A German, looking for directions in Paris, pulls up to a bus stop where two Americans are waiting.
“Entschuldigung, sprechen Sie Deutsch?” he asks. The two Americans just stare at him.
“Parlez-vous français?” he says.
The two continue to stare, so the German tries again “Parlate italiano?”
No response. “¿Hablan ustedes español?” Still nothing. Frustrated, the German guy drives off.
The first American says, “You know, we should learn a foreign language.”
“Why?” asks the other. “He knew four languages, and it didn’t do him any good.”
A mother mouse and her three children crept out of their hole into the kitchen and began feasting on some delicious bits of food.
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Mother Mouse saw a cat slinking toward them. The cat was between the mice and their hole.
The mother mouse puffed up her lungs and went, “Woof! Woof!” The cat turned tail and ran.
With that, the mother quickly led her children back to safety in their hole. When they were settle and breathing normally, Mother Mouse said to her children. “Now, what’s the lesson from that experience?” “We don’t know,” the baby mice squeaked.
“It is this,” said Mother Mouse. “It’s always good to know a second language.”
Years ago – yes, I remember it – I saw a quote from Nolan Bushnell that went something like this:
“As soon as the computer is as easy to use as the telephone, everyone will have one.”
Nolan Bushnell
Founder of 18 companies, including Atari Inc. and Chuck E. Cheese Pizza
Over the years, this quote has popped into my mind on several occasions, and until recently, I considered it insightful, but probably a bit beyond possibility. Until the iPad.
When Apple released its iPad, I thought it eye-catching, impressive, and potentially very useful. And while it’s all of those things, it’s far more. I can’t even begin to describe all the things you can do with it; it just has to be experienced. If you haven’t gotten your hands on one yet, stop by an Apple store and try it. Take a test drive! And be ready to be impressed with how useful a device it really is…and how fun and easy it is to use.
Nolan Bushnell was right. The future is now.
All the best,
Mark
For more information on Nolan Bushnell:
MIT Inventor of the Week entry
Wikipedia article: Nolan Bushnell
GamePro interview with Nolan Bushnell
I ran across this news article and just had to share it. If you’ve ever received poor service or been neglected – or worse, mistreated – by people who are supposed to be serving you, you’ll want to read this article. It’s entitled How to Lose Your Patients, and it details this gentleman’s recent encounter with his dental office.
We discuss this type of thing in our house fairly frequently, as it seems few businesses, and people in general, seem to show much consideration of others any more. We’re not naive enough to think this never happened twenty years ago, or that people should just “be nice”…but what happened to a minimal display of manners? In a time of economic downturn, if we can’t care for the customer, at least we can act like it.
I hope to post a couple of bank stories soon that demonstrate this as well. These particular incidents have helped me realize that we need a new bank. Sad, and entirely avoidable…but there it is.
Enjoy the article, and we’ll chat again soon. All the best!
Mark
