5 ms·

> Is it really so alien to you that people are invested in the brands they buy? Words cannot express how terrifying that sentence is to me. At the end of the d

by iuguy 14y ago

> Is it really so alien to you that people are invested in the brands they buy? Words cannot express how terrifying that sentence is to me. At the end of the day, we're talking about stuff. Physical things. Things that you buy. If you're investing in a brand, what is the return on that? If you're being loyal to a brand, does that mean that the brand owns you? Before people invest in brands, they should invest in themselves and in each other.

jiggy2011 14y ago
You have a certain amount of "investment" in anything that you build your workflow/life around. For an extreme example, if you are a long time Mac user and suddenly Apple came out and said "sorry guys, we've changed our mind. There will be no new Macs or versions of OS X after Mountain Lion. We will also be ending all support for current versions of OS X by 2013". That's going to be anything from a minor inconvenience to a serious nightmare for you. I might imagine that long time Mac users are particularly sensitive around this because there was a time when this might have been a real possibility because Apple seemed to be on the road to going bust.
- iuguy 14y ago
  There was a time when this (computer companies going bust) was a regular occurence. Heck, I used an Amiga 1200 as my primary computer until the late 90s/Early 2000s. I think this concept of investment is perhaps an American or Silicon Valley-specific thing. To me, the concept of investment implies that you should get a return. If you're not getting a financial return, it's not an investment, it's a purchase. You can get other types of return from a purchase, but you can't necessarily exchange those types of return directly for goods and services. The idea of an investment in a brand is something I find horrific. To me it sounds like a nice way of saying that a brand has you by the balls and can extract money from you as and when they want knowing they don't have to try. If people 'invest in coca cola' it means they won't buy pepsi or sprite to me. It means that they no longer even consider what's best for them, instead slavishly sticking to a brand that they self justify by claiming a false return. Apple has my purchasing balls in a vice as far as the iPhone is concerned, it'd take me a lot to move to Android as I've spent a small fortune over the years on various apps. That isn't an investment, that's being owned. If I was able to take the apps I've bought on iPhone and run them (or reacquire them) on Android, they wouldn't have that hold over me. Thankfully I have an iPad so switching phones is feasible for me (although I'd have to buy a whole new set of apps for the things I use on my current phone), but switching phones and tablets means I no longer get any value from the purchases I've made and that's where they have my balls in a vice. From now on, when someone says they're invested in a brand, I think I'm going to use the term 'balls in a vice'. Chuck Palahniuk wrote it best in Fight Club: "The things you own end up owning you".
  - jiggy2011 14y ago
    The investment return doesn't necessarily have to be directly financial. It could be simply (for example) that a particular type of computer or software makes you more productive which means you get more work done and therefor earn more money. This is especially true of computers where platform lock-in is rife and there are high opportunity costs to adopting a particular platform, especially if you plan to develop for it. Buying coca-cola is not really an investment (unless you buy stock in the company of course) since you're spending a small amount of money for a short term good. You buy a computer with the intention of using it for a few years at least and you learn a development stack usually with the intention of using it for even more years.
jessedhillon 14y ago
Words cannot express how terrifying that sentence is to me. Jeez. Hyperbolic much? Turn the knob down a bit, you might some day have to talk about the time the doctor found a black mark on your chest scan, or when you were robbed at gunpoint. At the end of the day, we're talking about stuff. Physical things. You're talking about stuff. I'm talking about getting stuff done and being productive by having my preferred tools continue to exist, continue to be improved, and continue to be preferable (to me.) If you're being loyal to a brand, does that mean that the brand owns you? No. It means I'm invested in the brand. Similar to the case if I had bought stock in the company -- my return is productivity and user comfort. ...they should invest in themselves and in each other. Presumably by doing real work, with actual impact? And with the help of the tools which make one productive. I hope you won't mind if I have a continued investment in doing work and creating value for myself and others. Sorry that it involves caring about having good tools.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]

by iuguy 14y ago

jiggy2011 14y ago

You have a certain amount of "investment" in anything that you build your workflow/life around. For an extreme example, if you are a long time Mac user and suddenly Apple came out and said "sorry guys, we've changed our mind. There will be no new Macs or versions of OS X after Mountain Lion. We will also be ending all support for current versions of OS X by 2013". That's going to be anything from a minor inconvenience to a serious nightmare for you. I might imagine that long time Mac users are particularly sensitive around this because there was a time when this might have been a real possibility because Apple seemed to be on the road to going bust.

iuguy 14y ago
There was a time when this (computer companies going bust) was a regular occurence. Heck, I used an Amiga 1200 as my primary computer until the late 90s/Early 2000s. I think this concept of investment is perhaps an American or Silicon Valley-specific thing. To me, the concept of investment implies that you should get a return. If you're not getting a financial return, it's not an investment, it's a purchase. You can get other types of return from a purchase, but you can't necessarily exchange those types of return directly for goods and services. The idea of an investment in a brand is something I find horrific. To me it sounds like a nice way of saying that a brand has you by the balls and can extract money from you as and when they want knowing they don't have to try. If people 'invest in coca cola' it means they won't buy pepsi or sprite to me. It means that they no longer even consider what's best for them, instead slavishly sticking to a brand that they self justify by claiming a false return. Apple has my purchasing balls in a vice as far as the iPhone is concerned, it'd take me a lot to move to Android as I've spent a small fortune over the years on various apps. That isn't an investment, that's being owned. If I was able to take the apps I've bought on iPhone and run them (or reacquire them) on Android, they wouldn't have that hold over me. Thankfully I have an iPad so switching phones is feasible for me (although I'd have to buy a whole new set of apps for the things I use on my current phone), but switching phones and tablets means I no longer get any value from the purchases I've made and that's where they have my balls in a vice. From now on, when someone says they're invested in a brand, I think I'm going to use the term 'balls in a vice'. Chuck Palahniuk wrote it best in Fight Club: "The things you own end up owning you".
- jiggy2011 14y ago
  The investment return doesn't necessarily have to be directly financial. It could be simply (for example) that a particular type of computer or software makes you more productive which means you get more work done and therefor earn more money. This is especially true of computers where platform lock-in is rife and there are high opportunity costs to adopting a particular platform, especially if you plan to develop for it. Buying coca-cola is not really an investment (unless you buy stock in the company of course) since you're spending a small amount of money for a short term good. You buy a computer with the intention of using it for a few years at least and you learn a development stack usually with the intention of using it for even more years.

jessedhillon 14y ago

Words cannot express how terrifying that sentence is to me. Jeez. Hyperbolic much? Turn the knob down a bit, you might some day have to talk about the time the doctor found a black mark on your chest scan, or when you were robbed at gunpoint. At the end of the day, we're talking about stuff. Physical things. You're talking about stuff. I'm talking about getting stuff done and being productive by having my preferred tools continue to exist, continue to be improved, and continue to be preferable (to me.) If you're being loyal to a brand, does that mean that the brand owns you? No. It means I'm invested in the brand. Similar to the case if I had bought stock in the company -- my return is productivity and user comfort. ...they should invest in themselves and in each other. Presumably by doing real work, with actual impact? And with the help of the tools which make one productive. I hope you won't mind if I have a continued investment in doing work and creating value for myself and others. Sorry that it involves caring about having good tools.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]