Four (or Five!) Reasons Why

….Big Wedding Are A Bad Idea

1. For two people about to “officially” launch themselves into the world together, a wedding can be an emotionally, mentally and physical exhausting way to kick things off. Just think about all the stresses - big and little - that are part and parcel of planning most weddings. Who do you invite? Who don’t you invite? Can you sit your mother-in-law beside the chatty Uncle Elmer? Will the bride’s maids be forced to wear something they’ll never ever wear again. Will my husband-to-be see strippers on his stage? And the list goes on and on.

2. They’re expensive. The cost of a wedding for 150 to 200 people can easily be equivalent to a healthy down payment on a house. Then add on the cost of the rings, pre-wedding parties, hotel rooms and the honeymoon. That’s some serious cabbage for what is really a day-long party.

3. The planning, effort and expensive involved big weddings are never really appreciated beyond the two families being united. Most guests, while excited and pleased about the wedding, don’t see it in the same context as people behind it. They go, clap when they should, eat a nice meal, have a few drinks, perhaps dance, and then go home. You could easily cut out many of the frills, and most people would have just a good a time.

4. Big weddings set completely unrealistic expectations. Think about it, you’re just setting out together with little or no track record and a 50-50 chance the marriage will be successful, yet you have this huge and expensive celebration at the beginning. If people were smart, they would wait until their 10th anniversary to have the big bash. By that time, you’ve earned your marriage stripes, you’re established professionally and personally and, perhaps, have children. Isn’t that the right time to really celebrate?

Technorati Tags: weddings

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…Microblogging Is Dumbing Us Down

1. It’s so easy. 140 characters max. You can SMS from your phone. Or contribute through your browser. It’s quick. But the reality is that short messaging and rapid communication has to have affected our ability to write well. Grammar sucks because you only have a limited number of characters, so short-forms, acronyms and emoticons have replaced well thought out prose. And many people seem to have lost their passion for the written word and dedicate little time to it. But it doesn’t have to be this way, as The Spin Stops Here offers, “Writing can be a lifelong pursuit and a real source of enjoyment. Finding the perfect words to express your thoughts and convictions is like mastering a painting or a dance - it takes time and effort but the payoff can be incredible.”

2. Proponents of microblogging profer that it is an incredibly efficient tool to disseminate information. Accepted, without argument, when it is used properly! Unfortunately, most content is about inane subject matter. You ate a crepe for breakfast! Wonderful! Some services, like Plurk, go so far as to start your sentences for you, so you don’t even have to write out complete thoughts.

3. Depending on how many microblogs one follows, a lot of time and brainpower can be wasted during the day. Putting aside any arguments about productivity, the consumption of inane chatter takes up time that could be spent reading more valuable information and occupies space in your brain that is already packed (and losing gray matter every day). It’s also interesting that we seem to be happy to read about every tiny facet of someone’s life through 140 characters clips, but get annoyed when we overhear the details of someone life as they talk on the phone or are forced to eavesdrop on people having conversation in a public place. Then again, I guess we don’t have the option of subscribing (or unsubscribing) to a loud talker.

4. Without any empirical evidence for backup, it seems that many people have become reactive thinkers, particularly among the younger set of technophiles that are being brought up on the speed and ease of “contributing to the conversation.” The easier it is to achieve immediacy, the faster it is that we can react and the less thought that goes into our responses. Think back to the days of hand-written letters, and the time and care it took to craft one. The typewriter, and then faxes, made communicating a little faster. But the world changed dramatically with email and microblogging as an environment was created that resulted in little need, or desire, for reflection. Furthermore, In a widely cites article, Nick Carr argues that all of these little chunks of data has reduced our ability to master long, complex arguments.

5. As the Guardian hypothesizes, the vehicles on which we read and write online may be contributing to our dumbing down. Reading on a screen is tiring and takes longer than a similar exercise on paper. Plus, with paper you don’t get sidetracked by embedded links and the notifier that you’ve got mail, which of course you must check immediately!

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….Why You Should Read 4RW

Hey, what do you know: we have our first guest blogger on 4RW. Step on up, Jill McCubbin, another list aficionado who took little time at all to submit her list. Truth be told, we collectively blushed when we read it.
1. Some of your friends and family are not working very hard this afternoon (and neither are you).

2. You know many people, like you, that are so list-obsessed that they’ve discussed the art of list-making with you (and even ideas about making art out of their lists!). You’ve seen lists falling from the pockets and purses of your friends, and you’ve seen lists penned up their arms or across their palms.

3. You and your friends enjoy these subjects: …Dining Outside is Good or this one …You Shouldn’t Buy Bananas or this one …Advertising is Pandemic or others. You think that they might find real information about some of their interests at some of the 4RW posts.

4. You thought specifically about a certain friend when you found the 4RW blog, and that’s enough reason to send them a message. You know you’ll make somebody else a bit happier if you do.

5. The “About Us” page at 4RW is a fun read too.

6. If that list-toting friend of yours listens to you and visits 4RW, they won’t have to add this task / idea to one of their already long “to-do” lists - or conversely they can add it and then cross it out immediately (or add it to another list - of things to do repeatedly).

Technorati Tags: 4RW

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….We’re Looking For Guest Bloggers

1. Writing top-quality, insightful and thought-provoking posts five days a week can be a lot of work, especially since we’ve made exactly $11.52 from AdSense since launching 4RW last August. Given that Sean and I both have jobs, beer to drink and hockey to play, it can be difficult to find enough time to put aside enough time to do something good as opposed to cheating our loyal readers by going through the motions.

2. Variety is the spice of life, right? So, it makes sense to add some variety to 4RW from people who might have a different perspective, approach, energy and ideas. Given that many people love making and reading lists, there have to be lots of people willing to jump at the chance to write for 4RW.

3. It’s a way to grow our readership and RSS subscribers. Sean and I have pretty much maxed out in terms of spreading the word to friends and family. Every time, we mention that they should read 4RW, the response is usually: “We usually do” or, if you’re our mother, it’s “What’s the Internet?”. We have modest growth goals: 500 to 1,000 RSS subscribers, daily traffic of 500 to 1000 visitors, and $1/day in AdSense. It’s not like we’re trying to be the next TechCrunch, although that would be nice so we stay home and blog all day.

4. It could be start of something bigger and better. Sean and I have been strategizing and whiteboarding about morphing 4RW into a different kind of beast. Maybe having more people involved might jump-start our plans.

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…Greyhound Should Start An Airline

1. Greyhound operates a pretty efficient transportation system, highlighted by general admission seating to all of their buses. While Southwest and a number of European discount carriers already do this, Greyhound has a lot of experience in loading vehicles quickly, efficiently and hitting the road on schedule. More so, they operate a system in which a lot of airlines should be interested and could follow if they were smart - Priority Seating! For an extra $5 per trip,  “With our new Priority Seating service, you can reserve your own seat and pre-board without waiting in line first. Relax in the terminal while knowing in advance where you will sit on the bus, and board ahead of other non-priority passengers.” Truly innovative!

2. Nobody has ever had any expectations about receiving snacks and drinks on a bus. BYO F&B, baby! It’s always a picnic on Greyhound! With all airlines looking to cut costs, one of first things to go were free snack, drinks and meals. At least with Greyhound, passengers will already know what, or what not to expect.

3. Part of the pleasure of bus travel is that all you can really do is read or watch the countryside pass by. No drop-down screens from the ceiling, no seat-back entertainment systems. You just have to amuse yourself. With US Airways announcement that they are removing in-flight entertainment systems on domestic flights starting in November, Greyhound wouldn’t have to go above and beyond what they already offer. As for US Airways, Forbes.com notes, “The systems eat into aircraft fuel supply since they weigh a whopping 500 pounds each, saving the airline some $10.0 million, annually.”

4. In a move that could transform airlines travel management, Greyhound could teach an old dog a new trick. Much like in a bus terminal, every passenger could have the pleasure of loading their own baggage on to the plane. In fact, this would create a self-regulating environment - travel only what you can carry and load! Think of the fuel savings!

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