Comments on: about the blue monster tattoo guy losing his job at microsoft…

By: about the blue monster tattoo guy losing his job at microsoft … « Tattoo Me Now

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 11:36:02 +0000

[…] Today found this great post, here is a quick excerpt : A few people have pinged me about this story over the last couple of days, so I guess a blog post was in order. A couple of years ago, I drew the Microsoft. Read the rest of this great post Here […]

By: Steve Ellwood

Steve Ellwood — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 12:52:37 +0000

At least it's not just the blue meanie. This guy got a Wordpress tattoo. It may have changed his life, but now it's changed his body.

By: hugh macleod

hugh macleod — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 23:31:46 +0000

@ no thanks. Nice rant, but your self-imposed limitations are not mine, Dan’s or Microsoft’s problem.

By: No thanks

No thanks — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 19:15:09 +0000

Thank god for the few Dennis Howlett’s out there; tattooing yourself with an icon of the company you work for is the height of intellectual lameness. These are the same people who will tear-up at company retreats while making references to giving “110%.“
As much as that kind of soul-murdering bs sickens me from personal experience, it’s not half as lame as the attempt by others to kite this episode into a haiku about MAN’S ULTIMATE PLACE IN THE UNIVERSE.
Listen up: the guy sells his labor for a wage. Sentimentalizes the relationship in a way that suits the company. When the company decides it can’t carry him, it cuts the umbilical without a second thought. ABCs of capitalism.
It’s the height of dishonesty to then say, “Well, it wasn’t ever about Microsoft. It really is about the ability of the individual to forge ahead, to dream the impossible dream, to run where the brave dare not go, to right the unrightable wrong.“
The idea that people work at Microsoft to change the world — a company that’s renown for the mediocrity of its products, the rapaciousness of its monopolistic practices, its eagerness to work with the military, with dictatorships, with anyone that will cough up the cash — is just mendacious crap.
That fact that those kinds of claims constantly get floated on this site to choruses of “Here! Here!” is why sooner or later this blog always ends up in the same ideological space as log cabin Republicans.
So, yeah, the episode does have a deeper meaning: wake up, and don’t be a stooge.

By: Daniel Edlen

Daniel Edlen — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 15:41:41 +0000

Back @Allison Reynolds — You’ve made people’s realized potential your product, so yes, they matter to you. I’m not saying this cynically, or to put down helping others, it’s just that you get to kickass by doing so. It’s your passion, your focus, how you’re taking over the world. You.
Peace.

By: Allison Reynolds

Allison Reynolds — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 07:44:47 +0000

@Daniel Edlen — Totally disagree with you there re human potential. Some of us are driven by helping others reach or approach their potential. It’s certainly my passion.

By: Dan Woodman

Dan Woodman — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 04:35:06 +0000

Thanks, Hugh. It's amazing to me how many people are discussing this story. It's even more amazing to me how people I have never met have such a strong opinion of me (one way or another), as I have learned through some other blog comments. You and Tex1Sam have pretty much hit it on the head -- it isn't about Microsoft. If it had been about Microsoft, I'd have the MS logo tattooed on my body. Honestly, I considered it, but clearly didn't do it. It wasn't what I wanted. When I saw the Blue Monster and the story that went with it, I realized that it was exactly what I had been looking for. It was about Microsoft, but wasn't Microsoft. It had (and continues to have) a deeper meaning than simply "I love Microsoft."

By: tex1sam

tex1sam — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 22:56:13 +0000

It’s pretty small minded of some to think that the Blue Monster tattoo is bogus now that he has a world of fresh opportunity to focus on.
A desire to have an impact on the world does not have to exist within the context of a corporation. Hopefully Dan can take that passion and focus it in new ways that don’t involve getting a MS paystub on the 1st and 15th.

By: Dennis Howlett

Dennis Howlett — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 22:11:21 +0000

There is something faintly ridiculous about someone getting a tat that reflect their professed love of the company that pays their salary. i2 offered a bounty for peeps to get their logo tatted up — then changed the logo. I mean — c’mon, it’s fskin’ retarded.

By: Candi

Candi — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 21:58:35 +0000

I’ve been thinking about getting a tattoo based on a design of yours. I just can’t decide which one I like best. I’ll keep you posted

By: Daniel Edlen

Daniel Edlen — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 21:54:37 +0000

The thing is, it’s our own human potential that excites us. Potential in others only excites us when we can internally transfer that to us. Often times that’s through a product. We see a product making someone else kickass and we want to kickass too.
So, yes people matter, but perhaps really only when they matter to us. Otherwise they get flattened due to lack of substantive attention into the Microsoft tattoo guy.
Peace.