomes a huge electricity bill. Even with all of your cfl’s, turning off appliances and work stations when possible just the cost of opporations or living (overhead) can be painful. In come solar panels. No this isn’t a commercial for Solar City but you have to remember that the key is to create freedom from obligation and when you can profit while you’re doing it. So if you can save your pennies to get solar panels and then sale energy back to your utility each month, you’ve just created a situation where you’re not beholden to someone else.
Another example would be using complex servers and software to run your business or your life. I mean for years tons of people knew (myself included) where using outlook, the palm desktop, and any other computer based software we could get our hands on to run our life, business, or job better. You spend money of software so that all the info you need can sit on your computer or sync it to another machine you had to buy to keep up with the first machine. If your business with multiple people then you pay even more money for a surver to sync up everyones date books and information. These services are invaluable tools but they cost alot less, can be just as secure, and free up time and resources by sourcing them to the internet.
With tools like Basecamp, online storage sites, even Google and Microsoft have tons of tools you can use online that were once the sole domain of your internal hardware.
Independence is a tricky thing but worth is every step of the way! In todays world is pays to make sure you’re doing things the way that fits for your business, your wallet size, and your since of freedom. It’s your life, live it independent!
I was having a talk with kc! about buying independent, feeling independent, and how independent a person is or isn’t. I offer this for all to consider.
That fact that you buy a burger at Mcdonalds or a local burger hut isn’t what makes you independent or not. It’s asking yourself if you bought that burger based on lack of choice, a want of buying the best product, or because you want to support a chain or a local restaurant (insert a multitude of other reasons here). When you have answered these questions and choose to spend your dollar against your convictions, you choose to be more or less independent because you choose to be more or less yourself by choosing.
Fooling yourself by justifying a choice against your own convictions doesn’t assure your independent status. I must say here that because you choose to go against your beliefs of supporting a huge chain like Starbucks or Wal-Mart when you feel the need, isn’t going to bring the indies burning golden arches on your lawn, it’s not that black and white. We are the sum of ALL our choices and not just the bad ones.
I have yet to find a local independent who taste good, uses the same or better quality ingrediants, and is as price concious as Subway. I eat their often, does this make me less independent? I think not. I would argue that the fact I have actually thought about why I shop there is what defines me as being independent.
Don’t be bullied into always buying from Jack in the Box because it’s everywhere and there’s a lack of good choices and don’t shy away from buying at Taco Bell if that is what you’ve decided is best for you.
Be independent and know that when you look at yourself in the mirror you’ve made a choice, not been hoodwinked into thinking you had no other option.
The difference is vast, the choices are always up to you.
We struggle with it everyday. Are these guys “independent”enough to endorse or talk about their product? If we haven’t looked that company up to see what they’re about should we even cover what they’re doing? The new Friend or Foe series is here to help with those questions. This is where we will have coverage of questionable companies and people in regards to independence with unquestionably good ideas or philosophies we should know about. We’ll leave it up to you to make up your own mind.
With that said here comes GINA . If you can’t acknowledge that BMW is on to, well… something then you might want to come back tomorrow when we’ll only be talking about companies we know for sure are independent.
kc! — You hear the new Madonna album “Hard Candy” yet? I am listening to it right now and can safely say that HER CAREER IS OVER!!!
Rai-mon — LOL! Well the song that’s getting all the radio play is cool but it’s not THAT dope. Yea it’s time for Timbaland to go down. I love that dude but it’s just time…
kc! — i liked the last Madonna album… but now, she has gone all hip hop-style on this one (almost ala any other young talentless diva these days). Is the Timbaland/Timberlake song “4 Minutes” the one on the radio?
Rai-mon — YEA. Well he did the whole album though.
kc! — I honestly like Timbaland’s stuff… usually. Wait, he did this album? Woah…
Rai-mon — Oh me too, he’s one of the best producers alive in my opinion, but sometimes you have to give it a rest and not do everything for everyone. He’s like fucking Microsoft right now. Fucking killing me.
kc! — Yes, true. Its like he sold her all the wack beats he had laying around in the backroom… they are still interesting, but don’t seem fully developed. But I bet realistically, it has a lot to do with her influence. I think it is just Madonna that is ill-fitted
Rai-mon — Yea i mean, I was juiced when he did his album with tons of different people on it cause that’s how good he is. Different genres and shit. But not he’s just cashing in. I mean I would’ve probably done it too, she’s like the diva Micheal Jackson. But i don’t care, right now he’s on my nerves.
Rai-mon — DOWN WITH TIMBALAND >:o
kc! — You know, this album has the same awkwardness as if my mother tried to rap using current slang… she could probably pull it off… but it just sounds weird.
…
kc! — HAHAH… sounds like a good rant post for the blog today, dude! Just copy and paste this freaking IM session… fuck it, that’s what i am going to do!
Rai-mon — That’s funny. Awww shit lets do it. Do it sucka…
“Cannibalization Factor” Eating The Company’s Future
According to a list released this week, Wal-Mart Stores has abandoned a record-shattering 45 proposed projects over the past 10 months — often leaving local officials dejected and confused. Another 19 Wal-Mart projects have been killed by local citizen’s groups. In total, the world’s largest retailer has suffered an historic loss of 64 projects.
The list of store cancellations was compiled by Sprawl-Busters, which has maintained a database on Wal-Mart battles for more than a decade. Since June, 2007, the Arkansas-based retailer has delayed or killed its own stores in the following communities:
Contrary to what Bono thinks, consumer/personal debt is not a good thing, not even if you’re buying things with your “Product Red” American Express that will send some of that money to HIV AIDS work in Africa. Do the good deeds of the world have to be done by me having more debt?
While we’re talking about credit card debt, I know that there are still some things I need to do to get my debt down, so we looked to advice from one of our new favorite sites zenhabits.net
Here’s just one of the many helpful hints from the site author Leo Babauta.
1. Canceled the credit card. This item always draws a lot of debate, but I’ll say it anyway, because it’s been crucial in getting myself debt free: credit cards are extremely tempting, and with the high interest, they can be downright dangerous. It is possible to use them wisely and even profit from using them … however, most people don’t use them that way, and for people like me, it’s better to just cancel the card. I still had a big debt to pay on the card, but at least I wasn’t using it anymore. Rule #1: If you’re trying to get out of a hole, stop digging.
While over at coolhunting.com I came across some interesting Zune news. Being that I use a Zune and not the dreaded memyselfandIpod I thought I should share some artist news.Zune’s next move takes their support of emerging artists and literally puts it on their sleeve. Zune Originals is a collection of 27 original works by 18 international artists designed to be engraved onto the back of the device. (Click images for detail.) On the Zune Originals site, launching tomorrow (13 November 2007), visitors will be able to customize their Zune by size, color, illustration and with up to four optional lines of text—all free of charge, at least for the time being.Read more here
Think that your new shirt from Urban Outfitters is that cutting edge, new sh* t?
For years, large companies have been doing heavy research on the designs and trends that are bubbling on the cutting edge. Companies such as Urban Outfitters and H&M simply scout out the design that they forsee making an impact, then coincidentally release something very similar, but on a huge platform, thanks to their distribution and retail platforms. Don’t get me wrong- lots of design heavily samples elements and iconic imagery, especially from popular culture, creating its own sense of conceptual design. However, sampling turns to BITING, once that concept is merely lifted, duplicated and produced.
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