Tag: apple

‘Extrapolations’ – TV Series Review and Analysis

“Recent wildfires in Canada that have caused the worst air pollution in decades across the Northeast U.S. this week have made me think about how our lives are becoming more and more impacted by the effects of climate change.”

Recent wildfires in Canada that have caused the worst air pollution in decades across the Northeast U.S. this week have made me think about how our lives are becoming more and more impacted by the effects of climate change. Growing wildfires, powerful hurricanes, sea level rise, melting glaciers, species extinction, and more acidic oceans are all causes for concern for people around the world and no country or people is likely to be exempt from at least one of the effects that have already been documented. What happens though in the next 50 years when we don’t take enough action now and in the past to reverse a possible future of no return?

That question is the premise for the first mainstream drama to focus on a future where climate change wins the battle that we are currently on track to lose if we don’t make drastic changes to our impact on the world around us. ‘Extrapolations’ is not a run of the mill documentary about climate change nor is it a disaster film that has become popular in Hollywood regarding disastrous storms. Instead, it is a rather intelligent take on the world soon when humanity cannot prevent global temperatures from staying at or below a 1.5-degree Celsius increase. The show covers what happens when humanity fails in its objective to keep the warming of the planet to a tolerable level. What starts out as 1.5 degrees Celsius becomes 2 degrees than 3 degrees until we become way past the point of no return past mid-century when 3.5 – 4 degrees Celsius is where the planet is headed.

Throughout the show’s eight episodes, we see the effects on the planet from Miami, Florida to New York City to London to Tel Aviv, Israel to Mumbai, India. From sea level rise wiping out the most popular nightlife areas in Miami including a historic synagogue to the constant wildfires that engulf Israel and the Middle East to limited outdoor time in Mumbai each day due to the overbearing heat and polluted air that causes deleterious effects to one’s health, the writers paint a grim yet realistic picture on what will happen if our climate change efforts fail miserably. More so than just the settings that are portrayed accurately in terms of how these popular cities may face their own negatives based on their geographic location, the characters in ‘Extrapolations’ have fully developed backgrounds, and you really get to know each of them over the course of the TV series.

There is a wide berth of society who are represented in this show from the wealthy billionaire who is interested in maximizing profits and takes advantage in his corporation from a dying planet to the Rabbi who is trying to wrestle with his faith in God as his synagogue slowly floods from the rising sea. What ‘Extrapolations’ does well is that it acknowledges that no one is purely innocent or purely guilty because of how badly climate change has warped the planet. Everyone is responsible in their own way, some more than others, but humanity is to blame for how we did not act quickly or unite fast enough to overcome our differences to reverse the worst effects to come.

The human effects of climate change are also explored such as how we are affected when we cannot go outside or must stay indoors to avoid heart or lung issues, why the extreme heat can prevent any work or leisure to take place, and how loneliness, depression, and atomization becomes more common when we despair at the worsening state of the planet.

My favorite episode in the eight-part TV series is ‘2066: Lola’ where we see how much augmented and virtual reality has come by then so that people are paid essentially to pretend to other people as a gig job and earn credits or money that can help improve their lives and insulate themselves more from climate change’s effects. The desire to connect with other people to distract ourselves from a dying planet is truly the TV series’ most impactful episode and makes you think about how much the emergence of augmented reality will make us both lonelier than ever and wanting to connect with others in untraditional and sometimes unseemly ways.

‘Extrapolations’ as a show really gets the A-list attention for a futuristic take on climate change’s effects on humanity with movie stars like Meryl Streep, Forest Whitaker, Kit Harrington, Edward Norton, Matthew Rhys, Gemma Chan, David Schwimmer, etc. All eight episodes are boosted by a stellar cast who really pour their hearts into the performances they give. I believe that they all truly cared about the project and how important it is to have a show like this become the center of attention. While Apple has been rightly condemned for some corporate practices that are harmful to the planet, it is a major TV show and movie distributor and should be commended for being the first major studio to have a series that doesn’t shy away from the brutal honesty of where we are headed if we don’t mitigate the worst effects of climate change to come.

If you are reading this article in 2023, you already know that the sea levels are starting to rise, wildfires are growing in both size and scale, bigger and stronger hurricanes that are also becoming more powerful, and deadly heat waves are becoming more common. While the first episode in this series takes place in 2037 and the last one ends in 2070, climate change is already here in 2023 as recent news events make clear and it has been affecting us for quite some time.

I encourage ‘Extrapolations’ to be watched by viewers with an open mind but also a commitment to do better for the planet. Do not shy away to act and make your voice heard regarding climate change after watching the series. You may think you know how bad it can get in the future from watching this series but ‘Extrapolations’ importance as a show is that it is as clear as day to where we will end up if we don’t hit the collective climate target goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius or keep as close to 1.5 degrees as possible.

While the show does mention possible stopgaps and solutions that can mitigate the damage, by that time in the 21st century, these solutions are risky with side effects on the planet that can only be speculated about. While the billionaire tycoon character was likely modeled after a few people who are prominent in our current age, as the show makes clear, the blame does not fall on him alone. We all can do our part by taking action to reduce our own carbon emissions, to encourage others to petition for policies and solutions now instead of 10 to 50 years down the line.

If the show has one central message after its eight impactful episodes, we all have stake in making sure this planet is livable for future generations. Even if you won’t be around to see the worst of climate change, we all should do our part, advocate for solutions now, and to hold people in power and of great wealth accountable if they do not action as well on a larger scale. The clock is ticking and as ‘Extrapolations’ highlights from 2037 to 2070, it can go downhill and get worse than what are experiencing already in 2023. Let’s not make the show a reality but keep it as a cautionary tale of what would have happened if we did not act strongly enough in these first decades of the twenty-first century.

I recommend ‘Extrapolations’ based on its great acting, stunning visuals, excellent writing, and interesting plots, but most importantly, because it focuses on the biggest issue of our time and one that we cannot ignore or downplay anymore.   

Steve Jobs – ‘On Failure’

It’s not often when the average person can gleam some wisdom or some insight from a YouTube video but there are exceptions to this fact when you start to dig deeper. One of these videos that I enjoyed viewing focuses on the late Steve Jobs, the innovative and driven entrepreneur, who was the co-founder of Apple Inc. and for the later half of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century helped lead the computer and smartphone revolution around the world. While most people may know him from his appearances at developers’ conferences where he would unveil Apple’s latest invention or innovation, there is a side to Steve Jobs that some folks may overlook.

Steve Jobs wasn’t always a great success and had many failures throughout his life. Fired by the company he co-founded and having gone through product setbacks such as with the Apple III and the NeXT computer, not everything went the right way for the legendary entrepreneur at first. However, these setbacks and failures are obscured today but the massive amount of success and innovation he would bring to the world by sticking to his principles and by always taking the initiative to ‘stay hungry’ for more.

The YouTube video I’m referencing in this blog post is titled, “Steve Jobs on Failure” has over one million unique views and has been up on the website for over six years. In the video, most likely set in the 1990’s, a young Steve Jobs talks about one particular time where he took the initiative that was driven by his innate curiosity. At the beginning of the video, Jobs talks about the fact that most people don’t have the experiences they should because they never ask or inquire about them to begin with. Mr. Jobs hints at the fact that he was never afraid to ask for help from other people, especially if they were in his field of work and would be able to assist him in some way by giving him advice or by mentoring him in some capacity.

The adult Steve Jobs in the video recounts how when he was only twelve years old, he called up Bill Hewlett, the engineer and co-founder behind the massively successful information technology company known worldwide as Hewlett Packard or HP, which similarly to Apple Inc., is also based out of Silicon Valley in California. The twelve-year old Jobs introduced himself to Mr. Hewlett and simply asked him directly for help with building a frequency counter. Little Steve asked Mr. Hewlett for some spare parts that could be used in order to build an effective frequency counter. The young Steve Jobs left quite an impression on Mr. Hewlett, so much so that the co-founder of HP gave him the spare parts as well as a summer job working on an assembly job working with the nuts and bolts that help make the frequency counters at Hewlett Packard work effectively.

You can tell the way from the way that Steve reacts to Mr. Hewlett’s genuine help and generosity with giving him a job and a start to his future in information technology that it meant a lot to him both personally and professionally. Certain moments like that in our lives when somebody really gives a chance and helps us along the way to having a brighter future is a lasting memory that simply does not go away. We can only speculate what might have happened if Mr. Hewlett had instead just hung up the phone on young Steve and not helped him out at all. The world could very much be a different place had Steve not gotten that positive feedback and mentorship that we all seek in our own lives.

“I’ve never found anyone who said ‘No’ or hung up the phone when I called…I just asked.” Steve knew that there was a chance at failure when it came to reaching out to others in his field but he knew also that he had to try in order to get ahead in his life. He had to put himself out there, make connections, and learn from others in order to build his company and create successful products. I think Steve realizes that he would not be where he was as an adult without the help he received from others throughout his life. The video shows his sense of gratitude for that assistance and that he is wise enough to remember to give back to other people as well who want to be in his position one day or to be successful like he was.

“Most people never pick up the phone and call…most people never ask.” Steve is right in his assertion that those who don’t reach out for help or don’t seek out opportunities will never get to where they want to be in life. He makes the correct distinction between those people who take the initiative and those other people who let opportunities pass them by. You can dream and wish for things to happen for yourself but unless you put the pen to the paper or put your phone to your ear, you won’t accomplish that much.

Lastly, Steve notes in this video that ‘you have to be willing to fail…you got to be willing to crash and burn.” Steve Jobs like many other inventors and innovators had multiple failures beset them but they did not give up and they were not afraid to fail. Through failure, we learn from our mistakes and we get better and better at what we are trying to accomplish. With enough hard work and effort, we can push forward to achieve what we set out to do originally and so much more. When an Apple product failed to gain traction or when he was forced out of his own company, Steve Jobs like many other successful men and women did not give up and go home. They learned from their mistakes and became better at what they do.

“If you’re afraid of failing, you won’t get very far.” To put it bluntly, failure happens to everybody. Nobody in the world succeeds 100% of the time at everything they do. People like Steve Jobs recognize that this is all too true but it doesn’t deter them from their goals because they won’t stop until they achieve what they want to accomplish. In order to turn those failures into successes, you need to have an indomitable will and to let nothing stand in your way.

Instead of blaming your failures on others or giving up after a few bumps in the road, you should continue to embrace the learning process and seek help from those other people who have been successful in their lives and would be willing to offer their help to you. Steve Jobs did not become one of the most important men of the 20th century by being afraid of failure or from doing it all on his own. He sought the advice and counsel of others while never giving up even when things looked pretty bleak. That kind of mindset that he explains in the video helps us to understand why he became so successful in his life and how we can learn from his words to become successful in our own lives.