Let me first say that in what feels like a previous life, I have worked in advertising. I have been the douchebag marketing creative with a bloated salary sitting in meeting after meeting with other “creatives” trying to come up with the next big idea that is going to sell more shit that people don’t need. That said, when I watch this epic video about Samsung’s mind-blowing new smart phone you can ride waves on, I just can’t help but cringe, roll my eyes and force the vomit back down my throat when I think of all the people it probably took to come up with this idea.

First off, there were definitely a lot of those people, which is the sad part. They all agreed that this would be innovative, on-brand and awesome. Secondly, those people definitely don’t surf. I don’t know a single surfer in the world who doesn’t think that surfing by yourself is awesome.

Being alone in the ocean and having all the waves to yourself is both therapeutic and intoxicating. Social media, texting, technology, people, crowds, data, those are all things we try to get away from and escape through the act of surfing. Yes, you are alone and disconnected from all that stuff, but isn’t that the goal: to instead connect with nature and yourself in that moment? I don’t know though, maybe I’ve just been doing it wrong all these years. Besides, why would you want to know what the waves are doing when you are already out there surfing them? I have so many questions.

“But Gabriel needs this board to communicate with his coach and become a better competitive surfer” you say. This is perfect for the pros. Oh yeah? Well Kelly Slater doesn’t have a coach and made a friggin wave pool with perfect waves in it to practice on. So there.