Today I listened to the latest episode on my favourite podcast 99% Invisible hosted by Roman Mars. The episode was titled ‘Mojave Phone Booth’.
It was the story of guy called Godfrey Daniels who on the way back from a trip read about this phone booth in the middle of nowhere in the desert. This was late 90’s so long before the connected world of smartphones.
So fascinated, he began dialling the number every day to see if anyone would answer as he was not sure he even believed it existed. Well after a month someone answered and indeed verified that it was a real phone booth in the middle of the Mojave desert.
Godfrey eventually found the location and set off to visit the phone booth, which was down some dusty track off the main road.
This was the late 90’s and the internet was starting to catch on and he created a website for the phone booth. To his complete surprise it became a hit and soon not only were people phoning the number from all over the world but visiting it too.
In fact, the number of visitors leads to the phone booth eventually being removed in 2000.
The point of this is. In the world of mass everything, it is often, even more so than in the late 90’s, the weird that attracts people.
A computer engineer can make a phone booth in the middle of the desert a global attraction. He had to be determined and follow his passion for discovering it and then tell others. That is what we have to do with our weird ideas, be determined to succeed and with passion, share them with the world.
Now with the over-saturation of the internet with mass, the only way to stand out and be different is to bring your unique and weird ideas to life.
Mass is not only dull but it’s melting away.
Philip Dodson 