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You have arrived at the web home of Noah Brier. This is mostly an archive of over a decade of blogging and other writing. You can read more about me or get in touch. If you want more recent writing of mine, most of that is at my BrXnd marketing x AI newsletter and Why Is This Interesting?, a daily email for the intellectually omnivorous.

January, 2010

Response

The iPad's resemblance to Barack Obama in terms of unfulfilled expectations.
The Awl has the best comment yet on the iPad:
Still, I'm a little taken aback by the immediate and vocal lack of enthusiasm for the product. What does it lack? What was everyone hoping for that did not materialize? This is a very rough thought that I may or may not refine, so take it as such, but the iPad is a lot like Barack Obama: Everyone was able to project their own fantasies and aspirations on a product with which they were mostly unfamiliar, only to sour on it once they realized that it did not live up to their impossible expectations. Only with the iPad it took about seven minutes for the disappointment to set in. I don't know what that says about our accelerated culture or how we confuse hype and excitement for the tangible realities of life, but it says something. I mean, probably. Like I said, I'm still trying to work it all out.
The disappointment thing is pretty amazing. The specs are pretty much exactly what everyone expected (minus a camera maybe) and yet the response seems to be that this device isn't all that exciting (at least not yet). So what is it? Maybe we just don't get enough real mystery any more ...
January 28, 2010
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Noah Brier | Thanks for reading. | Don't fake the funk on a nasty dunk.