Tuesday, November 25, 2014

My Nomination for Invidious Consumption Quote of 2014: "It will probably be outdated within a year."

Conspicuous consumption

Moreover, invidious consumption, a more specialized sociologic term, denotes the deliberate conspicuous consumption of goods and services intended to provoke the envy of other people, as a means of displaying the buyer’s superior socio-economic status.

Without further ado, let's get right to the nomination.

November 25, 2014
Behind Black Friday's giant, cheap TV deals

While a TV might function for 10 years, "it will probably be outdated within a year," says Louis Ramirez, a senior feature writer for dealnews.com...

Back in my day, I recall watching a box that displayed moving pictures. That box was called a television.

Although it is true that the moving images have been getting better and the box has been getting wider and thinner over the years, I do not believe that the TV is going to magically transform itself into a fountain of youth within the next year.

Let me sum up what I require of my primary television. It needs to display moving images. That's it.

1. It doesn't need speakers.
2. It doesn't need Wifi.
3. It doesn't need an antennae.
4. It doesn't need a keyboard.
5. It doesn't need a coat rack.
6. It doesn't need a set of highly polished chrome wheels.
7. It doesn't need a vacuum with a variety of hose attachments.
8. It doesn't need a pop-out murphy bed.
9. It doesn't need a diamond and gold encrusted luxury enclosure.
10. It doesn't need a video camera tracking my every movement. It most definitely does not need that.

And yet, even without any of these things I am still able to watch shows live or on demand, play console games on the Internet, and binge watch Netflix until I risk becoming severely dehydrated. What more could I possibly want from a TV?

Keep in mind that these are just the opinions of a random anonymous old school retired codger who has chosen to inconspicuously consume as little as possible lest his nest egg run dry, lol. Sigh.

4 comments:

dearieme said...

Our telly screen is the old-fashioned shape. So when I watch a game of football (soccer) the ball sometimes enters the picture without my seeing anyone kick it. It's like magic!!

Stagflationary Mark said...

dearieme,

We have a TV upstairs that performs the same kind of magic!

It's miraculous, really. ;)

Rob Dawg said...

It definitely needs a remote.

But wait. Why don't you need wi-fi? You really like wires that much?

Stagflationary Mark said...

Rob Dawg,

My PS3 has the Wifi. There are a lot of wires (speakers, devices). My eyes tend to glaze over watching the screen though, so I don't tend to notice them much. Doesn't seem to alter the viewing experience.

As for the TV's remote, only use it to change devices, not to change the channel or volume. I should get another universal remote and eliminate it entirely.