Conversation Pieces
If Mac laptops were dogs, they'd definitely be Golden Retrievers. When you see someone walking a Golden Retriever, you just can't help but want to pet it. And you usually end up chatting with the owner for a while. Indeed, the dog is a conversation piece, as is this laptop. I've met a bunch of cool people as a result of sitting behind this unmistakable emblem while on airplanes, at conferences, and slinking around projects. Folks just want to pet a Mac or they find refuge in spotting another friendly face in a Mac user. Tonight was no exception. Only this time somebody else was walking their Golden.
After visiting a client, I stopped by Barnes & Noble to replenish my supply of the brilliant and inspirational book "Art & Fear" to recommend during my talk in Philly this weekend. As I walk by the coffee shop area, I notice a guy sitting behind the familiar glow of a 17" PowerBook. I recognize him, as well, but I couldn't place where I'd seen him before. So, not wanting to make a fool of myself, I wander around the store for a while trying to remember where I'd seen this fellow before. Things like that bug me, and once I latch on I don't let go easily. It turns out that thumbing through self-help books doesn't jog my memory, so at long last it's time to make an introduction to the dog owner. "So, do they have a wireless hotspot here?"
Indeed, he informs me that we're basking in packets (I knew I felt a disturbance in the Force) and we proceed to exchange pleasantries. I don't recall his name, so I reluctantly admit that I recognize him but I don't remember the situation. Then out of desperation I point at his Mac laptop and mutter something about being a card-carrying member of the software industry and the Mac cult, thinking perhaps that will get the collective synapses firing so we can put an end to this awkward moment. Oh, the hubris of us alpha geeks. We dare to think that once we move into a technology space that we alone dominate the space. "I use a Mac because I'm a musician", he proudly proclaims.
Mystery solved. I'd been assuming that I knew him in the context of software, but once I'd broken free of that constrained view, it all came together. Several years ago my wife and I had listened to him play guitar at one of our favorite restaurants. I never forget a face. The name or situation, well, that's an implementation detail.
I tell you all this because it's just another example of many where I meet somebody new because of a Mac. Would I have approached this person had he been sitting behind a Dell laptop? Not a chance. He'd have probably just been somebody I knew from the software industry. :-)