Perspective and appreciation

I am increasingly bothered by what I perceive (perhaps I am judging too harshly... if so, so be it) as a general lack of gratitude in society.

I stop some mornings to get coffee on my way work and when I smile and say thank you to the person at the drive through I often see a look of surprise on that person's face, almost as if it is an infrequent occurance to get a thank you.

I drive through 2 toll booths on my way to and again from work each day. I have now developed a "friendship" with a couple of the early morning regulars in the lanes I travel through because I slow down, smile, say thanks and offer a greeting or have a nice day before I take off... Again, this must not be a common occurance I'd guess based simply on the reaction of my new friends...

And as this relates to Nabi, I guess I wonder, in this digital age of being able to express our opinion instantly on facebook, twitter, text, IM, email and * gasp * even face to face, whether we have, as a general rule, lost both perspective and the filter that is allowed when we take time to process what we think before we post it (and to those who know me well, yes, this even applies to me!)

Rather than posting about what they are grateful for about Nabi and what their kids love about it, there are some customers who are spending their time posting about spelling errors, complaints about what Nabi should and shouldn't be/should and shouldn't have installed etc... and it smacks to me of a lack of gratitude. I am all for constructive criticism, asking questions, seeking answers, but I think that there are ways to do it that show respect and gratitude and well, there are ways to do it that don't.

I am raising my kids to be grateful for what they have, to understand that the "gimme gimme" mentality is not one that I will support or encourage and to try (even though I, as their mom don't always do a great job of this) to see the glass as half full vs half empty. I get disheartened when I see/hear adults who espouse the opposite of these ways of living and I can't help but want to comment on it.

The Nabi is a KIDS tablet. It is not a medical device designed to save lives and causing deaths because it is not working perfectly upon start up. It is a toy/an educational device. Even when I had a Nabi that was crashing often and a number of apps didn't work, I was STILL happy with it. I can't reconcile the negativity I've read recently with how amazing the customer support and tech service has been from Nabi and I guess at risk of sounding a little koombaya ish, I'd encourage everyone who is unhappy to take a deep breath and look at the big picture before complaining.

The Nabi has been around (in the marketplace that is) for less than a month, customer service has been phenomenal and Jason Kuo, Lisa Lee and many others at Nabi have responded in record time to customer concerns. The Nabi facebook page is a site with a plethora of how to videos, customer support, friendly user commraderie, app recommendations and an unheard of degree of honesty and transparency from Nabi about updates, problem solving planning etc...

And despite all of this there are consumers (not a majority, but still enough) who can find nothing to say but critical feedback. Is some of the feedback warranted? Sure. It's understandable to be frustrated if your tablet isn't working for example, but frankly (I guess this is where I do start to judge a bit) a lot of the complaints sound like they are coming from whiny kids who got a great gift but want more and more and more and are not going to stop whining until they get it. Really? Is that how we want our kids who are using the Nabi's to behave? Of course not. Let's teach our kids to be grateful by being grateful.

What the Nabi is...
- an Android 2.2 device
- pre-installed with music (Laurie Berkner band which my Justin "Beaver" loving 6 yr old LOVES and that makes me love the Nabi all that much more!), games, websites safe for kids, videos, fooz kids university, camera, videocamera, parent access to a full android tablet, etc...
- a tablet FOR KIDS first and foremost
- a moderately priced (when you factor what comes with it it is actually cheaper than either the innotab or leappad and yet does infinitely more than either device) tablet that is NOT designed to compete with the Kindle, the Nook, or the ipod touch or ipad. It is meant to be a nabi and that is what it is.

What the Nabi isn't...
- a kindle, nook or i device... and anyone who bought one thinking it was any of these aforementioned items should take a deep breath and recognize that if you wanted a kindle, nook or i thingy, that is what you should have bought.
- a $500 tablet (frankly, for $199 it is phenomenal and comes with way more preinstalled goods than far more expensive tablets, but in terms of bells and whistles that perhaps higher end tablets have, no, it's not going to have them and that's okay).
- an overly complex tablet (which is GOOD; I wanted something as did all the parents I've talked to who are thrilled with their Nabi's, that was easy to navigate and not overly complex-- it's for KIDS afterall)

I wanted a nabi for my girls. I knew what it was, what it wasn't, even as a non tech savvy gal I was pretty clear it wasn't going to blow me away with its speed, graphics etc... I wanted a device that wasn't the leappad or innotab but which was designed for kids, wasn't going to break the bank and had educational and fun content. The complaining about "you should do this, it should have this, it should be more etc..." is really, well, irritating. The Nabi is what it is. Don't like it? Don't buy it.

Rant nearly over...

While a majority of facebook Nabians have been and are grateful, there are a handful of "well, it's great you've done X, but we still want more" and frankly this smacks of spoiled kid (but coming from adults it's just intolerable) syndrome.

Truly people, how many other companies do you know who respond the way Nabi has to its customers? I know of NONE. The closest to great customer service that I've experienced is from LL Bean and honestly, they pale in comparison to the responsiveness and above and beyond-ness of Nabi.

I hate to say it but it almost appears that this is a case of Nabi going above and beyond and because they are doing so, nothing is ever enough to satisfy some people. Most companies set the bar low and customers expect to be unhappy and thus mediocre service gets praised. Nabi set the bar high, has provided superior customer service and tech support and because they started off with the bar set high, people are complaining that it's not higer? As Nabi posted earlier this week on facebook. PERSPECTIVE.

I am grateful for a superb product, an honest company and superior customer service. And I am grateful for the nearly 1,000 facebook members who are in agreement!

Thank you Nabi!