Ads are almost literally everywhere.
It is rare, but every once in a while I presume to speak for everyone. It’s not like this is breaking news or a controversial hot-take, either. No need to sit down or get a stiff drink:
Nobody, but NOBODY likes advertisements… except ad people.
Photo by Marten Newhall on Unsplash
Well, at least the internet…
Okay, maybe some people. I think it’s clear that one cannot make simple proclamations without applying major caveats, so I won’t. I honestly have no idea whether or not my concepts will benefit humanity at all, but I’m can’t-code-myself-out-of-a-paper-bag levels of confident.
What even are bootstraps? I’ll keep this brief. I’m particularly fond of this tidy explainer from Etymonline, a language etymology website:
bootstrap (n.)
also boot-strap, tab or loop at the back of the top of a men’s boot, which the wearer hooked a finger through to pull the boots on, 1870, from boot (n.1) + strap (n.).
To pull (oneself) up by (one’s) bootstraps, by 1871, was used figuratively of an impossible task (among the “practical questions” at the end of chapter one of Steele’s “Popular Physics” schoolbook (1888) is, “30. Why can not a man lift himself by pulling up on his boot-straps?”). But it also is used to suggest “better oneself by rigorous, unaided effort.” The meaning “fixed sequence of instructions to load the operating system of a computer” (1953) is from the notion of the first-loaded program pulling itself (and the rest) up by the bootstrap. It was used earlier of electrical circuits (1946).
A bank of elevators in the lobby of a skyscraper. Photo by Edwin Chen on Unsplash
It happens all the time. You’re walking along, getting stuff done, and an elevator comes into the equation. Now what?
Phone cases are a dime a dozen.
Well, not literally. They cost real money, but they’re available everywhere for all kinds of mobiles and at every conceivable price point. When it comes down to it, consumers will select the style and price that fits their circumstances and financial wherewithal. Hell, a lot of Chinese phone makers include a (cheap) case in the box that I’m sure a handful of people around the globe actually use.
When I received a press release from Illusion Photograph offering me a review sample of one of their phone cases, I told them up front that they should focus on getting samples to more visible outlets. They insisted, so I did some research and, after learning their story, acquiesced. They sent me a Route 66 case for my iPhone 12 mini, and this, in a way, is a review. So, here it is…