Does mediocrity exist?

Here’s the question I’m pondering today – does mediocrity exist? You’re probably thinking, of course it does. But, if it’s all around us and tolerated by the masses does it really exist. Or more importantly, how is it defined? What’s mediocre to me might be fantastic to you. And conversely what’s mediocre to you might be the exact thing that meets my needs to perfection. So, if mediocrity can’t be defined, how does it exist?

Some recent experiences have led me to this question. I placed an order through Apple for some photo books and unknown to me my address was never completed in my .mac account. It read Valerie Conyngham at Valerie Conyngham, Boston MA. Apple’s system is so automated, as is FedEx’s that the mistake was never caught. My books were shipped to the incomplete address, marked as undeliverable and sent back to Apple to be discarded with the rest of the undeliverable orders. Certainly an incomplete address could have been caught and addressed (pun intended) by Apple if only there were a human involved in the process.

And more recently my Dyson has become mediocre to me. A piece of the space age plastic has broken off; its becoming hard to properly connect the canister to the vacuum base and the bottom of the canister (the part that holds the dirt in) often spills open before the release button is pressed.

These examples represent two companies that until recently didn’t even approach mediocrity to me. But both failed my expectations, more so Dyson than Apple because Dyson’s product failed me. Apple’s only guilt is its (failed) attempt at absolute efficiency. However, I’m sure there are countless thousands who have never had a problem with either company or product and would argue that neither is mediocre; I’ve just had two bad experiences. And does a bad experience constitute mediocrity? It all leads back to the question – does mediocrity exist and if it does what’s the definition? What’s your opinion?

Image by flickr user Dia

The Apple Store, Architects and creative energy in Boston

The streets of Boston's Back Bay were alive with creative energy last night. I'm not sure if it was more to do with the grand opening of the country's largest Apple store or the crowds of architects walking the streets and taking in al fresco dining after a day of education and camaraderie at the American Institute of Architects annual conference. Perhaps it was the perfect culmination of the two, but whatever it was it made Boston a better, livelier place for it.

And about that Apple store - I'm not sure what was the better photo op, the one I caputured of the crowd still waiting to get in the doors, already two hours past opening, or the one I missed of the crowd of people across the street all capturing the same scene using their iPhones.

Apple store in Boston opening soon

This is an update to my Apple goes hyperlocal with Boston store wrap post. Apple has announced its opening day and it's this Thursday at 6PM. The above image is from an email sent to me by Apple. Though the store wrap remains unchanged (disappointing), it's nice to see Apple is continuing its Green Monster theme with its email campaign. I didn't sign up for email updates on this store, but I'm assuming I received it based on my .mac account, my zip code and my agreement to receive "occasional emails of interest to me." I'm beyond excited that an Apple store is coming to my neighborhood, but Apple could (and should) have gone one step further by offering existing customers an added incentive to visit - I'm thinking priority entrance on opening night.

Apple goes hyperlocal with Boston store wrap

Apple has gone hyperlocal with its new Boston store wrap. Apple's flagship store in Boston's Back Bay is set to open soon. To help build excitement (as if the store weren't excitement enough) Apple has ditched its previous white plastic covering for some local flavor. Green Monster flavor that is. Just blocks away from Fenway, the Apple store is capitalizing on Boston's love of the Red Sox and the famed Green Monster by emulating a score board that boasts Opening Day Coming Soon.

Image taken with my iPhone (what else).

The iPhone is changing behavior

I'm a market research junkie. I love the whole process, from setting the research objectives to interpreting the data. And I'm also obsessed with anything Apple. That combination makes Rubicon's recently released report titled The Apple iPhone: Successes and Challenges for the Mobile Industry on the top of my reading list. download the study

These were my takeaways:

• The introduction of the iPhone has raised expectations of what information should be accessible at your fingertips (the web, maps, contacts, email, the web).
  
  
• People aged 26 - 40 are the most likely to upgrade their traditional mobile phone to an iPhone. Motorola might see their margins decline as the iPhone picks up in popularity.
  
  
• The iPhone has the potential to decrease laptop sales which will put pressure on content providers to be more agile in providing data to multiple screen sizes.
  

My three takeaways all lead to the same place. The iPhone, like the iPod, has become a success in changing consumer behavior. Consumers are no longer happy having their music in their pockets. Now they want something more comparable to their laptops in their pockets.

One of the most surprising statistics (to me) in the study was that 1 in 4 iPhone adopters was new to Apple. I would have expected a much smaller base in the first year of introduction. Perhaps the iPhone will also serve in convincing more people to trust their computer needs to Apple delivering even more market share to the company.

Now a question for you, if you have an iPhone how has it changed your behavior?

The Mac Persona

I love my Mac, and I’m not ashamed to admit that yes, I often exemplify the often cited lemming like and/or cult like behavior that personifies long time Mac devotees. This past year and a half has represented my first professional encounter with the PC, an experience that makes me want to run home everyday and kiss my Macbook for being so simple, so intuitive and yes, so good looking. That’s why I enjoyed Ad Age’s recent article: Mac Owners are Just Like, Well, The Mac Guy. The article discusses the Mac user “mind-set-profile” as gathered by Mindset Media, there’s a photo of actor Justin Long and personality traits that emerged among Mac users in the study, namely: superior, open, perfectionists, music mavens, not dogmatic, eco-minded greenies and satisfied with their purchase. Not that satisfied with their purchase is really a personality trait, but it was a nice way of pointing out that 79% of Mac purchasers are “very satisfied” with their computer purchase vs. 59% for Dell and 58% for HP. After reading my personality traits as depicted by my astrology chart (I’m an Aquarius) I felt cheated – it was a stretch to say anything rang particularly true. But after reading the profile put together for the typical Mac user I kept shaking my head saying yes, that sounds a little more like me (except the music maven part, I admittedly have terrible taste in music). So instead of looking to the stars I guess I’ll just keep looking to my Mac.

Image from Ad Age, visit http://adage.com/article?article_id=123350 for an enlarged version.

Apple's Time Capsule

The blogosphere is alight with commentary on Apple’s new Macbook Air; but my favorite item from Macworld is the less talked about Time Capsule. When I saw this on Apple’s website after Steve Jobs’ keynote (which I missed due to a meeting on the less glamorous topic of healthcare reform in Massachusetts) I jumped out of my seat and proclaimed: I have to have that! I’m terrible at backing up, although I realize the importance of it after having been burned before. So having a wireless drive that doubles as a Wi-Fi base station and will automatically back up my data for me on a day to day basis is pure heaven. Add to that one less piece of hardware lying around the house and I get one step closer to my New Year’s resolution of getting rid of 10% of my belongings. It’s an all around win. Oh, and the new functionality that just got added to my iPhone isn’t bad either…