At 15:29 17/11/2010 -0400, Mike Spencer wrote:
Some weeks ago, Keith wrote:
> Where are the new iconic products? There aren't any. They petered
> out at around 1980 and it was then that the financial sector then
> started throwing credit at consumers to keep them buying new
> embellishments of old products, not uniquely new ones.
A relevant note turned up on CBC Radio today. [1] William Gibson,
(tied with Martin Cruz Smith for my second-favorite fiction author)
[2] was interviewed about the theme of his most recent book, _Zero
History_. [3]
His remarks are akin to Keith's. As of the last decades of the last
century, you can have pretty much anything. All you need is a
suitcase full of money and a shopping mall. In _Zero History_ (and
his two preceding books) information is attached to tangible goods.
The only way to be cool is to have the Whatever, but you have to know
that it exists and you have to know where to get it. Both of those
items of knowledge are to varying degrees, and despite Google and the
net, occult, subterranean, hermetic. The new elite product is knowing
the right stuff.
Very interesting! This does indeed sound close to some recent thoughts of
mine. If, in fact, my main hypothesis is correct (that the chain of
uniquely new iconic goods has largely dried up -- and that there's little
left to drive the main economy) then what do the still-comfortable and rich
classes do for maintaining status? If, however, existing top-of-the-range
products change frequently enough, even if only in subtle ways, then they
can still serve as status markers. This can serve to keep the "upper" part
of the economy alive (and even some modest growth), though insufficient
(because of reduced profits and thence investment) to keep the main machine
going.
It will be interesting to whether William Gibson's ideas are parallel to
these. Thanks for the tip. I'll also buy Zero History to read along with
Xmas mince pies and tipple (in my case coffee and gin).
Keith
Look here: [4]
http://www.cbc.ca/spark/2010/10/full-interview-william-gibson-on-zero-history/
Well, short interview and not heavy to scholarly jargon but surely
apropos of recent FW exchanges. Or read the three books that,
collectively, instantiate WG's thoughts on the subject:
Pattern Recognition
Spook Country
Zero History
WG's fiction captures elements of contemporary culture that tend to
vanish or at least lose subjective resonance when sought and addressed
as part of an academic study.
FWIW,
- Mike
[1] Rebroadcast of an earlier program, I think.
[2] Neal Stephenson is in first place. Of course. ;-)
[3] Which I haven't read yet. I'm saving it for Christmas, when we
pull in the latch string and spend a week or two nigh the fire,
feet up, single malt Scotch and other seasonal goodies at hand,
reading good books. Real soon now. :-)
[4] Being on dial-up net connection, I don't do audio. I think you
can fetch the audio interview from that URL or links given there.
If not, a search on the main CBC Radio web site or Google will likely
turn it up.
--
Michael Spencer Nova Scotia, Canada .~.
/V\
[email protected] /( )\
http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/ ^^-^^
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Keith Hudson, Saltford, England
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