Things that make you go gosh-wow
May. 22nd, 2010 06:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jaunthieI had a rather interesting revelation this week. I spent most of Wednesday in work-related training, and one of the exercises we did was all about customer excitement and attachment. The kind of "wow, I love this!" that motivates people not just to buy something, but to evangelize it, tell all their friends about it, gush about it to random strangers, etc. To introduce this section, the instructors showed us a video of products that might inspire such behavior.
Things like BMWs and Kindles and the latest phones. Y'know, shiny technogadgets and high-end cars and stuff like that.
And my reaction to 99% of the stuff in the video they showed us?
"So not me. Guy stuff. Midlife crisis guy stuff. So *very* not me. Yeah, that's kind of cool, but I hate the DRM issues. Sheesh, is this all about male toys? Boy, am I not the target audience that they're looking for." And so on.
Of course, the next thing we were supposed to do was work in our groups of four, where each member came up with 2-4 things that they felt passionate about.
Well, one of my things sortof/kindof fit into the kinds of shiny they expected. I *love* my hybrid car. Specifically, I love my hybrid for the awesome gas mileage it gets, and the amount of gas I *don't* have to use when driving it. There are other cool features, too - I love the fact that the key is actually a smart card, and that I can start it with a touch of the start button - but that's not why I bought it. I bought it because my sister and brother-in-law were both deployed abroad, fighting a war largely due to our country's massive consumption habit for petroleum, and since my old car *had* to be replaced, I wanted the new one to get as good gas mileage as possible. That's it. But still, my car vaguely fit the bill, in that it is (or was) new technology, I have been asked about it by total strangers, and I have been happy to "spread the word" and encourage others to buy hybrids.
The other item on my list?
My earthworm bin. Which is not at all high tech - it's a stacked bunch of plastic trays with a spigot at the bottom and a rudimentary lid at the top that I supplement with a garbage-bag-covered piece of plywood and a bunch of rocks to hold it down. It is powered by invertebrates (worms, mostly) and solar power (the black plastic absorbs sunlight and helps keep it warm). It is ridiculously primitive compared to a car or a phone.
And I love it beyond reason. Why? Because I put in junk, quite literally - food peelings and scraps from the kitchen, plus all the junk mail that gets sent unsolicited to my home, shredded - and I get out marvellous worm compost that enriches my garden and helps feed me. That's what makes me go gosh-wow. That's what I have evangelized in my work-group, to the point where another of my co-workers has built his own, and a third is thinking about it.
Worm poo. That's where it's at, at least for me.
Maybe I'm in the wrong line of work.
Things like BMWs and Kindles and the latest phones. Y'know, shiny technogadgets and high-end cars and stuff like that.
And my reaction to 99% of the stuff in the video they showed us?
"So not me. Guy stuff. Midlife crisis guy stuff. So *very* not me. Yeah, that's kind of cool, but I hate the DRM issues. Sheesh, is this all about male toys? Boy, am I not the target audience that they're looking for." And so on.
Of course, the next thing we were supposed to do was work in our groups of four, where each member came up with 2-4 things that they felt passionate about.
Well, one of my things sortof/kindof fit into the kinds of shiny they expected. I *love* my hybrid car. Specifically, I love my hybrid for the awesome gas mileage it gets, and the amount of gas I *don't* have to use when driving it. There are other cool features, too - I love the fact that the key is actually a smart card, and that I can start it with a touch of the start button - but that's not why I bought it. I bought it because my sister and brother-in-law were both deployed abroad, fighting a war largely due to our country's massive consumption habit for petroleum, and since my old car *had* to be replaced, I wanted the new one to get as good gas mileage as possible. That's it. But still, my car vaguely fit the bill, in that it is (or was) new technology, I have been asked about it by total strangers, and I have been happy to "spread the word" and encourage others to buy hybrids.
The other item on my list?
My earthworm bin. Which is not at all high tech - it's a stacked bunch of plastic trays with a spigot at the bottom and a rudimentary lid at the top that I supplement with a garbage-bag-covered piece of plywood and a bunch of rocks to hold it down. It is powered by invertebrates (worms, mostly) and solar power (the black plastic absorbs sunlight and helps keep it warm). It is ridiculously primitive compared to a car or a phone.
And I love it beyond reason. Why? Because I put in junk, quite literally - food peelings and scraps from the kitchen, plus all the junk mail that gets sent unsolicited to my home, shredded - and I get out marvellous worm compost that enriches my garden and helps feed me. That's what makes me go gosh-wow. That's what I have evangelized in my work-group, to the point where another of my co-workers has built his own, and a third is thinking about it.
Worm poo. That's where it's at, at least for me.
Maybe I'm in the wrong line of work.
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no subject
Date: 2010-05-24 03:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-24 11:58 pm (UTC)You're a fellow geek, 'Penguin - what do you think? Do you have "love it" gadgets, or are your "love it" items more along the lines of films or games?