Wednesday, October 1, 2003
My Love Story
Posted by Andy Sjostrom in "THOUGHT" @ 03:08 AM
It all happened an evening in Paris five years ago. It had been a long day in the office and I really needed some fresh air. Autumn winds, street lights, and people laughing. Paris in one its many forms. My friend and I wandered around, enjoying conversation and atmosphere. This is a story about passion and love. Paris, home of romance and hope and where my passion came to be. I had not known my friend very long so I listened, sensed and observed as you do when getting to know another. We stopped by the window of one of Paris thousands of petite cafés. People inside seemed to be enjoying each other and the surroundings. We went in.
The friendly waiter helped us get seated and quickly scribbled down our order. We stopped conversation a brief moment while we both looked around to catch glimpses of the other guests. We had a nice view of the Paris skyline from where we sat. It does not seem to matter how many times you have seen the Eiffel Tower. This magnificent work of art almost demands your attention and the longer you look at it the more personal it gets. The waiter returned to us with coffee, sandwiches and a "Bon appétit!". As the evening unfolded I slowly realized that this friendship was to last. We had connected and when I think about it today, I remind myself to be careful with this remarkable thing togetherness. Then it happened.
I would never have guessed that it would change the way I would look at the world. My friend reached for his pocket and pulled out what looked like a fairly large mobile phone. As we talked, he sometimes looked down wrote down thoughts and notes on this thing. After a while, I asked if I could look at it. I held it, looked at it and I fell in love. My first mobile device I held was a Casio Cassiopeia E-11. Windows CE pure and simple. Familiar Start-menu and familiar Windows interface, and I got the urge I am confident thousands of fellow developers and artists have felt. The urge to start imaginging, molding, creating, building. Anger and frustration, I must admit. How could I have missed this wonderful thing? Such a tiny, pretty, Windows based computer and citizen within the family of programmable environments.
At this café in Paris I made up my mind. This would become my own apple tree. I would nurse it, take care of it and make it grow. Apples or no apples, this would become my tree. We left and entered the streets again. On the way back to the hotel, I felt like a new person. It seemed so obvious and I remember looking at the people out in the streets thinking: "I know that in a few years, many of these people will also fall in love and Windows will find its way into more pockets than my friend's!".
My apple tree has grown since that magic evening in Paris. I have had so much fun watching it grow and I have helped more people sow apple trees. And yes, my apple tree has given me more apples than I can count. My aquaintance in Paris became my best friend, only second to my wife, and his Casio Cassiopeia E-11 became my Casio Cassiopeia E-105, HP Jornada 430, iPAQ Pocket PC 3630, HP Jornada 565, xda, iPAQ Pocket PC 3970, iPAQ Pocket PC 5550...
It all happened an evening in Paris five years ago. What is your love story?
The friendly waiter helped us get seated and quickly scribbled down our order. We stopped conversation a brief moment while we both looked around to catch glimpses of the other guests. We had a nice view of the Paris skyline from where we sat. It does not seem to matter how many times you have seen the Eiffel Tower. This magnificent work of art almost demands your attention and the longer you look at it the more personal it gets. The waiter returned to us with coffee, sandwiches and a "Bon appétit!". As the evening unfolded I slowly realized that this friendship was to last. We had connected and when I think about it today, I remind myself to be careful with this remarkable thing togetherness. Then it happened.
I would never have guessed that it would change the way I would look at the world. My friend reached for his pocket and pulled out what looked like a fairly large mobile phone. As we talked, he sometimes looked down wrote down thoughts and notes on this thing. After a while, I asked if I could look at it. I held it, looked at it and I fell in love. My first mobile device I held was a Casio Cassiopeia E-11. Windows CE pure and simple. Familiar Start-menu and familiar Windows interface, and I got the urge I am confident thousands of fellow developers and artists have felt. The urge to start imaginging, molding, creating, building. Anger and frustration, I must admit. How could I have missed this wonderful thing? Such a tiny, pretty, Windows based computer and citizen within the family of programmable environments.
At this café in Paris I made up my mind. This would become my own apple tree. I would nurse it, take care of it and make it grow. Apples or no apples, this would become my tree. We left and entered the streets again. On the way back to the hotel, I felt like a new person. It seemed so obvious and I remember looking at the people out in the streets thinking: "I know that in a few years, many of these people will also fall in love and Windows will find its way into more pockets than my friend's!".
My apple tree has grown since that magic evening in Paris. I have had so much fun watching it grow and I have helped more people sow apple trees. And yes, my apple tree has given me more apples than I can count. My aquaintance in Paris became my best friend, only second to my wife, and his Casio Cassiopeia E-11 became my Casio Cassiopeia E-105, HP Jornada 430, iPAQ Pocket PC 3630, HP Jornada 565, xda, iPAQ Pocket PC 3970, iPAQ Pocket PC 5550...
It all happened an evening in Paris five years ago. What is your love story?
