Be In Charge

I am a regular reader of Seth Godin's blog. He writes on a variety of topics and very concisely, which means he gives me some information without wasting my time. I appreciate this.

This is a recent post which struck a chord with me.

When Your Phone Uses You by Seth Godin

Your smartphone has two jobs.

On one hand, it was hired by you to accomplish certain tasks. In the scheme of things, it's a screaming bargain and a miracle.

But most of the time, your phone works for corporations, assorted acquaintances and large social networks. They've hired it to put you to work for them. You're not the customer, you're the product. Your attention and your anxiety is getting sold, cheap.

When your phone grabs your attention, when it makes you feel inadequate, when it pushes you to catch up, to consume and to fret, it's not working for you, is it?

On demand doesn't mean you do things when the device demands.

Having worked for Southwestern Bell, now AT&
;T, for a number of years, I always found it fascinating that the unknown of a ringing phone was always deemed more important than the conversation you were having. I am not sure why? 

And for your viewing pleasure, this is a cactus blooming in the desert. The cactus is probably 7 feet tall and this flower is the size of a water lily flower. It looks like one too! Nature is fascinating!