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A microwave economy sprouts from believing Sears catalogs were ritual artifacts and leads to Google defining our language. The convenience-craftsmanship spectru
by readflaggedcomm 6y ago
A microwave economy sprouts from believing Sears catalogs were ritual artifacts and leads to Google defining our language. The convenience-craftsmanship spectrum seems orthogonal to these and decorating habits.
Also: door knobs that beep? I guess I am going against the currents of society if that and owning a microwave is "all the same" household fixtures.
- madaxe_again 6y agoIt’s cargo cults, all the way down. Monkey see, monkey do, monkey doesn’t care if it isn’t real, it just needs to look real to other monkeys. It’s not new, we’ve been at it for millions of years - it’s just been very effectively commoditised, as the ratcheting demand is infinite.
- readflaggedcomm 6y agoMaybe so. My problem with the author's attitude is probably that: shabby goods don't fit in his decision matrix. He agonizes about keeping up with the Joneses, but blames it for sapping meaning from his life. Like Tyler Durden without the self-improvement. My coffee table costs an order of magnitude less than one of similar proportions at Ikea, yet it's both more durable and more disposable. It doesn't hold special meaning to me, either sentiment or disdain. It's shabby and functional, from which emerges a more meaningful existence.