Friday, January 29, 2010

Magical Thinking


You know, it's true. When something exceeds your ability to understand how it works it sort of becomes magical...
Jony Ive
Senior VP, Design
Apple Corporation

I came across this gem in the video introduction to the iPad (link Here). I found it remarkable, even apart from the fact that Jony Ive sounds exactly like the Geico Gecko, and even further apart from all the hype and humor about the product and its name.

It got me to thinking.... What are some other things that seem or have seemed magical because of the inability to understand how they work? I've compiled an introductory list, but would really like to hear your suggestions as well. For the reader participation section of this exercise you can either post a comment to the blog (I know, you get an error message when you do that... just keep hitting the "post comment" link) or send me an email, and I'll post an update. Enjoy!

"Magical" Objects and Processes

Fire
Lightning bugs
Germ theory
Block and Tackle (the pulley contraption, not football skills, despite their being beyond the comprehension of my high school football team and the WSU Cougars)
Sewing machines (for guys)
Toilet seat lids (for guys)
Bluetooth (the high tech kind... not what you get from snow cones)
Thermos bottles (as the old joke goes, they keep hot things hot, and cold things cold... how do they know?)
Universal remotes
Evolution (especially for Texans and others whom the process may have bypassed)
Customer service
Effective application of joint compound (see my kitchen for example of opposite)

You get the idea. What would you add?

2 comments:

  1. Why carrots that have overwintered in the garden are sweeter. And why a homegrown Sungold tomato is better than candy.

    ReplyDelete