Employment 2.0: Business Owner
So this is weird. I own one third of a business.
Back in June of 2009, the repair shop that had employed me for the better part of nine years folded. For some this was good news, for some this was expected, and for the formerly employed this was very sudden (we had in fact just hired a new technician when the news hit). Repair shops tend to have a very polarized client base: some love you, some hate you, and both are usually deserved at some point. Still, myself and the core group of technicians tried our best to make it the most kick-ass Mac repair shop in Toronto, and while there were certainly challenges to overcome (that’s putting it politely), I feel like we succeeded to a degree. Diagnosed by the next business day? Check. Earn Apple’s Top 5% plaque? Check. Make every single person happy?
Well, there’s the point about a very polarized client base, but the number of happy people well outstripped the the unhappy. I never wanted to work in the sort of service centres they portray on TV or in Dilbert comics, or god forbid the actual real life service centres they’re satirizing. You’ve probably seen these, where workers and customers are bitter enemies struggling for dominion and witty remarks. No, we wanted to be awesome. The service industry is unforgiving, so believe me when I say that life is much more pleasant when you’re sending people home happy rather than cursing your name.
So as you can imagine, not being employed put a bit of a kink in things — but we got better.
This week, myself and two colleagues became self-employed. We opened our Mac repair business in the University of Toronto’s Campus Computer Shop inside the downtown Koffler Centre, taking over the repair operations from the former staff. Our philosophy is the same as ever: be awesome, make people happy. As expected, there will be hiccups as we get going, but so far we’re pretty happy with the first few days. So, tell all your friends, and even a few strangers! Despite the shop’s name, our scope is not limited to U of T students and faculty, so anyone at all is welcome to drop off their grievances with us. Ideally you’ll get something nicer back.
SwipeHead
Most of us, at some point, will apply a label of sorts to ourselves. Are we teachers, rocket surgeons, hippies, nihilists, or maybe middle-aged? A single label rarely suffices, and I’ve gone through a few myself. I’ve alleged myself to be a musician, a coder, a technician, a writer (hah), and had a few other stints. There’s a common thread here: I like making things. With that out of the way, in the middle of December I helped to make this:
This is SwipeHead, a sort of hybrid puzzle game for the iPhone and iPod touch. I’d explain how it works, but figuring that out is one of the more satisfying puzzles. It reminds me a bit of old LucasArts adventure games in which a challenge would be posed and various tools offered, but after that it was up to the player and their wits. SwipeHead, likewise, is meant to have an intuitive learning curve and once it gets going, is very enjoyable.
Though I might seem to be trumpeting my own horn, the real kudos go to the game designer, Leanne, over at Wizkeit Games, who designed and produced the whole thing. For my own part, it’s humbling to see my code executing on other devices and available on the iTunes Store. I know there iTunes Store is a pretty saturated market these days, but it doesn’t detract one bit from the glee. More horn trumpeting yet: it was accepted on the first submission, which Leanne and I were told doesn’t happen often.
If you’re looking for a unique experience among the many app clones on the iTunes Store, give SwipeHead a try. When I first saw the design documents, it wasn’t one bit like any other puzzle game I saw out there, and remains so even post-release. Though only a mere $0.99, there’s a free version as well to whet your appetite.
