Now, I’ve been in college for awhile, and thus have been relegated to only what my dorm rooms have provided, which is not exactly top notch, but doable. Since moving off campus this year I have had much more leeway in developing my own space to suit my specific tastes and needs. And I did JUST that this past weekend by purchasing a new desk and office chair.

Upon doing some (very) minor research, a friend and I decided to make the drive to Target (land of all things wonderful) in search of what should have been an easy solution. Only, it wasn’t. There was scarcely anything even remotely appealing, and I left with a slightly sad heart. Thankfully, my friend and I decided to stop in at Office Depot, just to see what their options were. To be honest, I was skeptical, as I assumed there was no way I would find something I liked there at a comparable price to what I would have spent at Target.

Sometimes I love it when I’m wrong.

Before even getting to the desk area, I offhandedly mentioned to my friend, “You know what I really like? Frosted glass. That would be pretty nice.”

Lo and behold, what is the first desk we see? This beauty.

But then I saw the price tag: over 200 smackers. Well out of my price range. *sad face*

After moving on, my friend says to me, “Wait…I think it’s on sale…?”

$99. Thank you, Jesus.

Once the girlish giggling and jumping subsided, it was on to searching for an office chair, which proved to be just as easy. That’s where this guy comes in.

Oh, and at only $89. I can deal with these prices.

Now I have my ideal setup in place, minus some major cord management.

It’s not the greatest quality, but here’s a picture for all of you who care (which is probably just my mom)…

Needless to say, I’m satisfied.

Some might be shocked to hear this from such an Apple Fanboy, but Steve was a douche. That’s not the revelation though…

I always knew he was a jerk to a lot of people, but it was sort of lumped with the fact that it was his inherent prickishness that led to him being arguably the greatest CEO of all time. The man was an innovator in the highest degree, and his track record speaks for itself.

But there are a few moments that I was not expecting to be privy to, and that’s all right with me. You see, I have viewed Steve Jobs as a sort of heroic, almost god-like character in the narrative of technology and culture. In a number of ways, he was my idol; the person I truly looked up to without even knowing one shred of intimate personal detail aside from his bout with cancer and that he was adopted. There was really no legitimate reason why I should have held him in such a high regard, but I did anyways, along with millions of other people. He was the ultimate showman, with a knack for getting people to believe what he wanted them to believe, i.e. his reality distortion field.

In the long run, reading his biography isn’t going to change my view of Apple as a company, nor will it disrupt my love for their products. Maybe that’s the mark of a true fanboy, or the exact opposite? I don’t really know.

But I do know that, in spite of all of his weaknesses and failures, Steve Jobs was the perfect man to lead Apple.

Good.

Now it’s time to look at coffee shop etiquette from the perspective of the paying side of the counter: the customer.

Let me start by saying this: if you choose to patron a specific business, do your best to be an informed consumer. A lot of people want to blame the coffee shop when things don’t turn out as they had hoped upon entering that day, but really, if they chose to inform themselves about that establishment beforehand, they would have saved themselves a lot of trouble. This is where services like Yelp, Urban Spoon, and other restaurant rating sites come in handy. Use them.

With that being said, it would still serve us well to discuss how coffee shops could do a better job of providing their customers with a positive experience. So, without further ado, here’s Coffee Shop Etiquette Part 2: Electric Boogaloo…

1. Good coffee. This should be obvious, right? Well, it doesn’t seem so obvious to a number of shops. Now, I know that I can be a bit snobbish when it comes to my coffee, but that’s only because I like good coffee! If you’re going to invest the time and money into starting a coffee shop, be willing to invest in the best. Also, just because it’s the best does not mean it’s the most expensive. Take care of WHAT kind of beans you’re buying, as well as WHERE you’re buying them from. Nothing beats a quality product.
2. Invest in your baristas. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve ordered a drink, only to find that the coffee is either burnt, or the shots that have been pulled were stale. Teach them the proper techniques when it comes to pulling shots, brewing, pouring, and heck, even latte art. These things go a long way..
3. Environment is essential. If the music is too loud, or obnoxious, you’ve already turned me off. If there are no comfy spaces to relax in, but restaurant style seating and tables, I’d really rather not. Set yourself apart from a regular restaurant, and give me a little nook I could fall asleep in while reading a novel. Also, lighting. Use it intelligently.

Let’s face it: our culture is caffeinated and loving it. As such, it would be no surprise to walk into any coffee shop and find that 2/3′s of its patrons are surfing the web on either a computer or a mobile device of some kind. The ubiquity of free wi-fi has changed our very social structures in that we can hightail it over to any shop (and a lot of restaurants nowadays, including McDonald’s?) and enjoy the benefits of high speed internet access in order to get our work done. Many business owners and entrepreneurs in fact make the shop their place of work, as it can cut back on the cost of an office and other utility fees one might incur.

I for one love spending a good portion of my day with my laptop and/or iPhone, perusing the day’s most interesting bits of news and blog posts, all while sipping down on a freshly brewed Americano and indulging in a round of people watching (not creeping; there’s a difference, albeit however small).

With all of these perks though, come a few stipulations. Unfortunately, many people in our society are not aware that there is an unspoken coffee shop etiquette, and are therefore in danger of either taking advantage of they’re lovely shop owners, or ruining the experience for other patrons. So, if you’re going to indulge in free wi-fi and (oftentimes) over-priced delicious beverages, follow a few simple rules:

1. Buy something. - Don’t be “that guy” who comes in, plops down for a good two hours, and never even so much as approaches the counter. You’re surfing the internet, where the near full of human knowledge is available at your fingertips, ON SOMEONE ELSE’S DIME! At least buy a scone or something, man. These things cost money for the owner, and if you want to keep indulging yourself, you better do your part to give the shop its best shot at staying afloat. Don’t mooch. Nobody will like you.
2. How long you stay determines how much you buy. So you’ve purchased that triple non-fat mocha, but that was like, two hours ago. Are you obligated to purchase something else in accordance with how long you’ve been there? No. But should you? Yes! Take it as it’s worth, but my rule of thumb is that for every hour and a half I am spending at a shop, I buy at least one item. It doesn’t always have to be another coffee, or even something expensive. It might be a cookie or a biscotti (if I’m feeling ridiculous). By purchasing in accordance with your time spent, you’re showing the owners that you appreciate the services they offer. Besides, it’s not like spending an extra dollar or two is going to kill your pocketbooks. And if it is, then I question your need to be chillin’ at a coffee shop so much anyway.
3. If the phone rings, you leave. Let’s be honest, coffee shops are not the “new library”, but they’re also a place of peace and relaxation for almost all who enter them. Don’t screw that up for everyone because you think you’re too important to take your call outside. Nobody else in the world cares about how late Bob’s TPS reports are, or how crazy last night’s episode of Grey’s Anatomy was. If it’s going to last longer than a minute, take it outside.
4. Wear headphones. You’d be surprised that this would even be something necessary to mention, but I’ve overheard my fair share of Billboard’s Top 40 when I’d really rather not. If you’re going to blast Coldplay’s new godawful album, at least have the decency to corrupt your own eardrums and not everyone else’s around you.

For my second installment on brand loyalty, I’m going to introduce a few examples of people one might consider a “fanboy” to be. For the purposes of this series, I will focus primarily on the Apple brand, specifically the dynamic that occurs between iPhone users and Android users.

If I were to give the perfect example of what many in the Android camp would consider to be the quintessential Apple Fanboy, I would need to look no further than Mr. John Gruber himself, who is an Apple enthusiast and writer. Gruber is the writer of Daring Fireball, which is a highly popular “Mac column in the form of a weblog”, as he personally states it.

Gruber’s opinions are usually fairly blunt and to the point, and his style is sometimes bordering on the slightly vulgar, but it’s kind of endearing. He’s known as somewhat of a higher level member of the Apple community, and is given a fairly significant amount of access to Apple without being an actual paid member of the company. Because of his substantial network, he is well-informed and highly influential.

Many members of the Android community like to point to him as an unabashed Apple bullhorn who has zero objectivity when it comes to anything regarding Apple. The most timely example of this kind of backlash against him (and other Apple enthusiasts) comes from the recently started site Daring No Balls, an obvious play on the namesake of Gruber’s blog. Daring No Balls was started due to the perceived snubbing of all things Android at the hands of the Apple elite, and serves as a sort of roasting of said members and anyone else who might not be able to pull themselves out of the Steve Jobs Reality Distortion Field. While I don’t necessarily agree with the author’s way of going about it, I must say, it’s a rather interesting initiative that has already caught the attention of Gruber and others.

As you can tell, when the line has been drawn, people will be more than willing to take up the mantle of something (or some company) they really believe in. This sort of vehement side-taking isn’t a revelation of any kind to any of us, but it is a little discouraging to watch grown men and women argue to the point of vile-spitting anger over an inanimate object. But what really is it that is being argued over?

Is it the object, or the ideal behind it?

For many, myself sometimes included, it’s difficult to separate my love for Apple from rationality and objectivity. I believe so firmly in their philosophy that it wouldn’t be out of line to say that sometimes I might go along all too easily with whatever Apple does. As an adult, I find that highly annoying that I could be so easily swayed, and therefore cannot fault another person entirely for doing something similar.

But that doesn’t mean that it’s right. That doesn’t mean that I should blindly follow and accept without questioning. Not everything Apple does is great. And not everything Android does is terrible.

Taking this attempt of self-awareness and applying it to other areas in my life, it’s disconcerting to see that it’s much more prevalent than I would like to admit. As a Christian, I’ve often taken ideas, teachings, interpretations, doctrinal beliefs, etc. at face value without any real struggle to find out how strongly it might actually hold up to scrutiny. I’ve encountered this same unfortunate practice in the lives of countless other Christians, and the same could no doubt be said for numerous people of varying belief systems (whether they consider themselves believers or not).

As someone who has worked in multiple forms of youth ministry over the years, I have found time and again the need to implore my students to question everything. That’s a scary notion for a lot of people to accept, particularly adults (especially parents of students; I learned that the hard way). There isn’t anything wrong with questioning why you believe what you do, or whether or not you even should believe what you do. In fact, Scripture tells us to do just that.

But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good…

The point is, as we go further into the idea of “fanboy-ism”, I hope we allow ourselves to question our motives, if only to be certain that they are pure and in the right place. And just as much, that we might give ourselves room to possibly change perspective on a few things. There is always room to grow, and while holding steadfast to our beliefs IS important, allowing for the possibility that we are wrong or misinformed might be just as vital.

The best description of what a “fanboy” really is comes from this entry on Urban Dictionary:

A passionate fan of various elements of geek culture…but who lets his passion override social graces.

In all honesty, I hope I never let my appreciation for something override “social graces” in any way whatsoever, but I’ve probably been guilty of this a few times. I’ve had numerous discussions (more often debates) with other “nerds” about Apple vs. Insert Company Here, and almost always I come away with the same thought I had before the discussion even began: Apple just does it better their way.

Whether or not this is true (most of the time it is *wink*) isn’t my point. Rather, I want to dive a bit deeper into this idea of “fanboy-ism” and how it might be justified in some areas, and cloud our judgment in others.

On a personal note: do I think all of Apple’s products are superior in every way to their competitor’s version of a similar product?

Hardly.

I’ve owned an iPhone 4 going on one year now, and there are some things Android offers that I’ve been pining with jealousy for until the latest release of iOS FINALLY quenched my thirst (I’m looking at you, Notification Center).

But if you were to ask me, the overall experience I get while using my Apple products (iPhone, MacBook Pro, hopefully an iPad *crosses fingers and toes for good measure*) is incredibly difficult to match for any competitor.

• Beautifully designed products (not just things that look pretty, but function amazingly well).
• Top notch hardware and software that seamlessly works in conjunction with the user.
• Wonderful customer service every time I am in need of it.

Is it possible that there are other companies that can do these very same things and then some? Absolutely. But therein lies the interesting part: I don’t really care to find out for myself.

That’s probably not the healthiest perspective, but the same could probably be said for having such a passion for technology that I blog about it. Meh.

So over the next four posts, as it’s required for my class, I’ll attempt to deconstruct what it means to be a fanboy (or fanperson, for the politically correct), and how brand loyalty is sometimes a good thing, but not always.

Hopefully we can all learn something from this.

P.S. Apple rules.

I read an article by Eugene Cho, of One Day’s Wages on Relevant Magazine’s website about living simply.

While there’s really no new idea contained within the story, it was still a needed reminder to consider my possessions and how much they might actually possess me.

We have the tendency to get tired of our gadgets, possessions, and dare I say it, relationships, pretty quick once the shiny, new veneer has warn off, or once something (seemingly) better comes along.

As Cho says…

We want the bestest, the fastest, the  strongest, the mightiest, the largest, the mostest, the most horse powerful-est, the beautiful-est, the most blazing CPU processer-est and the list goes on and on.

I’m someone who eventually plans to get the new iPhone. (Actually, I’ve been thinking about it nonstop, so there’s no room for me to play it cool here.) I love technology. I love having the latest and the greatest. So with yesterday’s unveiling, OF COURSE God would send this article my way the day after.

OF COURSE He would rain on my happy-dance parade to remind me of how temporal everything I possess really is.

OF COURSE He would ask me to consider whether or not it’s something I really NEED, as opposed to just really WANT.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with wanting something, per se. I’m not implying that everyone reading this article needs to consider selling off everything they own and never buy anything new again. But what drives us to purchase the items that we do? What moral framework is at play within our minds and hearts when we’re out and about spending our money (and time)?

Ultimately, it’s a matter of the heart. For some, maybe selling off everything they own and living a highly minimalist lifestyle, like Cho, is paramount in their spiritual journey. For others, maybe the acquirement of certain gadgets and gizmos aplenty (a Little Mermaid reference there) is a means for them to serve those who might not be able to utilize and access such tools.

The important thing, as always, is to check your heart/motivations. What are your reasons, and are those reasons good enough? And if you decide to go forward in buying whatever you buy (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing), who really owns whom?

As for me, I still think I’m going to get the new iPhone. I’ve devised a nice little way to basically not have to pay a dime for it (no, I won’t be stealing it or doing anything illegal or nefarious), so it won’t hurt me financially. But of course, that could just be me trying to justify my actions; in which case, you can pray for me.

If you’re even minimally aware of what today meant for the tech industry, you know that Apple just unveiled its latest iteration of the iPhone, the iPhone 4S. It’s a relatively nice bump in specs, with the addition of an 8MP camera, ability to shoot 1080P HD video with video stabilization (a big addition), the much vaunted A5 processor (the same used in the iPad 2), and 1 GB of RAM. For anyone who doesn’t understand what all of that means, it’s a much faster phone, with the ability to shoot video and photos better than nearly any point-and-shoot camera. The main thing that hasn’t changed is the form factor.

The iPhone 4S will look nearly exactly the same as the 4, with only a few minor changes in the antennae’s design. For some, this is viewed as a bit of a loss, as they were hoping for a largely redesigned phone, not just a spec bump.

In my opinion, that’s a moot point. The iPhone 4′s design has been almost universally lauded as the best of the best, so what’s the rush in drastically redesigning something that already looks gorgeous?

Personally, I think the idea of this not being #5 is where a lot of people are getting stuck, as it lends a certain bit of newness and mystique to the phone’s all around allure. Anyone who really appreciates the performance and capabilities the new iPhone will bring to the table won’t find it to be an issue they’ll give two thoughts about. It’s a major improvement on what is literally the best selling phone of all-time. You can’t really get upset about that.

Ultimately though, what excites me even more than the initial specs bump is the release of iOS 5, and the launching of the Siri Assistant function (available in the 4S, but none of the previously released models due to the amount of processing power needed that comes only in the latest version). If you don’t know what Siri is yet, peep the video below:

Pretty neat, eh?

So what do you think? Did Apple knock another one out of the park, or is this just a “meh” announcement? Will you be getting the new iPhone?

**UPDATE**

I was probably wrong…

via Shawn Blanc, it’s speculated that the reason for Siri’s 4S exclusivity lies not in its processing power, but because…

“a good amount of Siri’s processing is being performed in the cloud on Apple servers. Therefore, limiting Siri to just the iPhone 4S could be a way of throttling initial usage while it is still in its beta stages.”

That makes sense.

What is the Square Card Reader?

This…

It’s a nifty little device that allows you to accept payments via credit/debit cards right on your mobile device (iPhone, iPad, and Android devices only). Everything is secure, and Square has even been FDIC certified. If you go to Square’s website, you can register for an account and get a free card reader in the mail within a few days.

While discussing this nifty little device with a few friends of mine, the topic of churches using it for tithing came up. I personally think this would be an excellent way for churches to give their congregations another option for tithing, as many don’t carry cash on them nowadays.

Obviously, there is a bit of reluctance in a lot of churches to adopt certain technologies, and to some degree, I can see where their hesitance comes from, though I don’t share in it.

What do you think? Is this something churches should consider offering their members? Does it reach a little too far for your tastes?

As always, the comment section is open for discussion.

I’ve struggled to find what my focus would be, as I’ve used this space off and on over the years for very random, personal purposes. Nevertheless, I think I’ve found my “niche”.

Anyone who knows me hopefully knows two very big passions of mine: faith, followed by technology.

Why not combine the two?

Do I know how it’s going to look? Not a clue.

Will it make any sense? Probably not.

I’ll share the latest tech news (more often than not this will deal with Apple related products, so I’m sorry if you’re a hater), with a focus on what’s currently taking place within the industry and how it will affect us as consumers.

Where the faith aspect comes in is how we as Christians, the Church, humans, etc. interact with that technology. Whether we like it or not, the world we live in is rapidly changing, and will continue to do so, and there is a great opportunity as Christians to leverage that change before us.

I can’t promise anything substantial, but I do hope that if you continue to visit this space, you’ll be informed and entertained.