Andrew Melder

Today has been a little humbling, with some much needed perspective being indirectly provided.

Sometimes we get so caught our own worlds. Focused on the issues in our own little rat race that we lose sight of the importance of what we do have.

Perspective is needed to keep on track emotionally.

It’s not that we must feel grateful (or put a positive spin) for everything in our lives, good or bad. Using perspective, we turn down the amplification of items that may not be going well so we are no longer overwhelmed by them.

Remaining focused on what’s possible to solve our issues, freeing us to take action instead of being paralysed when we catastrophise the scenario.

Calling out my own bullshit

11 years ago I wrote this post: Social media blackouts for weddings.

I had a very technology-positive stance around the use of smartphones and cameras by guests at weddings; and bristled at those who chose to either not allow guests to take photos, or who asked guests not to post anything until they did.

I now look back at my views then in the same way I see the Google Glass Explorers (a.k.a. Glassholes), which was actually released a few days after my post. We were a bit naive in the adoption and acceptance, seeing tech as moving us forward without enough empathy and sometimes flat out dismissal of others who disagreed.

On a personal level my thoughts on weddings being a celebration for everyone to freely capture as they seem fit, in addition to the value of a professional photographer not being diminished by their photos, actually remains the same.

What’s changed is that I understand and respect those who don’t feel this way.

While I’ve developed those feelings over the last decade as I’ve gotten older and (dare I say it) wiser; this was clarified to me over the weekend as my family attended a friend’s wedding.

They didn’t wish to have people take photos during the ceremony. And while they were happy for people to take whatever photos they wanted afterwards at the reception, they requested no social posts until they were able to do so the next day.

It seemed like a great balance (although in this case the marriage celebrant could have been a bit less condescending when advising guests).

They had a Google Photos shared album so guests can share their photos with the couple throughout the night and the following days. Which was actually a very cool use of technology to see photos of multiple guests being shared during the night.

Anyway where was I going with this? Oh yeah, I was wrong.

In the end, it was a great night and lots of nice photos were taken by all. Many of which I would love to share, but don’t feel it’s appropriate for a wider audience and will keep most of those to our friends circle.

Today has been a day of letting go apparently. Cancelled a few subscriptions, disabled a few social accounts such as Instagram, Threads and soon LinkedIn.

I do this every so often to just re-adjust and evaluate what is actually useful to me. I’ve felt a bit too much online with Threads recently (which is the only reason why I have an Instagram account). Now looking at what else can be eliminated or paired back, simplifying my activities, wallet and mindset.

Apple launched a new sports app to help users keep track of live scores from sports games; sounds harmless right?

Well the dangerous part comes in their decision to include sports betting odds in the app.

Gambling is becoming an increasing stain in the modern world of sports, so Apple’s decision to include it in the Sports app is a little concerning for a company who’s brand value is tied a lot to the perception of protecting and doing what’s best for users.

It does feel like this addition maybe leading to something more down the line. With Apple increasing getting into the sports streaming game, are they looking to open up a new revenue stream in the sports gambling market too?

You may ask why; Apple are the richest company in the world, they don’t need to sell out their values to make more money.

Ahhh but they are just another company. Like many other companies today, they are under pressure from investors to show increasing growth; despite that likely not being sustainable or good for humanity in general.

Like many other companies are experiencing post-COVID, revenues are stagnating. Other tech companies such as Microsoft, Meta and Google have been trying to appease the investors by cutting costs to maintain profit. Disguised as making companies more efficient, the technology layoffs are primarily driven by cost cutting.

Apple already runs a pretty tight ship workforce wise; they don’t have the “luxury” of trying to cut costs via a reduced workforce. So they must find new avenues to make money.

I feel over the next few years, Apple’s brand value of being a consumer champion will be tested as the investor pressure for increased growth is applied and Apple’s existing hardware divisions stagnate.

I don’t trust Apple and their products because I feel they want what’s best for me personally; I choose them because they have the most to lose if they break the trust attached to their brand.

As they need to get more into the services game to increase revenue; that customer-first trust built into the brand will start to evaporate as clear plays to extract more money from customer base come into play. Just think of all the ads you see on the App Store from a company that put on such a crusade against advertising practices of other tech companies?

I sincerely hope Apple don’t get into sports gambling, an increasing plague in our society. But putting betting odds in their app does feel like they are testing the waters of acceptability to keep revenue options open in the future.

After a productive start of the year in my blog, I’ve kinda slowed down my writing output over the past few weeks.

A couple of reasons for this. The main one being life taking a busy turn; kids back at school, work projects ramping up etc. While I continue to journal, my brain just hasn’t had the space to think and write about a specific thing.

The other part is being indecisive on what to write about. I like tech and interntional living, but I don’t want this to end up as some amateur tech blog or end up just writing posts about intentional living that repeat themselves just to get more posts out.

So, I’ve decided to start a series called Melder’s Musings. Just a space for me to write about whatever I’m thinking or going through at the time; with no self pressure on the structure, length, or need to make a point or provide a key takeaway for whomever reads this.

Right now I’m in one of my happy places. It’s 7am and I’m at one of my favourite cafes near Roockingham Beach enjoying a coffee. I’m grateful I’m able to do this occasionally before I head to the office to start work.

After a series of stinking hot days here in Perth, Western Australia; I’m going to enjoy the hell out of the 27 degree celcius day, although it is still a bit too humid for my liking (we like a dry heat here in Perth).

I have recently purchased the Elite 10 ANC earbuds, which I might write some thoughts on at some stage. I did want some ANC earbuds for my train commute after giving my gen 1 AirPod Pros to my wife last year.

After damaging my hearing with music that was too loud when I was younger, I’m a bit more careful with my hearing these days (I’ll probably write something to expand on that too). As such, ANC earbuds are very useful for my commute to prevent me playing my music too loud on regular earbuds.

Must resist the urge to end a post with a nice little wrap up or sign off. That’s not the point of these ones Andrew :)