These days, we could all use a little extra motivation and inspiration. What better way than to start each day with uplifting and encouraging words from some of the world’s best and brightest?
Apple is hoping to inject some inspiration into the lives of college students around the country with a new ad celebrating the return to school this month.
The fantastic new Behind the Mac ad celebrates the creation of art by telling students that they have no idea what they’re doing. And this is great.
Prepare to be inspired:
Noise-cancelling headphones are suddenly all the rage. It certainly seems as if every big player in the audio game has at least one model that features active noise-canceling, usually accompanied by other luxury features — and with a corresponding luxury pricetag. Even manufacturers who’ve only recently begun making cans, like Logitech UE and Klipsch, prominently feature active noise-canceling in their model lineups.
It may even seem as if the technology has been added to some models simply because it’s become the feature du jour — an impression strengthened by the fact that not all noise canceling is the same. Not even remotely.
None of the headphones in our showdown — the Klipsch Mode M40 ($350), the Logitech UE 6000 ($200) or the Monster Inspiration ANC ($300), the noise-canceling version of the regular, passive Inspiration model we reviewed last year — exhibits the powerful noise-canceling ability that can almost completely drown out noise, like that of the Bose QuietComfort 15. Nor do they sit on the next level down, with NC performance similar to, say, Audio Technica’s ATH-ANC7b (although one here comes close).
I remember saying something to the effect that these Monster Inspiration headphones (passive noise isolation, $300) looked like fluff when I first encountered them at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year. Boy was I wrong.
LAS VEGAS, CES 2012 – Or maybe it’s that they’re pretending even less. The amount of bling at the Monster “booth” — it was actually more of a compound, complete with a super-secret inner sanctum — would make Snooki (who was at the show) blush. Their three newly released headphones seemed far more focused on fashion than sound; even Monster founder Nole Lee’s Segway (was it a Segway?) rolled around on gold-rimmed wheels. Then there were the booth fashion shows…
Back in 2005, after his battle with cancer and first medical leave of absence from Apple, Steve Jobs gave a rare glimpse into his personal passions and motivation in an inspiring commencement speech to Stanford University graduates. As Jobs once again takes leave of his child – and prognosticators debate what may become of Apple – Matt’s Macintosh has created this lovely compendium of an excerpt from that address, with music and great old photos from Before the Turtleneck.
Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish. It’s what has made Apple so special. It can still change the world.
