By Robert Pagliarini,
Tribune Media Services
Apple released the iPad in April 2010, but you probably already knew that. It sold hundreds of thousands of units and has received praise from journalists and techies, but you probably already knew that, too. What you may not know is that the Apple iPad is one of the most destructive new technologies since the TV.
At first glance, the iPad looks fabulous. It is sleek and sexy. It screams for you to hold it. Its siren call is hard to resist, and that is the problem. Listen, I’m not an Apple hater. I have the iPhone and absolutely love it. But the iPad’s greatest achievement is also its greatest vice.
The iPad is universally praised for allowing the user to do one thing … consume content. Ahhhhh! (That’s me screaming.) We have nearly double-digit unemployment. We make less money than our parents did at the same age. We have an obesity crisis. We don’t need a new and better way to consume. The iPad is like an IV of Jack Daniels to an alcoholic.
The iPad is heralded as a new way to watch movies, listen to music, read books, browse the Web, view pictures and play games. Consumption kills. It kills our bodies, it kills our spirits, and it kills our mind. The more you suck in, the less you produce. The more ideas and thoughts you digest, the harder it is for you to create, and creating is the name of the game. Don’t believe me? Ask Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
Jobs was listed as the 43rd richest American. Forbes ranked him as one of the world’s most powerful people. In 2009, Fortune magazine named him the “CEO of the Decade.” So, how did he achieve success and earn these accolades? It sure wasn’t by consuming. Steve Jobs is a creator.
The way to financial and personal success is to shift from being a full-time consumer to being a part-time creator, but it’s not easy. You’re facing an uphill battle. Research shows that we are bombarded with more than a million ads a year brainwashing us with the messages of buying and consuming. Creating might not feel natural. When is the last time you saw a message suggesting you start your own side business, turn your passion into a product, take that idea you’ve had for years and invent something, or write that book, or record that song, or shoot that documentary?
And even if you did hear a message encouraging you to use the other eight hours to follow your passions and create, you might resist it. Every successful person has had doubts and a negative inner voice, too, but what set them apart is that they plunged ahead despite any reservations they had. They took the leap.
It doesn’t matter where you come from, where you work, how little you make or where you live. Everyone sees the world a little differently, and because of that, anyone can create something special and unique. You can tap into your strengths and uniqueness and create something that nobody else has.
Where should you start? Buy yourself an lPad — that’s an “L” as in legal pad. Instead of forking over $500 for an iPad, invest less than $1 in a legal pad. These pads are pretty crummy for consuming content, but man, can you create on them! They’re perfect for diagramming that invention you’ve had for years, outlining your next presentation, brainstorming a new application, sketching a design, documenting your goals, writing in your gratitude journal, and so much more.
Robert Pagliarini is a CBS MoneyWatch columnist and the author of “The Other 8 Hours: Maximize Your Free Time to Create New Wealth & Purpose” and the national best-seller “The Six Day Financial Makeover.” Visit YourOther8Hours.com.
(c) 2010 CBS INTERACTIVE INC. DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES INC.
This was printed in the June 1, 2012 – June 16, 2012 Edition
