Apple – We Need Some More Innovation!

In general, my friends and colleagues consider Apple to be among the most – if not the most – innovative companies in the world, able to see and create trends long before anyone else. Here’s something I’d like them to consider: designing a stand-up desk for my PowerBook.

I want something stylish and, if possible, portable. I am spending a lot more time on my computer and, as a result, a lot more time sitting down. Most of my friends work in public relations or advocacy. A small group of us were together last week and we concluded that over 10 years in PR amounts to more than an extra 10 pounds!

Sitting – thinking – writing – typing – eating and coffee drinking: it all ads up. Lets keep social media tipping the scales – but in a good way.

 

Google and the Banks: A Fair Comparison?

In April 2007, the Economist wrote several articles about Google. In one, the writer asserted that Google has assumed a position of a US financial institution. Put differently, the article suggested that Google is a safe keeper of valuable customer information and, may ultimately, be forced to make changes as a result of their priviledged position.

Just one important point: US financial institutions are highly regulated enterprises because they receive a protection from the federal government should a bank ever face financial struggles that could cause systemic risk. I’m sure there are some that would argue that the federal government would intervene to protect any entity that might pose a threat to our finacial markets, but, for the time being, the law is explicit only when it comes to depository institutions that hold consumer money.

I think the management team at Google would flip if they found themselves subjected to government intervention in the absence of a paralell legal framework.

Obviously, the writers general point is well taken. If history is any guide, the government will watch closely to ensure that Google does not use its might to prevent competition or, perhaps, compromise people’s privacy. But, the latter is a more difficult proposition than the former since our antitrust laws have seen more time than the privacy statutes which govern Google.

Net-net: the writer thinks the federal government is watching and its in Google’s best interest to take it seriously.

 

“There’s No Way Like the American Way”

Last year, a colleague of mine mentioned that she was “loosely related” to the “godfather” of public relations. I don’t remember how it came up. Nor can I tell you why she wanted me to know. But she did.

His name was Edward Bernays and Stewart Ewen described him in his book “PR! The Social History of Spin,” as “one of the most influential pioneers of American Public Relations.” So, godfather it is!

Bernays was a fascinating man. He was born in Vienna in 1891 and was the double nephew of Sigmund Freud. No surprise, he was, by most accounts I’ve read, absolutely brilliant and perhaps obsessed with understanding the human mind and what motivates us. It also appears he was born to be in what we now call the public relations industry because he was equally obsessed with how words tap into our emotions and, ultimately, prompt our actions.

And, while Ewen did not pursue in this terms, Bernays seemed comfortable knowing that words and the power of persuasion could be used for good or evil, which, he might have argued is more telling.

My recent introduction to Bernays has had a profound impact on my views of the industry. Admittedly, on a day-to-day basis, I’m focused on the products and services that live in a consumers mind, but might not spend enough time discerning why certain things are embedded so deeply in us while others are fast to flee.