Creativity Comes From Such Strange Sources
from the wtf,-i-wanted-an-iphone dept
Aaron DeOliveira points us to an amusing Christmas to New Year's week diversion in the story of the song, WTF?! I Wanted An iPhone!!! (warning, potentially NSFW, if your work place doesn't like people singing curses). Beyond being entertaining and amusing, the story behind it is a cool case study in how creativity comes from all sorts of strange sources online. The story begins with comedy writer Jon Hendren, being bored on Christmas Eve & Christmas, and playing around with Twitter search, doing searches on terms seeking particularly entitled and angry tweets from kids who didn't get "what they wanted" on Christmas -- with "what they wanted" being defined as an iPhone, an iPad or a car. Hendren then started retweeting the ones he found:- Creativity comes from all sorts of strange sources
- Online, collaboration can happen without people even realizing it (and that's cool)
- The ability to create, promote and distribute content just keeps getting easier and easier
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Filed Under: christmas, creativity, john hendren, jonathan mann, songs
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The Future Americans: The Selfish & Oblivious.
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My daughter did get a MacBook... the one I was given for my birthday 5 years ago, repaired and upgraded. And still not working 100%. Does that count?
Did she complain? Nope, she says I spoil her.
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I had to work and wait for the money to buy the parts to build my new ~$1400 AUD gaming/video editing rig that was completed earlier this month, and all I got for Christmas was a great party with friends and a nice summer's day to have it on (even if it was a thunderstorm on the way back home from the party).
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It is not sources that are important, though perhaps more can be better at times. It is what you do with them. Just a hunch, but I doubt the "artist" here is going to appear on the Billboard Top 10 anytime soon. Creativity is important, but quality counts as well.
I do not understand the reaction reflected in some of the above comments. The tweets are, unfortunately, somewhat typical of the mindset of many who lament the unfairness of being expected to pay for something that can be had, illegally, over the internet from many of the sites within the crosshairs of legislation like SOPA and Protect-IP.
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It's rather sad that you consider the Billboard Top 10 as a measure of quality.
The tweets are, unfortunately, somewhat typical of the mindset of many who lament the unfairness of being expected to pay for something that can be had, illegally, over the internet from many of the sites within the crosshairs of legislation like SOPA and Protect-IP.
It's even sadder that you'd take a tiny sample and extrapolate it to everyone, despite the tons of statistical and economic data that says you're completely wrong.
Consumer spending on entertainment: up.
Consumer spending on entertainment from teenagers: up.
You? Full of it.
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If the tweets were the only evidence of this phenomena I would agree with you that the sample size is much too small from which to form any definite conclusions. There are, however, numerous other examples of the mindsets exhibited in those tweets, some of which have even appeared here.
As for the statistical and economic data that you assert proves me wrong, it has nothing to do with attitudes and mindsets. The fact consumer spending may be up is an economic observation, or that spending on entertainment from teenagers may be up does nothing to traverse the notion that so many feel entitled to do as they wish without expressing any concern or remose for taking whatever they want without payment therefor.
Next time try comparing apples to apples.
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And if those kids are "pirating" those MTV shows... oh hell, the world's coming to an end, then, isn't it? I look out my window and see the horses eating each other. They're probably pissed because they didn't get Air Jordan horseshoes for Xmas.
Nuke them from space, it's the only way to be sure.
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That's right, if you can't afford Dr. Luke, then slag off and return to your second shift duties at PetSmart, because listeners will know the difference, and they will not spend one penny on your horrible screeching noise unless it has been blessed by his magical hand. Isn't that right, Jonathan Coulton?
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Virtues
Now to think of all the hardship and suffering in this World that they blissfully care nothing about because this does not happen on their high street. I directly know that the price of an iPhone or car could save many lives.
For an example then a friend of my Pinay partner had her mother fall seriously ill and in need of hospital. She had no man though having separated and in this shit ass recession (where those in the Philippines are the bottom of this chain) then there was no one to help her. To a Western person to cost to save her mother was under one month of wages but no one did help her much so after weeks of pain, agony and suffering she died.
It is sad to say that this is not uncommon for the Philippines, where money makes the difference between life and death for the poor. No one person can help them all though and the social problems to sort this out runs deep into corruption.
Even in the news you may have read about the flooding and over 2000 people washed away. Whole families of men, women and children. Events like that one happen most years to various degrees. The poor often suffer here too when they are the ones to build their poor shanty homes on flood plains just awaiting for that one big typhoon.
I, a western person, have largely given up on western people due to the average western ego and consumer culture. The greed, arrogance, hostility and more.
As they say suffering is good for the soul. You cannot value what you have until you have nothing. And you cannot truly be someone until you are an unforgotten nothing in this World.
Be humble and be thankful all that life has given you.
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Wow
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*sigh*
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