thots?

you might want to (if you haven't already) review ivan illich's many essays and works that relate to consumer society. he has much to say about the underlying forces that are at play in a capitalist society as well as the true role of "the market".

as to curbvalue, i understand that in japan it is not uncommon to see year-old appliances and consumer electronic items neatly bound with cord (including the manuals) and set out for pickup by waste disposal. we can see that here, where schools in well-to-do areas have no need for donated PC's and Macs.

and the rate of value-loss, will increase as everyday items become "intelligent" and are "embedded" into the information grid. we will begin to see items that lack these technologies as outmoded and near-obsolete. it will take some time, for sure, but it appears to be happening. and, unfortunately, the "outside" design of an object will have less to do with a thing's "current-ness" as much as the tech inside.

for instance, OTOMO is system of printed paper products and a WI-FI pen (bluetooth enabled) that allow for a user to send an email note from an OTOMO post-it note. if you had a handsome OTOMO-ready pen that linked with your phone/internet/computer/pda, you would be virtually required to abandon it at some point as all or some of your systems were upgraded to the next platform jump. you might find the same pen with new guts, but this phenomenom will have to be factored into the design of a broad range of previously technology-free products.

whoops - crosslinked memories not helping - not OTOMO - ANATO - www.anato.com.

Edited by author 05-01-2003 01:39 AM
yes, any item that is obsolete already, only gets more so in time until it becomes quaint or retro ie Atari, it gets a better chance of being stolen. But what would appreciate immediately upon being placed at the curb besides maybe a fruit tree seedling?