Duane Gran’s log of thoughts

The American Library Association is endorsing a political button for Librarians who object to the Patriot Act. I’ve met my share of radical Librarians, but militant? Not unless they are Conan the Librarian (also embodied in a Macintosh application).

As an aside, I work in a Library so this is all in jest.

Today I made an unpleasant pilgrimage to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Days like this put a strain on my otherwise statist views, so pardon me as a I drift into some knee jerk Libertarian thoughts. I’m sure I’ll wake up tomorrow convinced that I love Big Brother and I’ll get back to thinking about how nice it would be for government to administer something or other.

Anyhow, while sitting among a throng of at least 50 people waited on by two tellers I had some time to reflect on the process. While I firmly believe the state has the right to impose auto taxes and set policy, for the sake all that is good in life I don’t see why they are in the business of administering it in a customer-facing situation. I offer up a similar scenario for comparison: auto emission testing.

In Virginia, everyone who operates an automobile is required to prove the it doesn’t belch out an extraordinary amount of pollution, unless of course, one drives an SUV in which case mere tonnage puts it in the same class with a MACK truck or a CAT back-hoe — but I digress. There are standards and penalties, typical government stuff. In my former home of Washington DC you had to go to one government operated inspection site which took the better part of the morning to complete. In Virginia you go to nearly any service station and combine the routine task with an oil change, often getting the service at no charge.

As I waited this morning it crossed my mind that we could do this with automobile registration and all manner of basic tasks performed by the DMV in the private sector. The private sector is great when it comes to dealing directly with the public and the government is suited for setting broad policy. Let’s open up automotive bureaucracy to private competition. I suspect the results would be encouraging.

Microsoft ads aim to erase ‘huge’ image

Microsoft Corp., the world’s biggest software maker, will spend $120 million a year on an advertising campaign to fight its image as “a huge American company.”

“Because I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and, doggonit, people like me!”

Big companies get a bad name because they lack agility and no matter what image they want to project, they are remembered as they were, not as they are. You can short cut this to some degree by throwing money at the problem, but it doesn’t change the underlying facts.

Microsoft isn’t evil incarnate, but big companies who try to act like they aren’t big are as phony and embarrassing as adult men who wear baseball caps (backward) or balding men who do the comb over thing. Or maybe it is like the person who buys into the whole vertical stripe clothing angle — it may fool the eye for a moment, but it t’aint foolin’ nobody.

For the love of God, Microsoft — act your age and be yourself. These corporate make-overs are not necessary and they only end up hurting you.

JS Online: Is time up for the watch?

The usefulness of wristwatches - once a staple gift at holidays, birthdays and graduations - could be ticking away as young consumers rely more on their arsenal of electronic devices for the correct time. Cellular telephones, MP3 players and iPods all provide the time of day, along with Internet access, cameras, games and an almost endless choice of other bells and whistles.

Proper etiquette still commands that a person doesn’t wear a time piece during social events, but I’m sure that is lost on the digital lifestyle crowd. If wristwatches do go on the decline we stand the chance of losing more than just a snappy-looking way to be punctual. As the quote above describes, time pieces are durable gifts given on special occasions — my daily faire was an engagement gift. Who could imagine commemorating a graduation or birthday with an digital gadget destined for obsolescence?

I personally prefer something a little more timeless, even if only for a generation or two.

A fantastic Fast Company article chronicles the decision and contemplations of a CEO who chose to stop doing business with walmart:

In 2002, Jim Wier’s company, Simplicity, was buying Snapper, a complementary company with a 50-year heritage of making high-quality residential and commercial lawn equipment. Wier had studied his new acquisition enough to conclude that continuing to sell Snapper mowers through Wal-Mart stores was, as he put it, “incompatible with our strategy. And I felt I owed them a visit to tell them why we weren’t going to continue to sell to them.”

I don’t believe every business has the opportunity to make this decision, but in this case it was right. Many businesses who deal in quality find that walmart expects them to devalue their brand or compromise their product. The above story is encouraging and I hope other businesses in a similar position follow suit. Additionally, if more people chose to decline shopping at walmart it would make the similar decision for businesses more palatable.