The other day one of my clients e-mailed me with some revisions to a project...
"I spoke to my client and he decided he wants to go with look number 2, but he was wondering if he can get the photos a little larger?"
Sure, no problem.
About a minute later my cell phone chimed with a text. From the same lady.
"And he was also hoping to maybe see the logo in more bluish tones."
Wow. She's a multi-tasker. Must be in the car on her way to a meeting. Busy busy, busy.
About 2 minutes later I received another e-mail from her...
"And he was hoping he could see something by Friday".
Huh?
I e-mailed her back and asked why she was sending me directions with both e-mail and texts, and this was her reply...
"I had to use the bathroom."
Oy vey.
I think we have finally arrived at the point where we have too much technology for our own damn good.
The fact that this woman didn't feel she could wait three minutes to drop a load before sending me directions says more about the sorry state of affairs than I could ever write. Leave aside the fact that from now on, whenever she sends me a text I'm going to be picturing her in the can with her panties bunched around her ankles. The bottom line is it's just all too much.
I couldn't even tell you half the things my iPhone does, and that's just fine with me.
And "social media" is turning out to be more of a curse than anything else. And a huge time suck. My thoughts on Facebook are all over the blog. If I wanted to waste time seeing what people are up to, I'd rather go here. At least it's entertaining.
I joined LinkedIn under duress from one of my LA clients. She literally wouldn't give me any work until I signed up and "linked" to her. It's really nothing more than a virtual unemployment office since the only people who correspond on it are looking for work. Or looking to steal your contacts.
I tried Twitter but blew it off pretty quickly. The whole thing is predicated on "following" people, and I've never been much of a follower. Plus, the 140 character limit makes everyone sound like they have Tourette's.
I have my work featured on half a dozen portfolio sites and it's turning into a full-time job just to keep them updated. And stressful. If I let any of them lapse for more then a week I get passive aggressive reminders that I'm an on-line loser.
And then the other day I saw something that just about made my head explode. It was a TV commercial for some store-bought cookies. Or maybe it was cookie dough. To be honest I don't remember what it was for, other than cookies were involved. Near the end of the spot, up popped a QR code on the screen, like the one above.
So here's the deal...
In theory, when you see a QR code pop up on the TV, you're supposed to scan it. To do that, you'll need to freeze frame the image. Which means you have to have a DVR. Don't have one? You'll have to get one in our Brave New World. You'll also have to have a smart phone. With a bar code scanner. Don't have one? You'll have to go and download one from one of the many app stores. Once you've scanned the code, it will take you to a super secret web page that only the Kool Kids know about, a page with a dollar off coupon for cookies. Or whatever. Then, all you have to do is forward the webpage to another computer that's hooked up to a printer, and then print off the coupon so you can take it into the store to get your measly dollar discount.
Doesn't that sound like fun?
You'l now have wasted Lord nows how much time to get the stupid coupon, and the minutes you used up on your smart phone will probably cost more than the "deal". In the end, you're actually paying more for the damn cookies than if you just did a typically normal impulse buy in the store.
This is the wave of the future. People rushing around playing "Dora the Explorer" with a barcode scanner. No thanks.
PS. If you are in fact one of the Kool Kids, there's a fun little surprise embedded in the code above. If you can't beat 'em...
Enjoy.
