Keep It Simple!

Lets start with a Cliche - There was a time when computers were only for the scientists and mobile phones only for the super rich and the very important. So naturally i remember the complicated and costly things were, the more premium they commanded. I remember during my college days any gadget that was easy to use was err...uncool, whereas something that was very complicated and had a big manual was always the most desired thing....

I realize now that it all boiled down to sophistication, the earlier times loved sophisticated things. Sophisticated tools, Sophisticated attire, Sophisticated demeanor and what not.

Thats the reason why everyone tried to pretend sophisticated - even corporate logos were much more complex those days.

But Something happened down the line... Everyone NOW is trying to pretend simple, lovable and cute.

Look at the logos of the tech companies for instance - most of them, although working on the cutting edge try to keep or have reinvented their logos as something simple and cute.

I somehow feel that being sophisticated is no longer cool! Simplicity and being lovable is the "in thing".

Thats the reason why probably the blackberry is slowly losing out to the more cute and lovable Androids and Apples.

and so it also looks like bold statements are out and only the humble and approachable is in!

The Question is WHY? Why is everyone suddenly trying to change our perception - from being sophisticated to being something simple!

In my opinion there are 4 reasons.

1) We have more options now, Everybody can do Everything! If its not HTC we have the Samsung. The hardware is same, the platform is same - the only differentiating factor is the

how they make us feel ( the UI) and how they treat us ( the service)

2) We are more intelligent and we don't rely on flashy and overtly sophisticated logos to influence our decisions, instead we rely on the internet, on the reviews; to find out the real picture. Nobody can fool Anybody.

3) We have become more humane these days. There is no apparent cold war, we are global citizens and we breathe brotherhood. We loathe Arrogance. We are a generation which supports wikipedia! And naturally the "Show-off" kinds are not welcome here!

4) The icons of the new generations are simple. Google , wikipedia, Sergy Brin, Mark Zukerberg. And not Armani and Donald Trump!!!

What do you think?

The Purpose

I have always pondered like many of you - why are humans so different from other species.

Well, if you look outside of this human kingdom, we can more or else make out that the "others"

are pursuing their life doing the most basic things...

While we are busy watching movies and blogging ( read increasing carbon footprint) "others" are just eating, hunting, sleeping or having sex.

At this time, just take a moment to think how you spend the whole day... For many of us we would not put the basic things of the "others" in our list of "productive" work.

But the fact of the matter is .... these things are in-fact basic!

If someone strip me off my money and throw me on the road i would be the reduced to one of the "others"

My day will just be reduced to eating, hunting ( for food) , sleeping and err... we will come to that later.

So when we talk about purpose of being born in this world what are we talking about.

For most of us the only thing we are doing in this world is making life tough for the "others" to live in this world. Lets admit the brilliant we are the more are we responsible for destroying our beautiful earth.

The scientist and engineers of this world are responsible for depleting the ozone layer and driving the honey bees mad.

So how can the purpose of living life on earth be one for us and another for the rest of the living species?

The truth of the matter though controversial is very simple - There is no separate rule for us, We made the rules for ourselves.

The purpose as Darwin would say is Continuity of our Species.

So, if you see all around us everyone is busy making babies right from the minutest cell in our body, the lice in your hair, the trees in your neighborhood park, the elephants of Asia and Africa - everyone is busy making babies.

Killing for the perfect mate, Dying for the sake of passing on the gene ( read the black widow's unfortunate hubby)

In fact the moment the copy of our gene is passed on,

Our job on earth is done!

So whats your purpose in life?

Find a Mate. Have Sex. Make Babies. Die.

:)

Further Reading:

Darwin on Natural Selection and civilized society

"With savages, the weak in body or mind are soon eliminated; and those that survive commonly exhibit a vigorous state of health. We civilised men, on the other hand, do our utmost to check the process of elimination; we build asylums for the imbecile, the maimed, and the sick; we institute poor-laws; and our medical men exert their utmost skill to save the life of every one to the last moment. There is reason to believe that vaccination has preserved thousands, who from a weak constitution would formerly have succumbed to small-pox. Thus the weak members of civilised societies propagate their kind. No one who has attended to the breeding of domestic animals will doubt that this must be highly injurious to the race of man. It is surprising how soon a want of care, or care wrongly directed, leads to the degeneration of a domestic race; but excepting in the case of man himself, hardly any one is so ignorant as to allow his worst animals to breed.

The aid which we feel impelled to give to the helpless is mainly an incidental result of the instinct of sympathy, which was originally acquired as part of the social instincts, but subsequently rendered, in the manner previously indicated, more tender and more widely diffused. Nor could we check our sympathy, even at the urging of hard reason, without deterioration in the noblest part of our nature. The surgeon may harden himself whilst performing an operation, for he knows that he is acting for the good of his patient; but if we were intentionally to neglect the weak and helpless, it could only be for a contingent benefit, with an overwhelming present evil. We must therefore bear the undoubtedly bad effects of the weak surviving and propagating their kind; but there appears to be at least one check in steady action, namely that the weaker and inferior members of society do not marry so freely as the sound; and this check might be indefinitely increased by the weak in body or mind refraining from marriage, though this is more to be hoped for than expected"

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Descent_of_Man,_and_Selection_in_Relation_to_Sex

[2] http://bertie.ccsu.edu/naturesci/Evolution/Unit13DescentMan/DescentMan.html

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Origin_of_Species

[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_works_by_Charles_Darwin