Earbud, Earbuds, Earphones, Headphones, & Other Keywords

I am on a journey. One that has no defined ending. I have taken what many would say is the ultimate journey, being an Entrepreneur. For the longest time I had trouble even spelling the word, much less knowing the true meaning of it.

A little about me (at least professionally). I spent the better part of my life doing things that ultimately didn't interest me. I received a degree in Accounting because I knew the world would always need accountants. I was able to land a job and spent seven years doing something I absolutely hated to do, and it showed. I was lousy at it. After getting out of the accounting game, I went on to tackle some admittedly "varied" position, with the one common link in that they were all operations focused. I came to find out that I loved making things happen and being able to "see" the end result of my work. I also found that I liked calling the shots, which isn't always an option, especially working for a large corporation. Over time, I knew I would have to work for myself someday. The question was how and when.

Four years ago I invented Breppies Earbud Covers. I could go into depth about how and why it happened, but I will save that for another post. For now, the only thing that is important is that the invention opened a doorway to realize my dream and start my own business. I have fairly extensive business experience, have my MBA and CPA, as well as a strong financial background. I felt as prepared as I could be for running my own company, and in a lot of ways I was, but in many more, I was much less than prepared.

So here I sit, the CEO of my own company. I have been through everything, including designing, sourcing, manufacturing, raising capital and marketing my product. I have many stories to tell about the journey and this is exactly where I will put it all together. Most of my posts will be specific to a particular issue I faced and how I solved it. Others will focus more on the challenges I am going through today, with requests from my readers to post their opinion on what they would do in my situation.

I will say this. Contrary to what a lot of books will tell you, being master of your own domain (literally and figuratively) is not for everyone. This is the ultimate risk and will put more pressure on you and those around you than you could possibly imagine. It will also become the final educational program in the School of Hard Knocks.

As one of my mentors used to say:

Stay tuned......

Why Do People Hate Apple?

I would not call myself a certified techno geek. I would even go so far as to say that I am mind numbingly non-technical. However, the one thing I do have, like most other people, is a love for technology and a continual amazement at the speed at which it continues to evolve.

I, like many others, love “most” things Apple, not because they have the Apple brand name on them, but because they consistently produce some of the most intriguing, awe inspiring devices on the market.

The one thing, however, that I am always perplexed about is the amount of cynicism and overall bashing that Apple takes over many of its products, and the continual slew of articles that call into demise its next greatest invention, almost on the very day it arrives. The iPad is a tremendous case in point. This device, in its relatively short existence (six months I believe) has already begun to singlehandedly transform the way many companies do business. One example is within the health care industry.

Living in Arizona, we spend a lot of time outdoors, especially hiking or running some of the multiple beautiful trails available in the state. On a recent run, my wife unexpectedly tripped on a small rock jutting out from the trail and fell face first forward, using her knees to somewhat break her fall. As you can imagine, her knees were scratched and bleeding and also quite sore. The next morning she made an appointment with an orthopedist to make sure there was no serious internal damage. After taking some brief x-rays, my wife was shuttled into a waiting room to wait for the results. Within a very short time, the door quietly opened and in walked her doctor carrying what appeared to be a thick clipboard. As he sat down next to her, she realized that the clipboard was in fact, an iPad. The doctor brought up her x-rays on the iPad, showing her that there was no damage to her knee with crystal clear evidence. He then updated his patient notes, had my wife sign for her visit, and proceeded out of the room, within minutes.

Yet, daily, I read about all that is wrong with the iPad, how it needs this input or that ability and how it will not compare to the new tablets that are “coming soon”! When I first used to read these things about Apple’s successful products, it would make me somewhat irritated. How could someone have so much negative to say about something so incredible?

But then I remember all the same nastiness that surrounded (and continues to surround) Apples famous little white earbud. There has never been such a misunderstood product, nor one that was so undeserving of the volumes of negative articles, blogs, digg’s, etc as these earbuds. Gizmodo was extremely guilty of this, yet they themselves performed a study a couple of years back, comparing Apple’s earbud headphones to other popular products at the time. You can see the results here: http://brepps.com/five-reasons-apple-earbuds-are-not-bad. Clearly, Apple not only held its own, but beat every earbud they tested it against. In the end, I believe most of the techies want earbuds that fit every person’s ears and sound like a $200 pair of Bose buds. For the money (free usually with your device, except with the iPad, but that is another story) Apples earbuds rate very high. If there was one small thing to change about them, I would add a comfortable earbud earphone cover that would not fall off, but that can be quickly remedied with a pair of inexpensive Breppies.

So charge forward Apple, with your creativity, vision, and sensibility. Those of us who understand what your devices mean to everyday life will keep on buying.