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And Don’t Forget to Breathe: The Nanny State in Action

24 Aug

August 24, 2011

I think the writer hit it on the head, but I’m not as upset with the money as he is. I can’t believe this cost much money, but on the other hand this is the government so it probably cost more than my apartment building’s entire combined yearly income for the decade.

My issue is that I simply can’t believe that government feels the need to micromanage our lives so much, and thinks so little of us, that it feels that it has to tell us when to come in out of the rain, so to speak. As much of a nanny as NYC Mayor Bloomberg is, I have to believe that even he would find this silly.

Even worse, it is totally redundant. In order to use this, you have to know what the humidity is. Unlike the temperature, humidity isn’t something that is easily known. Hygrometers and psychrometers are nearly as common as thermometers so to use the app you need to look for the humidity in a weather report, which will also give the heat index. So if you go to get the information to use the app, you also get the information to make the app unnecessary.

The app also gives information on what to do, but that info isn’t even on the front page. You have to waste more time standing in the heat to load that page. And what information does it give? Drink water and take breaks. What government employee needs to be reminded to take a break? Most of them need to be reminded to do some work once in a while.

Again, it is just another example of how the gov’t thinks it needs to micromanage everyone’s life and treat them like babies. I’m not upset about the cost of the app, I’m offended that anyone thinks I am stupid enough to need it.

Can A Cell Phone Plan Save Your Marriage?

23 Aug

August 23, 2011

Have you seen this commercial?

 

YES! Messaging is free and unlimited for the whole family. Great! Unlimited mobile minutes! Whoo hoo! That would be great for a large family with lots of kids who text all the time. It is money saver because all those texts add up, and you know how kids like to text and going over your minutes is expensive.

So why didn’t they show that?

Instead we saw a middle-aged man and woman. They obviously have some money since they have a large greenhouse in the back, and the wife has the free time to tend it so she probably doesn’t have to hold down a job. They must have a bad marriage since a little thing like signing up for a cell phone plan was enough to push the wife over the edge. What saved the marriage? That AT&T offers free texts. But maybe not. The husband is a schlub who seems to have married above his station, and the wife doesn’t show any affection. She has obviously been doubting the marriage for a long time.

So instead of aiming their ad at large families with kids who text all the time, they aimed the ad at upper-middle class suburban desperation. How many of us can relate to that ad? I don’t know anyone in Brooklyn who has a greenhouse, let alone the time to spend in it. And if you do relate to that ad, you’d be better off spending time working on your marriage than switching cell phone plans.

In this economy they totally missed the mark. Way to go, AT&T.

It is very fitting that AT&T named this ad “Mistake.” Whoever named it knew just what they were doing.