What's not to love!

Monopolies are a bad thing, we all know that. It is a universal truth that greater consumer choice creates competitive pricing, innovative products and a fairer world for all. Giant corporations that merge, acquire, undercut and annihilate their way to total domination are looked upon with fear and distaste. I remember, as a student, reading ‘No Logo’  by Naomi Klein and being enraged by the plight of the independent coffee shops, delicatessen’s and family run enterprises that had been crushed by the giant corporations.

As a result I, like most people, have an instinctive predilection to root for the plucky underdog as a response to the dominance of a competitor. It is this basic human instinct that companies like Virgin, Apple and Airbus have used to their advantage to become the global corporate giants they are today. In all areas of my life I will always give the little guy my business, even if it takes more of my time and comes at a premium. All areas, that is, except for the search engine I use. When I’m looking for anything online I’ll always choose Google.

Read more…

I like it when someone shares something with me that I have never heard of before. So I have the very talented retoucher Dan Watkins to thank for this posting. A few years ago Dan did some retouching for me on a shoot we did for Marisota that was shot in Portugal… fast forward to a few months ago and Dan and I bumped into each other at a talk I was giving about how Advertising Agencies are embracing all forms of digital video.

Yesterday Dan shared a riveting talk with me by Malcolm Gladwell on spahetti sauce, which if you get time you simply have to watch. But what Dan has done is more than that. He has shared with me a fabulous website that is full of inspiration… a website that I have never come across before but I am now kicking myself that I have not known about sooner.

Read more…

It’s staring at me on the arm of the sofa but I have promised that I won’t use it. I even turned it face down so I am not tempted to check my Facebook to see who has commented on my status in the last fifteen minutes, or to download the “Fish Tycoon” application I have heard my friend talking about. You can nurture and breed your own fish then sell them for virtual money. Truth is I hate fish, but the iPhone application looks fun…!!

An addiction?
Needless to say, my iPhone has become a worrying addiction – and the application store on iTunes is starting to cost me a lot of money! The store is what really makes the iPhone so unique and is the biggest advancement in mobile technology in recent years. It’s accessible via iTunes and holds over 25,000 applications ranging from the really useful to the completely pointless and bizarre. Read more…