Super TV
I love my Bears. And my brother-in-law Travis and I have conspired to get a projector set up for this Sunday's Super Bowl. But today's wire story about the run on plasma TVs is pretty crazy. I just don't see how the difference between our modest 20" TV and the 42" plasma could be worth a full $2,000. For the first week, I bet it's great. But doesn't the novelty wear off?
One of my fondest memories is watching the '03 Cubs playoffs on our living room wall (again, with a projector from work set up). It was great. But for everyday use, it feels too much like the increasing privitzation of our private lives that Robert Putnam and others have written about. Rather than going out to a bar, movie theater, etc, we want the spectacle right in our own homes. Is it more convenient? Yes. (I'm staying home for the Super Bowl, for example). But it also sucks up a lot of financial resources--not just the TV, but the cable package to get the HD and sports programming to make it worth the money. In our neighborhood, I'd be scared of a break-in the moment someone saw the thing through our window.
The quote here about "keeping up with the Jonses" is interesting as well. In this case, it seems more like keeping ahead of them. In my classes, one concept we've talked about is the "taste community"--how the tastes and purchases of those around us normalize certain consumer choices. I notice this everytime I see someone carting a big screen out of Costco--I get that "everyone's buying one" feeling. Yet that's not true--most people aren't yet. And for those of us who aspire to simple lives, I'm not sure it matters.
Anyway, this is my rant of the day, but thought it was worth sharing.