“2:18 PM Eastern time. March 7, 2012. Apple unveils the new iPad 3D HD 1030P NextGadget that will change humanity. Stop the world. Superman is flying backwards. We have climbed another watershed. Just check my blog. It is right past the one about 10 reasons why every week that isn’t social is weak.”

I think we all saw more than a few posts like this.

I’m a fan of Apple. Not an uber fan but enough of a technogeek to have bought a Newton back in the day. With my own money.

So don’t get me wrong in my yawn for the newest iFlavor. I’m sure it is awesome. I know that I will be craving one soon. But the hype for new Apple devices is the latest McGuffin spurring too many social agency joes and non-agency wannabees to clutter up the social publishing world with a stream of bold predictions that do absolutely nothing besides provide link fodder.

The social media joe was bouncing all morning waiting the announcement. Hoping that the unveiling made true the bold predictions for the device that they had been blogging about for weeks. Their tweets held all the giddy promise of a girl at a junior high dance awaiting her first real kiss.

Us boring social business folks were in meetings. Talking spreadsheets. Detailing budgets. My meeting today was a review to justify reallocating a small budget to managing McDonald’s online reputation to better defense against online attacks from haters and trolls.

Yep. I totally missed the boat. Even at writing this, it is more than twelve hours since the new iPad was announced and I couldn’t tell you if it is the iPad 3, iPad HD or simply a collection of colorful throwback to the iMacs that litter progressive suburban classrooms outside of Dallas.

And I really don’t care. Here is why: Gadgets aren’t social. Sure, they enable social activity as a platform through apps and easier connections, but tablets, smartphones and the like are merely toolboxes. I spent most of high school and college fixing up beater cars and rehabbing my parents house. I adored my Craftsman Toolbox from Sears…but what I really loved where the awls, drivers and wrenches inside. The toolbox was the carrier. The tools get the job done.

Nothing that was announced today will change my job this week…or even this year. That new iPad or any slew of random new apps isn’t going to sell more Big Macs, nor will it enlighten folks to the fact that that same Big Mac is only 540 calories (less than most popular items at a slew of competitors. Look it up).

I hope it is amazing. I hope that it is full of features and provides a platform for new apps that will make folks more productive than ever. I hope that it hastens the mobility of access to apps and connections that will truly make the social digital world blossom.

Until then, I’m going to ignore the cacophony but watch the trends…and maybe do one more spreadsheet before bed. 

March 1 2067: A bespectacled little white haired lady named Katie Kendall shuffles over to her husband's rocker and says, "Len, dear, can you pull up the photoblog of #SayYesKatie" 

That's the happy image I had in my head as I drove Len down the exprI essway on the way to work this morning. The morning crawl on I-290 is my typical commute but today's drive was not one that I will soon forget because I was transporting Len Kendall and the engagement ring meant for Katie in his backpack.

If ever there was a connected couple, Len and Katie are it. Yes, connected by love but also connected by Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Reddit. Name it and they are on it. They are the kind of couple that checks in on Foursquare before they pickup the menu. They battle for mayor of their house. 

Which made Len's proposal only fitting. 

Yes, there is the ring, the question, the one-knee. But there is also the crowd. Why ask the woman you love to marry you by your self when you could have the entire interwebz join in on the fun? Which is exactly what Len did. 

He created a Facebook group to enlist a hundred or so friends to help setup a meme called #KatieSayYet. He partnered with BuzzFeed and Reddit to give the meme a viral kick. Hundreds of family, friends and strangers are now creating fun images with silly captions all proposing to Katie and encouraging her to say yes..

Enjoy the hilarious photos at the bottom of the post that outlines it all. 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/lenkendall/help-me-convince-katie-to-say-yes

Here is my contribution

From Keanu to Angelina Jolie's leg, the #Lensanity created by Mr. Kendall is a wonderfully fun way to start off a life of wedded bliss.

I met up with a great friend tonight over a beer. 

Dan and I met back in late 1992 at the University of Illinois and I'm proud to still count him as one of my best friends. We met in the pre-cell phone days when "connecting" meant walking across the dorm floor to knock on someone's door. 

Incidentally, at that time, PINE was being implemented as the email system for the University. PINE was the first email system I ever encountered...a wonderfully useful DOS based tool. For anyone who never had the pleasure of DOS, it was the horseless carriage of computer systems...but I digress.

Dan was the best man at my wedding. We've been around the world and back again together. Our sons are best friends.  Dan is mega expert in enterprise technology. I'm the social media guy. Upon gradution, he was a biology teacher and I was a journalist. Each of our lives has changed drastically and somewhat regularly over the past 19 year. Now, thanks to Facebook, we pretty much know what each other is up to constantly. 

But what struck me again tonight, over a few tasty brews, was that while we know the stream of each other's lives, neither of us really knew what the other was going through. 

Challenges are work. The quirky joys of raising boys. These are ever-presenct part of our lives and are thusly reflected in our social streams. But status updates do not a friendship make. 

(download)

Click here to download:

pictures-from-the-2012-flavorbattle-in-miami-qFugkvGIDccqyoyDdqEr.zip (1.84 MB)

DJ E-V, Risk One and DJ Alizay each delivered amazing skill and creativity that moved the crowd. In the end, Risk One emerged the champ, taking home a big fat check for $10,000.

Hats off the all 24 DJs who made this an amazing competition. Mad props to our hosts and judges: Doug E Fresh, DJ Irie, Spinderella, JAYCEEOH and DJ Skribble. And of course, the lovely and talented Teyana Taylor.

And a final and special thanks to all of the fans who tuned in online and blew up Twitter throughout the night. You love your DJs and we love you.