

Ad man behind '1984,' 'Think Different,' and 'I'm a Mac' stepping down - briansykora
http://www.macworld.com/article/143588/2009/10/apple_clow.html

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jamesbressi
Boys and girls, he is a dying breed. No, I don't mean a dying breed of
creative genius, rather the dying breed of individuals who are actually with a
company for 30 years. How many of us last more than 4 years at a company now-
a-days?

~~~
mrduncan
Ok, I'll bite. Why is staying at a company for 30 years so admirable?

If you enjoy your job and continue to for that long, great. There are plenty
of people who don't want to be doing the same thing day after day for the next
30 years. I think the same can be applied to living in a city, sure plenty of
people enjoy living in one place all their lives but I'd argue that they're
missing out on opportunities to expand their horizons by staying put all that
time.

That said, Lee Clow is in a league of his own - what he has done is simply
awesome.

~~~
xenophanes
He didn't say it was admirable.

It's _notable_ that our culture is changing. I think, on the whole, it's a
good change. But one nice thing about 30 years is you have the opportunity to
get really good at the job. Many people don't do that, but here is someone
who, it sounds like, did.

~~~
mdg
> But one nice thing about 30 years is you have the opportunity to get really
> good at the job.

As someone who is early on in ther career, this is good food for thought. I am
still employed at the first company I worked for after graduating from college
2 years ago. I was always told that the way you get a raise is to "job hop"
every couple years.

~~~
xenophanes
I never really understood that. Why are other companies more willing to give
you a raise? Is it just irrationality by your boss?

The way I see it, you're worth more to your current company. You already know
their stuff, and don't have to get up to speed. And you know the stuff you
made for them well. And to them you're not an untested new hire who could
flop. So in a rational economy, on average and when you're a good fit where
you are, you ought to get the best offer from your current company.

~~~
allenp
Why would your company want to pay you more than they are right now? What is
their incentive? Retention?

Other companies are willing to pay you more because they need your expertise
and you are offering a higher level of skill/experience than you offered the
company you are with now.

~~~
akeefer
Retention is a very good reason to do so; replacing someone good is always
hard (and expensive) in terms of hiring and ramp-up times. If you don't adjust
your employees' salaries to reduce the incentive to job-hop in order to get a
raise, you're basically asking your best employees to leave.

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amichail
I'm not a fan of the "I'm a Mac" ads but the "Think Different" ad is probably
among the best commercials ever made.

~~~
mark_h
I came here to post just that. I drift in and out of Mac fandom, but the text
in that ad is inspirational every time.

Also, has any other ad anywhere ever done a better job of defining a culture
(at least an aspirational one)?

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TechStuff
If you clicked on this story, you might also enjoy "The Age of Persuasion" on
CBC radio. No podcast yet unfortunately, but streaming audio is available.
(See right margin.)

<http://www.cbc.ca/ageofpersuasion>

~~~
dws
"The Age of Persuasion" is excellent. You can ferret MP3s out of the CBC pages
with a bit of work.

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tdonia
most entertaining link from that article:
<http://whatwoulddondraperdo.tumblr.com/>

