via The Wirecutter via Noah Brier

I was browsing through some old posts, and I found one that’s worth reposting. It’s in regard to the infamous Apple ‘Fanboy’ (aka fanboi)—the term non-Apple-using guys call someone who use Apple products and, dare I say, enjoys using them.
This was me in January 2010:

The thought is, the sales of the iPhones far outnumber how many supposed fanboys there are. Mac owners have always been a minority in the world of personal computers, but Apple ceased to be just a computer maker a decade ago. The iPod is best selling MP3 player in history. While the iPhone doesn’t have those bragging rights, as of Q4 2009 it sold over 33 million units.

People besides Apple fanboys are buying iPhones.

We’re now in 2012 and Apple has sold over 400 million iOS devices (this means iPhones, iPads and iPods). Four hundred million.
Let me repeat myself.
People besides Apple fanboys are buying iPhones (and iPads and iPods).

What’s that you say? Sifl & Olly are back after 10 years with new shows on YouTube?
Oh. Yeah.
So far just a promo and Episode 1.
I definitely missed Chester the most.

What’s that you say? Sifl & Olly are back after 10 years with new shows on YouTube?

Oh. Yeah.

So far just a promo and Episode 1.

I definitely missed Chester the most.

Ladies and gentlemen, today’s Influencer/Influenced post comes as a surprise to me (and it might to you as well).
Today Apple is not the Influencer, but the Influenced.
(Note: I know this very well might not be the case, given how far in advance Apple develops new products. If anything, you could say Apple is the influencer here since it’s likely they’ll be shipping new Nanos before Nokia even announces their ship date)
Influencer: Nokia Lumia 920, announced 5 Spetember 2012

Influenced: Apple iPod Nano, announced 12 September 2012

Ladies and gentlemen, today’s Influencer/Influenced post comes as a surprise to me (and it might to you as well).

Today Apple is not the Influencer, but the Influenced.

(Note: I know this very well might not be the case, given how far in advance Apple develops new products. If anything, you could say Apple is the influencer here since it’s likely they’ll be shipping new Nanos before Nokia even *announces* their ship date)

Influencer: Nokia Lumia 920, announced 5 Spetember 2012

Influenced: Apple iPod Nano, announced 12 September 2012

Forget Rasmussen or Gallup. If you really wish to know how the public feels about the candidates for president, just let Google’s autofill feature drop some knowledge. Below are real screen grabs. All I did was type ‘[this person] is a’ and let Google and its database of popular search queries do the rest. My takeaway? People have issues. Also, the president is a brony.

Forget Rasmussen or Gallup. If you really wish to know how the public feels about the candidates for president, just let Google’s autofill feature drop some knowledge. Below are real screen grabs. All I did was type ‘[this person] is a’ and let Google and its database of popular search queries do the rest. My takeaway? People have issues. Also, the president is a brony.

Simon Kuper on the difference between artists and people would say they want to be artists:

Over evening beers many years ago, a housemate unfolded his career plans to me. He was going to remain an estate agent until he “hit his number”. Then he would finally pursue his vocation and become a film producer. He never did, of course, but this type of fantasy is common among us wage earners, especially in early September when the daily grind restarts. Now we are “working for the man”, but one day we will make movies, set up an organic prune company, or finally write that novel.

It’s clich√© but true—the most important thing is just starting. I don’t care if it’s fitness or art or writing. Just start. It’s most likely going to be crappy, but eventually the crappy phase will pass and you’ll get better.

Jimmy Kimmel Gives People the First Look at the iPhone 5 But It’s Really the iPhone 4S.
I love people.
via Laughing Squid

The key to remember when disrupting an industry you’re new to.
You don’t need to know everything, you just need to know enough to be dangerous.
Smart newbies don’t know the so-called “rules”, so they’ll try anything.

I hear a lot of people whining about the iPhone 5 looking almost the same as the iPhone 4 and 4S.
So let me get this straight. You’re complaining a new, beautifully-engineered phone looks just like 2 other beautifully-engineered predecessors.
There are people that say the same thing about another company who makes beautiful, high performance automobiles that change little from year after year: Porsche.
Don’t turn consistency into a bad thing.
In the immortal words of the great philosopher Louis CK, everything is amazing and nobody is happy.