High education

This past weekend I attended the Commencement ceremonies of the University of Delaware. It was the first time back to the alma mater for graduation since my own in 2004.

It was rather nice to be sitting there as an observer of the ceremony, rather than a participant. I didn't have to think about how I was going to find a job or how I was going to move all of my stuff or the shock of moving back home. I was able to cheer and applaud a new group of graduates and their accomplishments.

At lunch, I was having a conversation about college and what it means to graduate these days. For a while now I have felt that college is no more the fertile ground of higher education that it once was. (I'm thinking in terms of pre-1980 or so.)

In the conversation I talked about how I felt that college is more-so an extension of high school than a place of elevated academia. It isn't for all persons, but it is hard to argue that a bachelors degree has the same value as it once did, when a much smaller percentage of the population was able to earn it.

There is certainly an argument for college being more readily available than it has been in years past, and I agree with that and applaud that wholeheartedly. Still, I feel the value of a college education is really far less than it used to be, and that a Masters degree is the new Bachelors Degree.

A recent New York Times article explored how some colleges are accepting students without a high school diploma.

The article states, "New York awards those students a high school equivalency degree when they complete 24 college credits. But the State Education Department says colleges should be more selective in whom they admit."

For me, this is where we see colleges crossing the line between place of business and institution of higher education. The "er" in higher education is missing in this situation as the student has not graduated from one level in order to move higher up the academic ladder.

You may say that I am being too strict, but I do believe that everyone who is admitted to college should have a high school degree, passed the GRE, or equivalent. College should be about a demanding and rigorous academic experience, that is not meant for every person. Otherwise college is simply high education.

What do you think?

Happy go lucky spots

In advertising there is a certain snobbish quality about our opinions. We cherish our "award-winning" work and give little credit to anything that doesn't bring home a Clio or Addy or Cannes Lion.

I may be taking a step on the plank here, but I'd like to submit two ads that I really like, but will never win any awards. One is for Diet Coke entitled 'Roller Girl' and the other is from Old Navy called 'Madras.' Both of them are simply fun spots that entertain with some pretty good and carefree music.

Both have really nice moments of editing... 'Roller Girl' has this stellar moment when the lead character is swinging with a guy and the camera moves from right to left. It's simply a nice cinematic effect as their motions counter the motion of the camera. In 'Madras' there is a bunch of that corny Old Navy dancing, but for some reason this spot comes across with more genuine moments intermingled with the choreography (we catch a little girl tossing her hair.)



I think the other thing that makes it easy to like these spots is a well-cast blonde woman whose gestures are entirely inviting and pleasant. In fact, I ask if anyone knows if, by chance, these two women are the same?

This TV matching game may become habit.

Nike+

There are people out there doing really cool things. That was supposed to be our motivation while I was in college. It was supposed to drive us to better ourselves… to face the competition and accelerate our own game.

There were a lot of times when I didn't accept it as a true statement. I often would think that for every cool thing being created, there was a exponentially high number of uncool things being produced—especially in advertising.

Today is one of those days when my pessimism is flipped on it's head, because today is the day I discovered the new partnership between Nike and Apple. They have come together to mold two products into one great idea.

They took Nike's passion for running and Apple's passion for music and created the Nike+Apple Sport Kit. The sport kit allows you to set up, track, and motivate your runs, by providing you with real time audio feedback of your progress during your run, syncing for tracking your progress over time and integrated music playlists to help motivate you along the way.

The idea is genius because it is simple and it's derived from the observation of what was naturally happening in the culture of both industries. People who run were buying iPods. They'd strap the to their arms and go out pumped up.

Apple and Nike came together to see the value in making a deeper commitment to the products for runners.

Give them the ability to track their progress. Give them specific music for their workout. Give them a community online to share in their accomplishments. Those are gifts that these types of consumers will snatch up.

The Nike shoes, designed to take the transmitter (pedometer) cost $100, and the pedometer and receiver for your iPod are $29. Not bad for what you're getting. There's also apparel, like shirts with nano pockets.

The shoes themselves are a bit understated for Nike. They actually look like simply a basic running shoe, black for men, grey for women. I'm excited to see what new designs they'll create with compatibility.

I'm guessing that the transmitter that plugs into your nano's dock connection is a bluetooth gadget, but they don't say on either Apple or Nike's site. I'm also wondering if it only works with the nano, or if it will work with fifth generation, video iPods as well. The 5th gen iPods aren't as comfortable or reliable to work out with in the long run, but there's no reason they can't be used for exercise.

Overall, this is a killer idea and it really gets me excited to go out and run. It's definitely proof-positive that people are out there thinking and creating worth-while stuff. I wonder who came to the table with the idea first, Nike or Apple?

Mac man?

Can anyone confirm if the guy in the new Apple spots (left) is John Hodgman of recent Daily Show fame?

LEGOs!

When I was a kid, there was only one thing you were allowed to buy me for Christmas... LEGOs. After years of collection, my parent's basement became overwhelmed by my LEGO city complete with roads, ports, airports, (surprisingly only one home) and helicopters and planes suspended from the ceiling by fishing line.

It has been years since I have played with LEGOs, and that is why I was so pleasantly surprised when I stumbled upon a LEGO store in the Palisades Mall. Not only did I not know of it's existence, but I didn't know how many very cool things LEGO was doing.

The first thing I saw was their soccer game which three kids were taking to task. There was an entire Star Wars section. And then I saw a coming attraction for their new Mindstorms products.

Mindstorms, I would learn, was the next step in robotics competitions that take place within leagues. The big idea here is that you can program your own robot to do a lot of different things with all types of sensors and LEGO structures. AMAZING!

The entire experience left me thinking about how similar the store is to the Apple Store. They both are dedicated to selling products that appeal to a rather exclusive and obsessive group of people. The environment are both minimalistic in their design, but packed in content. I especially liked the back wall of the store, which is where you could buy individual bricks of many sizes and colors. The wall itself was designed to resemble the construction of LEGO bricks.

I also found out from one of the employees that there are LEGO Users Groups, much like Mac User Groups, where fanatics can get together and share in each others geekdom. I felt like such an outsider to a world that I had immersed myself in with my childhood, but had grown and become more vibrant in my absence.

So, like the Apple Store, the LEGO Store is a way for the retail experience to be much more than that. It's a place for enthusiasts to come together, for excitement to build, and for the brand to live with complete creative control over the experience. It's a model that I could see many brands benefiting from.

I was disappointed to see that LEGOs overall had become less brick like, and now included many larger parts that were smoothed and idealistic. One of the things I always loved about LEGOs was the imagination that was needed in creating and visualizing a real-life building or object. Some of that "blockiness" is still there in the larger sets, but I saw a lot of sets that had idealized pieces that were molded to form smooth surfaces.

I was very intrigued by the train sets. I think that would be an area where I could really have fun, and it seems there are LEGO user groups just for railroad enthusiasts. I don't know if I need another interest, but damnit this is one that may be just too cool to pass up.

Think you are missing out on you childhood love of LEGOs as well? See if there's a store near you and check it out.