And it makes me sad.
Whatever happened to the rustic, charming way of life? When was the last time you saw a copper kettle or a telephone with an actual bell and doesn't just bleep expectantly at you like a whippet with Tourette's (I realise that the telephone is still technically sending information at the speed of light, but it's such a raw, basic form in comparison to something like the internet I'm going to let it slide)? Many years ago people would buy something and hang onto it for years, maybe even decades because everything worth having was much more expensive. Nowadays you can own a mobile phone for barely a year before it breaks or becomes obsolete.
The public figures I admire the most are the sort of people who uphold these marvellous traditions, namely people like James May and Stephen Fry. Now many of you are probably thinking "Hang on, Stephen Fry is nationally renowned for his love of modern technology you blithering idiot!", and you're right. I am also a sucker for shiny gadgets and the latest toys, but the reason I care about a lot of technology nine times out of ten is not because of its functionality, but for its ability to make me beam with joy every time I so much as look at it. Let's go back to mobile phones and take a look at the iPhone. A very handy piece of kit, with all sorts of flashy features and wonderful pretty colours. Now there are hundreds of different smartphones out there on the market, some of them probably more functional than Apple's wonderbrick, so why do people buy the iPhone? I'd gladly put money on it's success not on advertising, but on it's build quality. There have been many reports about iPhones breaking on people, but the only reason we hear about it is because it is seen to be this immovable object that can only be destroyed with kryptonite. If there was a report on how often my Sony Ericsson W705 froze on me, there'd be little room for any other news.
Charm is attention to detail, and you rarely get that these days. Too many companies are just interested in making a quick sell, and very little else. This is extremely apparent in the automotive trade as well, with companies like Kia and Peugeot producing plastic cars worth about three and six, it's difficult to find a decent affordable car. The same goes for many supercars, who cut corners to save money and still whack £10,000 onto the price tag for having a badge that says 'Ferrari'. There are very few exceptions, but I think the one you'll be most familiar with is that holy grail of engineering known as the Bugatti Veyron. I know it's not exactly the cheapest car at about £850,000, but when you consider that each one costs over £5,000,000 to make (yes, five million pounds), eighty-five hundredths of a million is a snip. I've obviously never driven one, and I would be lucky to even catch a glimpse of someone who had ever been inside one, but as Jeremy Clarkson put it, the birth of the Veyron really was a "Concord moment".
I believe that eventually consumerism and this whole disposable lifestyle will die when people start believing the threat of global warming and the melting ice caps (even if it isn't true). Whether it will be in my lifetime is a matter open to debate, but I'm sure as Hell going to have wing-back chairs, stuffed animals and an 10ft wide open fireplace in my house before I die. Right next to the 60" marble TV and the Xbox 1440.
