Core77

Object fetishism: Someone please explain

By Rain Noe - May 13, 2009

in Object Culture

Years ago I was driving down Second Avenue when a yellow cab sideswiped me pretty bad. No one was hurt, though the left side of my car was shredded. The cabbie apologized and said his company would pay for the damages; in a country and city where no one likes to take blame, the guy was clearly a foreigner.

What surprised me most was my friends' reactions--they all seemed shocked that I wasn't freaking out about the way my car looked. "I don't really care," I explained.

"But you love your car," they said.

"No no--I love driving," I said. "Big difference."

What I've found is that when people discover you like an activity, they assume you love and venerate the object associated with that activity. Cooks are expected to polish their pots; surfers are expected to wax their boards lovingly; iPhone users are supposed to buy sexy little skins for them.

But I'm biased. I'm a utilitarian, your classic I-don't-want-a-toaster-I-just-want-toast kind of guy. I don't care if my car is banged up or if my iPhone is scratched, I just want these things to work. I wouldn't have even bothered to get the car fixed if I wasn't planning to someday sell it.

So it surprises, and maybe even irritates me to see this company called SGP selling these ridiculous "gadget trim" cutouts that allow you to accessorize your gizmos.

Really, guys? Faux gold plating inside the freaking battery compartment?

I realize that there are plenty of racer boys who will spend $20,000 on a car, and another $20,000 on cosmetic accessories. I realize there are plenty of schoolgirls who can never get enough stickers and trinkets for their cell phones. I realize it, I just don't understand it. I can't map out how interacting with these accoutrements causes the pleasure center part of the brain to light up.

So I'm asking you guys--earnestly, not facetiously--can one of you explain this to me?

via gizmodo

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Daniel

15 years ago

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I think there's a difference to make between the surfer who enjoys carefully applying wax to her board and the twelve-year-old faux heiress who bedazzles her cellphone with CZ crystals. Taking care of your tools matters, trying to dress them up as something else doesn't. Even as a utilitarian you don't feed your car regular unleaded if it calls for premium, unless you don't care about driving.

Dressing up your stuff is all about appearance. I wanted a Mac experience on my Windows machine, but ended up realizing that was impossible. Windows will never behave like a Mac, even though you can make it look similar. Some people probably haven't discovered that adding schmutz to your stuff doesn't make it act like you want, it just makes it act worse.
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n

15 years ago

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capitalism...the ability to have a choice...customization..."individualization"...trends...
acceptance...lack of confidence

I dont know,
some people just take it a little too far and think its the most amazing thing they will ever experience, and feel that THIS is what will satisfy them, but unfortunately they have a lot to learn, and they will waste a lot of money and resources until (if ever) they realize its all superficial. But of course, this realization will always be blocked by advertising, and popular opinion...
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Steve Dekorte

15 years ago

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Perhaps it is similar to whatever motivated all the trinkets (unnecessary complexity) contained in the core77 website design?
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Justin

15 years ago

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Amen to the sentiments expressed here. All I have to offer for an explanation of people's unhealthy fixation on the surface appearance of their material belongings are personal anecdotes. Most people I've met who are obsessed with the appearance of the objects which enable their activities are also obsessed with looking good in the eyes of the others. Hipster-in-a-package.

By no means do I question the fact that material wealth is good; it's what enables human well-being. I just laugh when people lose focus on what products can DO for them in their blind drive to one-up the Joneses. Vanity. So unbecoming.
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Mark Gisleson

15 years ago

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It has a lot to do with penis size as I understand it, and not in a good way.
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