Apple, Mac and The Size of The Fight in The Bird
It’s not the size of the bird in the fight. It’s the size of fight in the bird. We assume, wrongly, that the larger, richer, more powerful person, corporation or animal in a fight will win any battle. What we often fail to take into account is the “size of fight” in the smaller opponent.
One woman recently “took on the banking industry,” when she went to YouTube with a video about how outraged she was to have the interest on her account doubled even though she had never missed a payment. The bank backed down and lowered the interest rate.
(thanks to the best of Weird Blogs for the photo and story of the birds)
“When scientist Pat Gaines heard a scream of a hawk while at Bonny Lake State Park in the Colorado and Kansas border, he looked up to see this amazing spectacle: a kingbird relentlessly attacking a red-tailed hawk several times its size!
Gaines had focused his camera on one red-tailed hawk because the bird had been screaming. As he followed the hawk across the sky, a kingbird dive-bombed the hawk.
The hawk, which is not a predator of the kingbird, flew as fast as it could from the kingbird. For a moment it appeared the kingbird had stopped attacking. But then it began the pursuit again and to Gaines amazement” landed on the hapless red-tail’s back.
“He rode the hawk for 25 yards. The hawk was not trying to fight back. It was just trying to get out of there,” said Gaines.
As the kingbird rode bareback on the hawk, it pecked away at the hawk’s head.
“They (the kingbirds) are not afraid of anything,” said Gaines. “Until this happened, I had never seen one perch on a hawk’s back.”
I see the “little guy” win almost every day. It’s not because they’re “lucky,” it’s because they’re persistent, relentless, passionate. It’s because the fight in them is greater than their larger, stronger, richer, more connected opponents. And no, it’s not easy. And yes, they take risks. They endure ridicule, attacks, pain, frustration and exhaustion. But they often prevail. So where does that “fight” come from?
They have something worth fighting for. They have a belief, a passion, a love, SOMETHING they believe is worth dying for, or at least fighting to the end for. Do you? What in your life would drive you to do what this bird did?
Me? I’m driven to get my MacBook replaced FREE by Apple. They gave me a LEMON, I want what they PROMISED in their 3-year warranty and denied me - a replacement if the laptop was a repeated repair issue. After more than 30 calls and visits over 3-years, 3 batteries, 3 hard drives, my optical drive is still broken and the computer is still a lemon. I will NEVER give up until I get my replacement. What’s it costing me? A little time. What’s it costing Apple? They think nothing. I know for a fact 10 people have bought PCs after hearing my story. 10 people. That’s what? About $1,500 to $2,500 loss to Apple? That’s nothing….but wouldn’t it be something if those 10 told 10 people to buy Apple? And so on? So, replacing my $1,200 laptop cost them what? $25,000 to $30,000 plus software, plus dedicated new customers over the next 20 years, who would turn their kids onto an Apple….so did Apple win by deciding NOT to go with customer service and NOT having to replace a bad computer? I guess. But like this little bird….it’s the size of the fight in this bird they haven’t counted on!!
