Finding Mu

I was down in San Francisco a week ago, flying on United. Still have yet to write something about the trip. But, while flying something happened I thought was blog-worthy.

When the guy was coming around to serve coffee, he'd go around to every seat saying: "Starbucks? Starbucks for you? Starbucks?" Whatever happened to just saying what it is, coffee?

So, obviously Starbucks and United did some deal, but a pretty detailed one: the flight attendants must actually use the word "Starbucks" instead of "coffee". Sneaky eh?

Reminds me a lot of Kleenex and the way the extreme success of that brand eventually led the the word being used to refer to the type of product itself. Nobody says "can you pass me some facial tissue?", they say "pass me some Kleenex." It's the ultimate win in marketing it seems, building a perfect cultural association between the brand and the product itself. iPod is another good example.

Could it be that someday you'll wake up in the morning and say "time for some Starbucks", and head over to the nearest coffee shop, whether it's Starbucks or not?

Posted by at 4:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Starbucks just recently opened a location in my building, the Columbia Center, in downtown Seattle.

But, this isn't just any Starbucks. The thing is, they already had a location in the building. And, why settle for just one location per building? And, why only hang out with the rest of the ("less cool") food businesses in the cafeteria area?

So, Starbucks went ahead and opened a new location on the 40th floor. Yes, the 40TH floor! Right next to, oh, a couple likely-super-high-priced law firms up in the sky. This is quite simply the most amazing Starbucks I've ever seen. There's an excellent view of downtown Seattle, and you can even see downtown Bellevue and far into the Puget Sound. Beautiful. My $1.91 "Tall with room Americano" was overpriced, but the view was worth it.

I told the cashier, "You know, you work in the coolest Starbucks ever," to which she replied, "Yeah, it's not too shabby, is it?" No, this over-the-top Starbucks isn't too shabby at all. Not one bit.

Posted by at 9:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My childhood best friend announced today he's engaged. Congrats Age! :)

This summer has been filled with weddings... so many my head is spinning. But, I think I'm one of the few guys in this world who really likes weddings. Good food, friends, and I'm lucky to go to the ones that have open bars. And of course, true love and the beauty of seeing two people joined together for a lifetime. Did I mention open bars?

Makes me wonder... will this streak of weddings go on forever? Maybe, but it's made me think about WHEN people get married. I think couples fall into a few categories:

1. Young Love. Married during high school, or around high school age if they're serious country people who learn from the fields or from the hard knock trailer park life.
2. High School Sweethearts. Meet during one of the best times, high school. Get married as soon as work life starts, whether it's after high school ends or after university. Basically, as soon as the babies can be made and cared for properly.
3. The Standard. These are the people who meet at school or at work while they're young, finish school, then go through 2 or 3 years together just for fun while in their working life, knowing they'll get married eventually, so why rush? These people take the middle road. Not too quick, not too slow... Just take it as it comes.
4. The Careerists. These are the people who meet their significant other during their working life. For these people, things can develop very quickly or very slowly, but one thing's for sure- these people have to work for it. Some of these people even struggle with the balance between their work and fitting someone new into their life. And ah, the wonderful dating game! At least, these people should have a better idea of what they really want in a partner.
5. The Long Shots. These are the people who (a) have a lot to offer but a massive ego to match- one that's so big it leaves no room for anyone else- then they wonder why they're still alone? (b) people who just don't have much to offer- 'nuff said.
6. The Anti-Marriage School. For one reason or another, these people just don't believe marriage brings anything positive to life at all. Some convert, some don't.

Missing any??

Posted by at 12:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There was a recent entry on the blog Creating Passionate Users by Kathy Sierra about innovation, and how users/customers can't be held responsible for driving it. I can't agree more.

It reminds me of my electric toothbrush... maybe a few years ago I'd laugh at the idea- I mean, come on, how lazy can you possibly be? But if you've tried a good electric toothbrush (mine's the "sonic" kind), you know that feeling like you just went to the dentist and had your teeth cleaned... and trust me, you can't go back. There's something that hardly anybody would "ask for", especially when it's 7 a.m. and you're still half asleep!

I'd go even farther than Kathy. Not only can't users define innovation, but the vast majority of users/customers will often resist innovation for some period of time. Sometimes it takes time to realize that something is good for you. :) Think of the innovations that went through (or are going through) periods of ridicule or rejection before wide acceptance... cell phones ("why would I want two phone numbers?"), hybrid cars ("who wants to drive a golf cart down the road?"), botted water ("um, the tap's right there."), and of course, electric toothbrushes.

It takes vision, determination, and some faith... to not only bring innovation to users, but stick with innovation as users slowly adopt to new and better ways of living, working, and playing.

Posted by at 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So, I decided to try out this blogging thing. Can't hurt right? I know, I'm behind the times, and I feel like a baby taking his first steps with the whole thing, but hey, you gotta start somewhere.

My old site, www.jonathanmcgee.com, is soon to be out of commission. It was a cool project, but didn't really go anywhere. I learned some PHP from it and that's about it. These days I'm just more intruigued about the idea of writing random content and sending it out into the world for all to see. What will come of it, I don't know.

So why now? Well, I'm just so inspired by everything that's going on in the "Web 2.0" world these days. Specifically, I started using this site Netvibes. It's so awesome! I've never really read blogs before, but it just makes it so easy to do, and I'm blown away by all the relevant content that I've been finding in blogs out there! So, maybe I'll make some content someone out there will find relevant too.

Here goes nothing...

Posted by at 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hello? This thing working?

Posted by at 12:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)