I need to get a California driver’s license. I go to the California DMV website. With a good effort of searching around, I don’t see how I can apply for one if I have another state license. That leaves me two options: call and find out or go to the DMV in person.

I opt for going in person, because I assume the phone solution isn’t going to work well, and in reality, I’m going to have to go in anyway. So I look at the nearest DMV location to me. Great, 20 minutes away. No problem. They also list wait time on the website, which is very handy. “0 minutes with an appointment” and “30 minutes without an appointment”. Great! I’ve got 30 minutes.

So I head on over. I walk in and see roughly 100 people. Really daunting. Of course, no one to greet you and help you get started. Whatever. I can figure this out. I look up at some boards and hear numbers being called. So… numbers. How do I get one? Oh, a sign! “Get a number” with an arrow. Uh, okay. It’s pointing in a general direction of the other half of the room. Walking around, I see no ticket taker. You know, I’m accustomed to taking tickets with the “Now Serving” counter up top. Nope. Walk around some more and I see two lines forming to a single desk. I ask another person, “Where do I get a number?” “Oh, there’s a line over there. You go outside.”

Out… side? Uh, okay. So I walk back around to the door outside. Nothing. Walk back in, and it seems I should just get in this “Non-Appointment” line. 1:20 pm. The line doesn’t move. As said earlier, there’s another line approaching the same desk, that one is labeled “Appointments.” Okay, so its like Disney’s FastPass. Got it. Take a little from this line, that line, and this line, then that line.

After waiting around 40 minutes, I finally get to the desk. “Hi, how are you?” “What do you need?” “Uh, I need a California license. I have a Missouri one.” “Do you have a passport and birth certificate?” “Um, no. I have a social security card though.” “Ok, take these and come back when you have an appointment.”

Before I even approached that desk, the woman behind it was more impatient than I was. I mean, I get it, she’s working at the DMV and has to deal with all sorts of impatient, probably rude, people. I’m coming up there, very calm. I’m cool with waiting, but the way she shoved the papers to me and told me to come back when I have an appointment seemed more rude than I saw anyone in front of me be to her.

I’m sure everyone can relate to a bad DMV experience, and this whole thing shouldn’t come to a surprise to anyone, but why hasn’t this process been streamlined yet? As a person going to the DMV, I would have gladly filled out necessary paperwork, brought necessary documents, and made an appointment if the information I found was more accurate and clear. There are pretty simple steps they could take to get there, and in return, the people coming to the DMV would be more prepared and the DMV would have a checklist of appointments for the day.

If you tell me that the wait is 30 minutes, I believe you, and I won’t schedule an appointment because I don’t mind waiting 30 minutes. If you tell me the wait would be 3 hours, I would also believe you, and I would have scheduled an appointment.

If the information regarding my own scenario was easy enough to find and decipher, I would have brought everything filled out and ready to go. But for me to understand what I have to do, you have to educate me a little about what you need, and I’ll be glad to give it to you.

I’ve wondered why people seem to think that Apple is trying to create a new device every year for every person. Apple does not expect you to purchase a new iPhone, iPad, or AppleTV every year. They’ll certainly love you buying one year-after-year, but if you hold off, no one’s hearts are broken. Eventually, they’re getting more money from you. Think about it, since you bought an iPhone or iPad, how many of you have switched to another brand’s device? You’ll always be upgrading.

More importantly, Apple updates its hardware in an effort to make their products better and more desirable to completely new users. Sometimes the “better” is marginal, but for the person who did not buy one the previous year (like you), the new model is always amazing.

We do the same with software. We update and improve our software for two reasons: to encourage our existing users to update and to make the value of the product go up. For the same price as it was two years ago, Apple has increased the value dramatically every year for potential new buyers.

Non-technology businesses update too. Every year, Walt Disney Imagineering comes up with new attractions to be released in its parks. The goal is not (necessarily) to get you to go every year, but by the time you’re ready to pay for another family vacation, the value went up enormously.

So buy the new iPad. Or don’t and wait for the next one. No one cares.