My Personal Epitomes

Phew, it's been awhile since I've written.  The month of May has just been stacked with exams, events, and vacations; thus, I do apologize for not having written for the last little while, but I will certainly be back in full time-consistent (not a real phrase) force as the summer carries on.

I was thinking lately about defining moments.  No, not just those serious "graduation" or "marriage" moments, but the little things in life that contribute to make us who we are.  In particular, I became curious about how we form our opinions of movies, music, games, and sports.  As with many things, our opinions are influenced by those around us and what we see and hear.  However, we should also consider how our own personal experiences come into play.  For example, allow me to get the most obvious epitome out of the way: Anchorman is the epitome of comedy movies to me.  I've enjoyed the movie each time I've watched it, and seemingly, ever since it came out on DVD, I've had friends who are willing to quote the movie to death with me.

Let's look at the word "epitome" before we move on.  "Epitome", according to Google, is "a person or thing that is a perfect example of a particular quality or type."  Thus, Anchorman is a perfect example of a "comedy movie" to me.  Now, that is not to say THE perfect example, which is why I stressed the importance of personal experiences earlier on.  We all have different opinions about what is the epitome of a "comedy movie", built by our own life experiences and influences.

So here it is: a list of some of my personal epitomes.  I don't expect everyone to agree with all of my picks, but at the least, I hope to get you reminiscing about some of your own personal epitomes as well.  Feel free to share with the gang in the comment section.

The Epitome of...

Pop song: "I Want It That Way" by the Backstreet Boys.  I'm not even going to pretend that this is the best pop song ever written, because it's not, but I grew up in the boy band/TRL generation and if there is one song that defines that era to me, it is "I Want It That Way".  A sappy love song with a laid-back pop beat, this was actually one of the few boy band songs that featured a vocal solo by every member of the band.  There were so many artists with similar sounds during that era and again, some of those other songs were even better than this one.  But when it comes to sounding like a pop song and selling like one too, this song was king.



Adventure Video Game: "The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past" on Super Nintendo.  Though I did own one of the original Nintendos shipped straight from Japan, the Super Nintendo is the system that truly built me into a gamer.  There were a lot of great games on the system: Super Mario World, Street Fighter, and even the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but A Link to the Past still sticks in my memory as the epitome of adventure games.  It was the first game that I played that truly let me be an explorer, searching the world for pendants and trapped maidens to help me conquer the evil lord Ganon in a quest to save the world.  There were epic battles, dramatic twists, and fun little sidequests here and there that, as an entire package, really defined the term "adventure" for me.

Also, it gave Japan this supremely ridiculous and awesome commercial.



Clutch Sports Moment:  Just watch.



For those of you who might not recognize this, this is Steve Kerr talking about his game-winning, championship-winning final shot against the Utah Jazz in game 6 of the 1997 NBA Finals.  But he's not the person I'm trying to highlight here.  Michael Jordan making this play is the epitome of a clutch sports moment to me.  As Steve describes the huddle, the sense of it is there: they knew that John Stockton liked to come off of Steve Kerr to provide defensive help on Michael Jordan; thus, it was Jordan who initiated the conversation with Kerr, telling him to be ready.  All of the talk in basketball today is about having a guy who can take the final shot.  I certainly don't want to discredit anyone who is that guy, but the most important to me isn't taking the final shot: it's making the final play happen.  Michael Jordan defined that for me by drawing the double team (as he predicted) and passing to Steve Kerr (as Jordan predicted) for the wide-open jump shot.  This moment is the epitome of a clutch sports moment to me, as the legendary Michael Jordan made the absolute right play at the right time.

So there's just a few.  I may make another entry with some more epitomes but for now, chew on those, and chew on your own.  How do we compare?

We Need More Good Smartphones

Phew.  10:30am on Friday morning and I've just finished an intense run of exams.  I had an in-class exam on Wednesday, one this morning, and then three take-home exams that were all due today.  Needless to say, the last few days have been busy, so as much as I've been wanting to write, the time just hasn't been there.  Well, unless you suggest I cut into my "rest my mind with video games" time, which is a ridiculous thought.

So I'll throw my article reference on the bottom this time, since this is just a quick opinion article, and not a "What the heck, man?" segment.  I recently read that Apple owns 73% of all operating profits in the smartphone market.  Samsung checks in at 26% of all operating profits, leaving about 1% for every other competitor (which, the only other competitor really making profits is HTC).  We all know that the iPhone is a stellar and popular product, but how is it so dominant?  Well, because we as consumers have built it into the mecca of smartphones, carriers are now paying Apple large sums of money to have the iPhone 4S available for their networks.  Think about it: Apple has the one product that everyone seems to want, so if an AT&T or Sprint or Verizon does carry the iPhone, they stand at a huge competitive disadvantage, and their customers may jump ship to a carrier that does have the iPhone.

Unfortunately, the solution isn't as simple as having consumers buy other smartphones, as many many iPhones are currently in use now, so the carriers cannot drop their coverage.  If one carrier has the decency to be brave and drop the iPhone, that could change the game dramatically.  Suppose Verizon suddenly declared they were going to drop coverage for the iPhone.  Certainly, their customers would be annoyed, but because Verizon is usually ranked first among national carriers, the quality of their service could carry them past the initial hit, and they could help other phones become players in the market.

It's a simple marketing question.  What do consumers care more about: the quality and functionality of their phone, or the quality and service of the provider?  Currently, the answer seems to be the phone, meaning that a major carrier dropping coverage for the iPhone isn't really a viable solution, either.

Thus, it's simple: we need more good smartphones.  The Android operating system seems to be getting stronger, and other companies seem to be building phones with similar functionality to the iPhone.  If they can keep their costs down (and as a result, keep their prices down), other companies will be given the chance to compete with Apple.  It's comparable to the market for tablets: the iPad dominates the market, but with new cheaper alternatives like the Kindle Fire, other companies are slowly chipping away at Apple's dominance.

Lastly, I will fully admit that while I appreciate Apple's savvy business model and the successes they've achieved, I believe it's time to bring the competition back into the fold, to force Apple to continue to innovate and make good things.


http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57427811-37/apple-samsung-put-hammerlock-on-smartphone-profits/