A couple people sent this video to us this week…a must-see for fans (and haters) of Apple products. Hilarious.

“I’ll buy anything if it’s shiny and made by Apple.” Brilliant.

This product looks really interesting:

“IdeaPaint is a patent-pending single-coat roller-applied paint that transforms any smooth surface into a high performance dry-erase writing surface. IdeaPaint is perfect for the conference room, creative spaces, classrooms, home offices, kids rooms, playrooms… or any other spaces.”

We just ordered our sample, so I’ll post again if any of our ideas for using this at the office work out.

 www.ideapaint.com

I never lost my childhood appreciation for poop jokes, or really any joke related to normal, if not always publicly discussed, bodily functions. I also involuntarily snicker when language constructs unintentionally go awry (again, I never escaped sixth grade in this sense). I will not say why, but today I went to the Obama/Biden campaign site. The stars aligned when I saw that I could create my very own “MyBO” account. I just snickered again.

Every year when we visit Ann Arbor in the Fall, I take one day and find a quiet corner at Zingerman’s deli to work on a few personal projects. I find the food and atmosphere here inspiring.

Zingerman’s represents the best of what a small business can be; here’s my summary along with links for anyone interested in learning more. Zingerman’s:

• Chooses to be “Great Instead of Big” – read the book “Small Giants” or this review over at 37 signals
• Is a responsible member of the community – see their involvement with local non-profits like Food Gatherers
• Might be the “Coolest Small Company in America” – check out this oldie but goodie Inc Magazine article
• Has an excellent (and relentlessly consistent) graphic identity – see the artwork in the the photos below, on the company web site (a little hard to navigate and a bit outdated, but the illustrations are nice), on apparel and in a catalog

Jeremy can attest that I make a lot of snide comments about Apple’s Get a Mac campaign. Don’t get me wrong, they’re clever and funny and if they didn’t get under my skin I would enjoy them completely.

But, they do get under my skin. I think it is because Apple is so blatantly manipulating playground politics. By that I mean the kind of politics that make entire groups of kids shun one child because they have “cooties.” I understand that it is genius advertising. If the whole world perceives that Apple is cool and Microsoft is dorky, they will want to buy an Apple so that they can join the popular crowd in making fun of anyone not in the crowd. Is there anything more socially titillating than the sensation of being in the clan? Nobody wants to be the fat, middle-aged, defensive, uptight, glasses-wearing Piggy. We know what happens to Piggy.

I know that this sort of advertising isn’t new and that it isn’t unique to Apple. I know it is effective and it isn’t going away. It bugs me all the same. And though I prefer the new, much less haughty-spirited Microsoft commercials which are a direct response to Apple’s campaign, I would rather not boil my identity down to a piece of turn-of-the-millennium soon to be technological scrap. I am not a PC. I am not a Mac. I am not an animal. (I had to.) I am Daryl Ridgely. . . and I endorse this message. (Again, had to.)

_{Full disclosure: This message was created on a Mac.}