story005

August 10/98 with Timothy (Tim) Shire

By Mario deSantis, August 16, 1998

As I met Tim in the middle afternoon at his home in Tisdale, he immediately expressed his hospitality and interest in meeting me, and suggested that we go right away for an ice cream. In few minutes we reached a nearby ice cream parlour and we both got a soft ice cream cone at the most economical price in Saskatchewan; as Tim handed the ice cream cone to me he proudly stated ..where else in Saskatchewan can you get an ice cream cone for $.50!...

After writing the article Minimal Prices in the New Economy and Electronic Commerce, I felt that the new economy had finally reached Tisdale, and that I could have a tangible appreciation of the new economy with the tasting of the most economical (not the cheapest) ice cream cone in Saskatchewan. Well, my discovery of the New Economy reaching Tisdale didn't limit itself to the ice cream cone. At Tim's home, in the basement, two bright computer monitors easily identified Tim's office, a business hub radiating within the World Wide Web (WWW). Tim's introduction to his information technological business revealed an artistic world of pictures, music, and animated images. The Internet is a natural medium for Tim to work with and express his love for nature and his fellow men; Tim doesn't make specific references to the Internet, in fact, the Internet for him is not a novelty but a fixture and he talks about some of his innovative works simply as databases.

I was overwhelmed about the knowledge, passion and energy Tim put into his work, and his excitement about new technologies and the release of the new iMac computer. He acknowledged, that lately he has had no time for marketing his services and that sometime his neglect for bookkeeping creates occasional surprises with both his customers and the banks.

We briefly talked how Intuit's Quicken package could help him out in keeping up with his cashflow, and how the conservatism of the banks is dampening the entrepreneurial drive of the new economy. At the time when banks are considering mega-mergers, I suggested that maybe we don't need them any more, what we need is just a business such as Intuit which is able to measure the 'ins' and 'outs' of our global transactions; in fact, the meaning of money is changing !...from a substantial and absolute truth... into something ethereal, volatile, and electronic... Money is now an image...['Intellectual Capital', by Thomas Stewart, Doubleday/Currency, March 1997, page 15]

I finally left with the understanding we would meet again, and as I was driving back home to Nipawin I was thinking ...yes, images are important, they are a reflection of our perceived realities; thanks for reminding me, Tim...