Work efficiency isn’t that important, Working Style is
January 20, 2010 | 12:27 am ShareWell after pondering for a few days I’ve been thinking what else interesting can I write about after my Thailand trip. It was all shopping, food, night life, and everything is just as any other trip.
And I’m sure too much of food porn and shopping showoffs will make you think that I’m an asshole.
So instead of talking about those materialistic achievements and how my waist have grown three inches after my Bangkok trip, I looked back at my tweets during my time in Bangkok and I’ve found this:
I saw a secondary schoolboy doing maths homework with his iPhone, his girlfriend next to him at the foodcourt of Siam Paragon.
A companion of mine commented when he saw this during the trip, “It’s not just about the efficiency of the work, it’s also about the style of how you work!”
So really, how true is that?
Yep, he’s a secondary school boy, 15, or 16 at most, flipping and tinkering around his iPhone while writing his maths answers onto the textbook. While his girlfriend is using her brains most of the time, she takes a peep whenever she gets a chance.
All in a high class shopping mall’s food court, Siam Paragon, which you can compare to our Kuala Lumpur’s Pavilion shopping mall.
That really leaves me pondering.
So you have a normal calculator and you have the iPhone at hand. If given the choice, most of us will choose the iPhone because it’s more efficient.
Or is it?
You can click on the buttons just as good as you click on a normal calculator. But clicking on an iPhone makes you feel better, doesn’t it? The eye candy, the swoosh and swirls and the scrolls and fades, and ooh not to mention the stares of jealousy and envy when people walk around you. That can make you feel real good.
So you can make phone calls and send sms with just any cheap handphone. Why choose an iPhone or Satio?
So you can cook just any dish just as good with a cheap Ikea non-stick pan. Why get a Buffalo Pan?
So you can always get the help of your brother or sister or your wife or husband to help you relieve the pain at your back with some good massage. Why get an Osim massage chair?
So you can just get a simple laptop at a cheap price at the store. Why get a Lenovo or HP or Dell?
Because really, no matter how much you want to deny it, style does play a role in your purchase decisions, because working with style and doing things with style makes you feel good.
So much for our rational decision making, hmm?
But then, this is what drives the consumerist society around. The need of luxury for self-realization and a reaffirmation of self values.
Do you agree that we not only strive to work efficiently, we want to work stylishly as well? And sometimes, even efficiency is compromised, we just plain wanna look stylish!
Hmm, excuse me while I go drool at the Google’s new phone Nexus One. Damn it’s so cool, I wanna get one!
Filed under: Life, Technology, Thailand
Tags: boy, handphone, style, Technology, Thailand
Comments (22)
ericleeh
January 19th, 2010 at 5:27 pm
there is certain things that Iphone could not provide…the feel ain't the same to those who truly appreciates calculator…ad your fingers run through the buttons in fast motion…those will get people to be amazed…. Seriously, touch screens sometimes are kinda overrated coz it isn't that efficient to begin with…the lags and stuff….but ppl still go for whatever looks cooler….blame it on the marketing ppl…XD
bluey
January 20th, 2010 at 1:08 am
i will choose normal calculator with physical buttons anytime over touchscreen ones…its just different
kelvin
January 20th, 2010 at 10:32 am
Work hard, but work smart at the same time:)
berkeleysamson
January 20th, 2010 at 12:27 pm
work wise not work hard.. find joy in your work and you can make a great output.
William
January 20th, 2010 at 2:28 pm
Normal calculator would be best! I can bang my fingers on it!
conancat
January 20th, 2010 at 3:20 pm
lulz true, you won't wanna bang on the iphone xD
conancat
January 20th, 2010 at 3:20 pm
hehe true true! sometimes it's hard to work wise when you're damn stressed tho :D
conancat
January 20th, 2010 at 3:21 pm
sounds easier than it is done! :P
conancat
January 20th, 2010 at 3:21 pm
lulz true true, apparently the kid prefer the touchscreen ones xD
conancat
January 20th, 2010 at 3:22 pm
well, apparently iPhone had reduced the lag so much it doesn't seem to be a concern to their 3 million buyers :P but oh well! i guess sometimes it's still the coolness that matters more than the efficiency :P
orville
January 21st, 2010 at 12:29 am
work with excellence.. that is the best thing to do.. you do not need to be perfect with the result, just do it with excellence. i mean.. with all your heart.
shakira
January 21st, 2010 at 3:58 pm
Hi Grey,
How are you doing/
Been not feeling well.
Just want to say hello
and to say that I do prefer using
calculators with BIG BUTTONS!lol
hugs,
shakira
Charles Ravndal
January 21st, 2010 at 9:32 pm
Well, that scene is not new to me since almost everyone here have an iPhone especially at my school. It's either an iPhone or HTC Hero. I have a Nokia 5800 which I bought like last May and I am going to throw it next month in favour of an iPhone. We basically work with a mac so it's normal and efficient to use an iPhone when it comes to synching dates or media stuff.
Style does play a role but I think for us having those stuff no longer spells luxury, but more like necessity and a norm.
Evan
January 22nd, 2010 at 3:07 am
hey grey. if we can afford it, no harm buying something stylish. somehow i feel we have a line of satisfaction to reach. life is coloured when you live happily.
but for a 15 year old boy to use calculator or iphone for maths is so wrong. first he is too young to responsible for an iphone and secondly, he is not supposed to use calculator!
count a
January 22nd, 2010 at 4:05 pm
working efficiency is for the result and working style for the image:)
conancat
January 23rd, 2010 at 6:37 am
hum, i guess that's the differences of living standards over there and here. an iPhone is triple the price of nokia 5800, and we don't have good plans to sign up to get a cheap iPhone, our mobile plans are crap and we end up paying more than the phone itself by two or three times too. over here iPhone spells luxury more than anything else. :/
and a Mac? we can buy a very decent PC at the same price with a Mac, so a lot of us chooses PC over mac. :D
Pikey
January 23rd, 2010 at 6:11 am
Looking fwd to the release of Nexus over here… hmmm.. prefer old style calculators.. and isn't he suppose to use his brain to do his Maths assignments?
conancat
January 23rd, 2010 at 6:31 am
hehe yep, true, so how important image is to you? :P
conancat
January 23rd, 2010 at 6:33 am
yeah, well you know, kids nowadays. :P secondary school boy sammor, argh!
conancat
January 23rd, 2010 at 6:35 am
true that! for a young kid to use iPhone, like woot! it's like the primary school girl i saw a few months back using an N95, i was bursting with envy! :P
i agree, if you can afford it, no harm getting one, it's all good even just for the eye candy. :D that's why, we're still style animals ;)
conancat
January 23rd, 2010 at 6:38 am
hehe yeah, big buttons are nice to press and press! ;) and aww, i hope you feel better soon Shakira!
conancat
January 23rd, 2010 at 6:38 am
yep, true enough. in the end it's the heart that matters most :D
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