At 14:14 30/10/2010 +0200, Christoph wrote:
Keith dismissed:
> At 12:32 29/10/2010 +0200, Chris wrote:
> >Keith challenged:
> > > Find me a new consumer product that's highly desirable by the
> > > rich, very expensive -- say, equivalent to what the car was in the
> > > 1910s/20s -- but capable of repeated phases of mass production until it
> > > reaches down to everybody in due course.
>
> >How about space tourism?
> >Mark Shuttleworth paid 20m, now it's getting cheaper...
>
> About as attractive for most as bungee-jumping I'd suggest (and that's
free!).
Since you always emphasize that people seek STATUS, you should know that
space tourism has very high status and gets much more publicity than other
ways of wasting money. And it's certainly a much more spectacular personal
experience than a silly jump, which is just a brief adrenaline kick.
What is your evidence that space tourism has very high status? At this
time, when it's still extremely dangerous, only a few hundred rich people
-- and probably eccentric ones at that -- have their names on Richard
Branson's waiting list at $200,000 a seat. If space flight were truly high
status (and safe) there are hundreds of billionaires who could easily
afford the price of, say, a $5m or $10m ticket.
(Even when space tourism is not dangerous I would doubt whether there would
be a great demand for it, except from among young males before they've
quite grown up. We can get a feeling of weightlessness at a fun-fair [or
bungee-jumping!]. And, as for seeing Earth from space, the view would still
have nowhere near the same clarity as satellite photos taken at selected
cloud-free times. Richard Branson might be able to clear his investment in
Virgin Galactic but I'd decline if I were an investment manager, offered
shares in it.)
Keith went on to dismiss MG:
> Michael is of course wrong because mass consumption of experiential goods
> requires plenty of discretionary time and money -- and there'll be little
> of the latter for most in the post-prosperity years to come.
But your challenge was: "Find me a new consumer product that's highly
desirable by the rich".
That was only by way of additional comment on our present times and the
likely future years. In times of prosperity, plenty of people would have
the money for lots of tourism but, except for the retired and the very very
rich, few would have the disposable time beyond a week or two a year. Those
who earn the most tend to work the longest hours.
Keith
Keith Hudson, Saltford, England
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