So over the weekend I went skydiving. Gorgeous weekend – Was impossible not to get some air time.
I’m going to tell you a story, and relate our industry to skydiving. And I apologize, because I promised myself, after my first year of skydiving, that I’d never do that again. See, most skydivers, when they start out, (and I am totally including myself in this) get into this “the whole world is like skydiving, here are fifty examples of why!” mentality We’re so in love with the concept, that we think it’s totally obvious that everything in the entire world should be like skydiving. And it’s cool for a few months, until we realize that not everything in the world is like that. (Hi, Sydney! I love you! Smooches!) :) But hey, we all did it.
But I find myself telling this story anyway.
So parachutes have something called “Dive loops.” Essentially, a parachute’s rate of descent can be greatly increased by pulling down on these little material handles on either side of the parachute. Instead of flying straight forward and only a “little bit” down, you fall greatly down, and only slightly forward.
This is handy for getting lower quicker once your canopy is open. Problem comes if you do it too close to the ground, your canopy can’t “recover” in time for you to gracefully touch down onto the ground. This is often called “bouncing,” as in, what your body does, and leads to many broken bones, and getting made fun of unmercifully.
Over time, though, you learn to use your dive loops to make your descent that much quicker, and much more accurate – Think of it this way – the tighter you make your circle, the better accuracy you have as to where you land. To make the circle tighter, you need to go down faster. It might be scary, but if you’ve learned, and trust your skills, you’ll be fine.
Five years into skydiving, and I’ve never used my dive loops. Until this weekend.
At 1000 feet, I started my approach. I don’t know what made me decide to do it this time – I guess I knew I had the skills, and was sick of my accuracy being as crappy as it was. So, approaching my final turn, instead of simply turning my canopy using my toggles, I pulled down hard on my left dive loop – And I turned, and I descended. Fast. I knew how much altitude I had, and how much I had to play with before I had to “plane out” and level off. I trusted my skills, and trusted in what I learned.
And it WORKED. I planed out by 150 feet, with plenty of room to spare, and landed closer to center than I’ve ever landed in my life. I spent the rest of the day annoyingly telling anyone who would listen how well I did on my first dive loop-assisted-landing. I was positively giddy.
Breaking out of the normal approach landing was scary as hell, though – No doubt about that. Yet now that I’ve done it, it’ll be easier next time, and the time after that, until I know that I’m good at it, and it’ll become second nature to me – muscle memory.
Why do I bring this up? Muscle memory: Think about the last time you did something scary that you really, really wanted to do – Remember when it worked? Then you did it again, and again, and again, until it was second nature?
Think about that the next time you want to try something scary but are afraid to. Think about how great you’ll feel when you get it done – And think about how awesome it’ll be once you can add that to your repertoire – once you own it. Once its yours, and you can pull it out whenever you need it – Because you’ve mastered it. And that’s what life is. Mastering things, one at a time, and learning from the times you haven’t quite gotten it yet.
Think about that the next time you’re afraid to do something – and then just do it. Worst thing? It doesn’t work, and you retool to do it again.
At least in that case, you won’t wind up with any broken bones.
“Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘Press On’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” -Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States (1923-1929)
I remember back in 2002 – I walked into a Starbucks, because I’d heard it was just wired for Wi-Fi – One of the first in the country to get it. It was on 23rd and Park, I believe – I sat down, turned on my PC (Yes, I had an evil PC at the time) and of course, no networks came up. After about ten minutes, I bit the bullet and asked a barista (knowing full well they wouldn’t have a clue) if there was Wi-Fi there. His expected response: “No, we have Grande and Venti.”
Sigh.
Since then, the coffee shop has become the de-facto standard when talking about free Wi-Fi. From NYC to LA, from Sydney to Staten Island. You walk into virtually any food establishment, and you’ll see iPhoners scanning for an open signal. I heard a man complain once that Macy’s had no free Wi-Fi – “What am I supposed to do while I wait for her to shop?” he asked.
Lately though, the dark side of free Wi-Fi has reared it’s ugly head, unfortunately. People unable to get a seat in a local coffee shop – shops kicking people out because they’re spending eight hours in a store for a total of one cup of coffee – or my favorite, the store that painted a fake outlet on the wall to deter people from plugging in.
Perhaps it’s time to do away with the free Wi-Fi?
Until we become a society where everyone has access to free, safe, secure high-speed Internet, the concept of finding a Starbucks to get some work done seems rather foolish. Back in 2003, it made perfect sense – there was really no other way to do it – You were either at home, in the office, or in the coffee shop – Otherwise, you weren’t connected.
Now, though, (and I know I’m gonna get a ton of crap for this) it seems that the people who are doing “real” work, aren’t spending time in the coffee shop to begin with – They’ve ponied up for the price of a MiFi, or a Sprint EVO, or a similar card that jail-breaks them from the bonds of the coffee shop.
“Outside” has become the new coffee shop.
My assistant Meaganloves being able to sit in the park and work – She says she’s more productive. For her happiness, it’s worth me paying $59.99 a month.
Let’s face it: Connectivity is power. I want that power, so I pay $59.99 a month for a Sprint MiFi card. I don’t have to be in a coffee shop to connect. I can connect from the cab, or an airport, or the Drop Zone, or the beach. All I need is a mobile signal. To me, that’s power.
It’s also a hell of a lot safer. Ever wonder how secure those Wi-Fi networks are in the local coffee shop or airport lounge? Here’s a secret: “Not safe at all.” One sniffer, and a run of the mill password crack program, and someone can start grabbing every single packet you’re transmitting. And yes. People do. All the time.
Finally, on a recent visit to Starbucks, I walked around and looked at the screens of the six people there on laptops. Three of them: Facebook. One: Itunes store. One: Tweetdeck. One: A word document.
Starbucks was giving up six tables so four people could use social media, one person could download music or videos, and one person could work. Where’s the revenue enhancement for Starbucks from that? (The irony is that last month, Starbucks announced free Wi-Fi in all of their coffee houses, no time limit. I’m dying to know their reasoning behind it. I have a tweet into Starbucks Corporate, I’ll update here if they respond to me.)
So yes – I call for the death of free Wi-Fi. Internet on-the-go that important to you? Buy a monthly subscription with a MiFi card, and get online whenever you want – not just at the local coffee house. It was a good idea once. But technology (and the selfishness of the one-cup-of-coffee-a-day people) have brought an era to an end. Heck, you might even discover new places. There’s a rock in Central Park that’s become my new de-facto meeting point, and I’ve sent 200 emails I typed on the plane, all from the BART when I landed in SF.
Leave the coffee houses for the coffee.
What do you think? Love the free Wi-Fi? Hate it? Have your own device? Let me know below.
Update: Starbucks responded with this:
Starbucks turned on one click, free Wi-Fi at both U.S. and Canadian company-operated stores starting on July 1, 2010. Strengthening the connection we have with our customers and bringing relevant innovation are the fundamental to the transformation of Starbucks business. We are delivering both by elevating the digital experience our customers have in our stores.
In fact, the availability of one click free Wi-Fi paves the way for the planned introduction of the Starbucks Digital Network in U.S. company-operated stores later this fall. This online experience, in partnership with Yahoo!, will be unique in its content offerings, allowing customers free unrestricted access to various paid sites and services such as wsj.com, exclusive content and previews, free downloads, local community news and activities, on their laptops, tablets or smart phones.
Starbucks has offered two consecutive hours of free Wi-Fi per day to customers with a registered Starbucks Card since 2008 (and unlimited complimentary Wi-Fi service to AT&T customers). With approximately 6,800 company operated stores in the U.S. we had to make sure the implementation of free Wi-Fi would be seamless, resulting in the best customer experience.
Introducing free Wi-Fi was not a response to competitors, but more so at the demand of our customers. Starbucks offers an unparalleled environment in our stores – more than 65% of our customers say they prefer using Wi-Fi at Starbucks over other public Wi-Fi hotspots because they feel it’s a “safe and creative environment.
In 1995 when I was helping to found the AOL Newsroom, I coined a phrase:
Stop looking at the world through T3 colored glasses.
A T3 line was one of the fastest pipes to transmit data at the time, and AOL being AOL, we sat right on top of about 100 of them. You could follow our lines right to the ocean, in fact.
So when we would build massive news modules (Pictures of the Week, for example) they would look truly lovely on our screens, loading in at the speed of light.
Problem was, they only looked lovely for us. For the majority of the world using AOL back then, it didn’t look anywhere near as nice.
Most people were on modems at the time, and on average, were getting about 28.8k throughput. (If they were lucky.) Imagine dialing up today? You’d shoot yourself in the head before your first you-tube video even finished playing.
For the majority of AOL users, here’s what they got when they went to one of our awesome new modules:
Please wait. Downloading Artwork. 1% completed.”
And they’d wait. And wait. And wait.
We weren’t paying attention to the user, because we had such a fast connection. Billy Joe, in his trailer in the south, didn’t. And we got complaints.
Today, it seems that nothing’s changed. A new report from Forrester suggests that nearly 84% of people have no idea what services like Foursquare or Gowalla are.
New tech adoption takes time. Just because we use it every day, doesn’t mean the masses do. And if the masses don’t, how are those sites going to generate revenue and profit?
Don’t go screaming into your boss’s office about how Foursquare will change the world, just because “you and all your friends” use it.
While I still believe Foursquare will win, it’s going to take some time. I’d hate to see you blow a giant marketing budget (and worse, your boss or client’s trust in you) because you’re putting all your eggs into a basket that has yet to hatch.
Or, to put it another way, just because we’re geeks, hang out with geeks, and like geeky things, doesn’t mean our audience, clients, or those who pay the bills do, yet.
Use the tech – incorporate it into plans and make it components of your marketing. But judge your audience, as well, and remember that they’ll take a bit longer than you will to adopt and adapt.
Just some ramblings on solo travel – with a surprising revelation if you know anything at all about me. Happy Saturday. (Quote in the video compliments of George Clooney’s character from “Up in the Air.”)
PS: This is NOT a depressing blog post! It’s just me rambling on a Saturday afternoon after too much sun.
Posted on July 31st, 2010 7:07 am with 9 Comments »
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