Kill the Noise

What do we think about public noise? When we step outside there are a myriad of different noises that we hear, usually we don't hone in on any particular sound; they bounce off our eardrums casually as if to say "didn't mean to interrupt". Then there are some sounds that irritate some and others not so much. Sounds like headphone leakage through ipods or other portable audio devices. I was reading (you know where) an instance where a gentleman decided that he was going to read his book quite loud on the subway car because there was a lad next to him listening to his ipod quite loud and quite a few passengers could hear his tunes.

This was the exigency that forced me to ruminate..."are we often inconsiderate when we step outside our homes into the public?" For instance I have observed situations where one's phone will ring excessively loud innnnnnn (lets say) CVS as they wait in line, they decide that they are not going to answer it after they look and see who is calling but they allow it to continue to blare through the store...im not lamenting, im just saying. Maybe some people need to be trained on how to use their devices, i know my mom for a while didn't even know how to stop it from making noise without answering. Many people would say its just part of the 09 timeline, but i think we are getting a bit relaxed with our manners. The readers in heavy public transit areas should have a better pulse on the mp3 noise than i do, however i think we have gotten lazy with our manners. On the contrary it could be just the fact that we don't particularly care about the relative comfort of others around us.

I also think that sometimes the person doesn't know that you can hear their tunes that well. Then the tricky part becomes, how do you tell a complete stranger that they are inconvienancing you without irking them and redering them proud that they did so. I think this is an instance where you essentially just have to deal with it. These are some of life's small annoyances and things that we can easily look pass. The onus really falls on the people with the devices to be courteous and perhaps some consideration for others...if thats still what we strive for these days.

"Before Steve Jobs made the Ipod..."

I meant to unveil this information a while ago but since my comrade over at Cloud Nine is talking about "high tunes" and "high pods" i will pull up the caboose with this one. Most people are familiar with Steve Jobs, who is regarded as the resuscitator of the Apple brand particularly for his ingenuity-- in the form of the ipod. The ensuing revelation will validate why reading is paramount. There is a gentlemen by the name of Kane Kramer who had the rights to a patent back in 1979 for a digital music player that held three and a half minutes of music. No, this isn't quite the 60gb that ipods have elevated to but the concept is certainly mirrored. His sketch is the picture above, intensely similar to each and every mp3 player we have now. Kramer was forced to relinquish his patent in 1988 as he was unable to come up with the money required to hold his company afloat, it effectively went bankrupt. Kramer has never received a penny for his contributions to the development of the ipod and essentially all other mp3 players. Kramer has not acquiesced completely, he still looks to recoup some monetary benefits for his copyrighted drawing which bares a stark resemblance to Apple's iconic player.

The launch of the ipod in 2001 trails 1988 significantly, some would argue Kramer had time to re-build and execute his idea. But the unaware corporate and public forum has donned so many superlatives upon Steve Jobs regarding him as an ingenious technological pioneer, he may only be a fraction of that. He indeed deserves a trivial amount of credit for presenting the concept to the Apple brand, in a plan apparently succinct enough to be properly executed. The next time you see Jobs, ruminate this in your head, "he is renown for an idea that wasn't even his".

Its amazing how far ahead of the masses Kramer was, there was no such thing as a cd when he was working on his ideas, neither was there a tape (i believe). Think about how many ideas we get daily that we disregard and drown out, or ideas that we conjure up that never bloom outside of our own minds for the rest of the world to see. I know Kramer didn't make it happen completely but he took the initiative to execute his idea, that's where we commonly fall short. This informative and inspirational session was for free, courtesy of the 'Sofa.

Swayze, Jobs, and Cancer

While everyone was focused on Patrick Swayze, I took a moment and reflected on the condition of Steve Jobs. Swayze has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, the pancreatic variety. According to a certain medical clinic (no free publicity off me!) that is one of the most serious forms of cancer. They say this because it usually goes undetected for so long. I wish Swayze the best, but that's not where we are going here.

Steve Jobs, the creator of the ipod for those who don't know, was also diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I don't think the two were diagnosed with the same exact form of pancreatic cancer but nonetheless close enough. Jobs was diagnosed in 2003 and hid it from shareholders for approximately 9 months, only a small group of confidants were aware. Apple released an email to employees I believe a day after he received treatment. This question came up as a result, was he obligated to tell the shareholders and the company that he had this cancer. Let me note Steve was fully fuctional and operated well at work, no harbingers for anything bad to come.

From a shareholders perspective wouldn't you want to know if one of the eminent decision makers was having health problems that on the most extreme platform could kill them? Im sure that would affect some of their decision making. But what if he gets treatment and everything is fine and he is able to continue living as he was before? PRS (plush red sofa) note: Nobody is promised tomorrow and anyone can die any day literally.

What about Steve's perspective, did he have a right to conceal his personal health? Should it depend what information was made available to him? If he is told by doctors that he would be alright, then i guess he can hold his tongue right? What if they told him this is an extremely serious form of cancer? We all know how shady companies are, granted this is Steve Jobs the maker of the ipod, if they knew this information they might have devised sinister ways to replace him on the hush. Cynical thoughts do i harbor, hahahahaha (sinister laugh).

The plush red sofa heals all ailments, get healthy gentlemen.