This is one of those random rants I’m allowed to have every once and a while thoughts that came to mind, bear with me.

The iPod and cigarettes:

Both tell a story visually.

They represent a counter-culture.

Both are items of limited access. Legal smoking age and high-price point of iPods, must be old enough and must be rich enough.

Ironically, both are white in colour (for the most part).

Some would say equally addictive.

Many can’t live without either for an elongated period of time.

Both instantly include you into exclusive social clubs.

Influential teenagers are the advertising target of both products.

Both products advertise themselves while in use; cigarettes via smoking, iPod via headphones.

Coincidences? I think not.

Often when I hear someone talking about being an entrepreneur or read an article about it… I hear the word “entrepreneur” being said with the same hollow, commercialized tone that a used car lot advertises their “Sunday Funday Super Sale!.” Our world has been polluted by late night infomercials hacking get-rich-quick schemes and self-help gurus selling books with good common sense packaged as mind-blowing, paradigm-shifting wisdom.

Being an entrepreneur is a risky business, and it isn’t for everyone. It takes dedication. Passion. (The kind that gets an athlete up every morning at 5am to run 10 miles. / Not the kind of passion where he loves how he looks in his running suit.) I didn’t make the decision to be an entrepreneur because “making millions and owning my own island” sounded like a pretty good life… I can’t turn the ideas off in my head, and if I wasn’t actively trying to build them I’d go nuts.

Going out on your own as an entrepreneur is a scary journey in un-charted waters where you either reach a distant land filled with riches, or sink along the way. The problem is, people are willing to pay for advice or help in order to make the journey a little easier… and there are always sharks in the water waiting to help you out.

Entrepreneurial self tests or articles like this one kill me. You might as well replace the title of the article with “You might have a pulse if…”

A better list of questions for Entrepreneurial Self-Evaluation:

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The Origin of Brands by Al and Laura Ries, is the book I’m reading at the moment. One of the chapters I just finished talked about convergence and how all the major media companies said 5 and 10 years ago that TV would be interactive.

You’d be able to check your e-mail, host meetings, have shows and movies suggested, change the camera in focus, communicate with others watching the show, etc… Many of which are available but as a whole have failed miserably at revolutionizing the “boob tubeâ€?.

The closest we’ve come to such an interactive experience is TiVo, allowing us to record shows without requiring tapes or media, skipping commercials, and finding somewhat relevant content. Still a far leap from what the big boys said would be available in this day and age.

I think there are some obvious clues that hint as to what television will be like several years from now. The three that I see most important are YouTube, obviously, Pandora, and StumbleUpon’s Video app.

Here are a few attributes of those sites that when combined, dare I say converged, paint a pretty accurate picture of the future of television in my opinion.

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