An Influence For Then, Now, and What’s Coming

Steve Jobs and his team of Silicon Valley ~~nerds~~ geniuses reinvented today’s world in regards to technology, and beyond. His name made famous the seemingly simple fruit, and said fruit took his name through the past and way further into the future than anyone could have imagined. In 1976, he and partner Steve Wozniak went forward with selling the first Apple computer out of Jobs’ Los Altos home on Crist Drive. Fast forward to January of 2007, and enter the very first iPhone.

This handy device changed the lives of millions of Americans, and all because of the man who gave the people what they wanted: an iPod and a phone in one single device.

In an NY Times article about Jobs’ masterpiece(s), Fred Vogelstein wrote, “It’s hard to overstate the gamble Jobs took when he decided to unveil the iPhone back in January 2007. Not only was he introducing a new kind of phone – something Apple had never made before – he was doing so with a prototype that barely worked” (Vogelstein, NY Times). This shows the first of Jobs’ many attempts to get the world on board with the exclusivity of the iPhone family. He wanted everyone to want his product, months before it was even functioning without glitches. And he succeeded. Majorly.

Between 2007 and 2011, when Jobs passed, he and his iPhone revolutionized the world of communicating, and furthered the future it with his legacy. Today, people spend an average of 177 minutes per day looking at their smart phones (Bloomberg Business). This phenomenon began once Jobs’ created a device that could do enough to allow people to lose themselves in their screens. iPhones have advanced at least bi-yearly, and they only get cooler with each update. The future of the company, however, was extremely jeopardized with Jobs’ passing. He left enough of a backbone at Apple for them to keep pushing new products.

Through a mastered façade, a world of secrets, and an unprecedented family of user-friendly devices, Jobs and his crew changed the world of technology. Not only did Jobs’ revolutionize the way the world uses its devices, but he also contributed to the pitfall of every human’s posture. He was, arguably, the Most Influential American of All Time.

Brynne K McCarthy – https://bkmccarthy.wordpress.com/2015/09/16/an-influence-for-then-now-and-whats-coming/

Spin it to Win It

We live in a world of trends, a world where everyone wants to be the best, have the best things, do the best at everything and know the best. ~~Part of this~~ most of this desire stems from social media, which serves as not only a massive sharing platform, but also as a space for competitive bragging, stressing and doing.

With that said, a recent trend, according to just about every major publication, (Harpers Bazaar, The Chicago Tribune, Huffington Post, and Self – just to name a few) is showcasing the best, hottest and latest in exercise. We, as millennials, thus have every desire to explore these trends, be they food, clothes, or, namely, exercise. Even trendier, though, is the recent hype among the indoor cycling concept. SoulCycle, the biggest name in the industry, somewhat re-invented the workout, and has revolutionized the world of spinning.

Because SoulCycle is only in certain places – NY, Chicago, Miami, CA, The Hamptons, DC, and the remaining few, ever-so-trendy places to live – various cycling studios have emerged carrying the same concept. Dallas’ elite do not have a SoulCycle to retreat to, but they do have quite a few other options running the show. Lync Cycling, The Ride House and Flywheel are the top three in our area, and each one attracts their own niche of clients. Lync, located in Snider Plaza, draws a mainly SMU crowd, whereas Flywheel and The Ride House pull in a wider range of riders.

It can be argued that SoulCycle is the brand who has truly made this workout take off, and brought the beat to the world of cycling. Other studios around the country are giving them a big run for their money, though.

It is not until one makes the transition, however, between taking the class and teaching it, that the exercise can truly be appreciated. The reason that this workout has become so popular has much to do with the revolutionized way of riding to the beat of the music accompanying the instructor. Catching the beat and carrying out throughout the entire ~45 minutes takes at least a year or two to perfect. Teaching riders to find that beat is a whole new ballgame. It all pays off fully in the end when the endorphin rush sets in. Cycling is an addiction and it has become easy to recognize the reason for the major takeoff. Trendy or not, we all ought to hop on the saddle and sweat it out!