Tuesday, September 12, 2017
I am writing my first essay distracted by Apple’s launch of the iPhone 8 today. I am watching the launch from a Facebook live video feed, and instantly, I know what observers feel. As I think about my points in the essay, the angry emojis are popping out of the video, because the product (iPhone 8) seems prosaic.
After which, Apple CEO Tim Cook walks back on stage and closes the launch with a twist: him unleashing a mobile phone three steps further into the future—the iPhone X and the surprises that come with it—studio portrait camera function, wireless charging, edge-to-edge display, face-recognition lock, microscopic water and dust proof design, and augmented reality. New technologies ten years in advance brought to life today that opens up new supply chains, new businesses. Now, that’s a launch!
This context brought forth the pressure on me to write in a twist too, hopefully as shiny and innovative as iPhone X. But in reality I have nothing, save one observation.
Apple, when it’s lost in the details, always goes back to basics: improving the user experience. Perhaps, the question Apple first asked to create the next iPhone is: what should the new iPhone look like to guarantee no one buys it? From its inverse, Apple came up with iPhone X, because launching a plain iPhone 8 was just glaringly predictable.
My intention in this blog is to help contribute meaningful foundational insights to society and expand the discourse on international trade, finance and law. Of course, the success of the iPhone, across international boundaries and cultures, is a child of this discourse.
Similarly, I ask the same question: What should this blog look like to guarantee no one reads it? From there, I endeavor to make this blog as interesting as iPhone X. I thought I’d write in some captivating portraits on international trade, finance and law concepts, wirelessly charge you with inspiration, bring you edge-to-edge display of their impact on daily life, face-to-face recognition of who’s who in the field, microscopic analysis of the industries they govern, and perhaps, augment our realities with insights that may make us laugh, cry or act.
As celebrated professor, Mark Edmundson explains, “Writing teaches us to think; it can bring our minds to birth.” This blog is really not about increasing my knowledge on things, but just getting that education to avoid being dumb. After all, in the words of Inc. author, Jessica Stillman, “(s)ubtracting stupidity means it is more likely you will inch up on a solution without causing unintended harm.”
Selfishly, what I really what to get out of this blog is to build a personal mastery of things around me, so that like Apple, I can wield rudimentary ideas for creating innovations for the greater good and avoid expensive mistakes along the way.
Reader, thank you for your visit and welcome to my blog! If I’m not doing a good job, I’m sure you’ll let me know.
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Frank Mercado is an entrepreneur by day, and an aficionado in international finance, trade and law by night. His blog, Essays To A World Under Construction, is a personal project where he hopes to bring his mind to birth and articulate the realities brought to life by the intersections of these disciplines. Follow Frank on Twitter @frankeiboy or email him on frankeimercado@gmail.com.
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