Skip to main content

Consumer Reports

There has been a sci-fi magazine by this name for almost a 100 years in the US that provides a different type of literature than say reading 'Moby Dick' or 'Grapes of Wrath' or 'Bourne Identity'. It is a genre all its own.


A modern twist to this content has recently gained a cult following in the form of social.  Through apps designed to espouse the virtue and folly of everything from restaurants to cars to vacuum cleaners and service providers there are all sorts of twits and yelps that can be heard online.


People take this data and reports into account as a voice of consumer before deciding if they intend to consume the same stuff.  Mostly the answer is a resounding YES.  What else is a consumer going to do? 


You see all the reporting aside one thing that separates us from the rest of the world is the fact that we CONSUME.  Get it?


Rest of world's media can report on that conspicuous consumption and gawk.  No wonder they don't have time to be consumers themselves with all their time spent gawking at ours.


New rating scales are being designed to gage our consumption as a percentile of the rest of the world's.  Government is hard at work in its last days in office to ensure that even our homeless have safe access to at least the third generation of gently toasted ipads.  They will just have to strain their Retinas for another year until the new leadership has found a way to bridge this horrible gap in health services.


Headphones may or may not be available at the shelters depending on how many people with both ears intact would line up.   This will lead to some more disruptions of quiet streets as identified by the Boom Box Incidents of the 90s.

Comments

  1. Consume karte karte mar should be the motto of THE cosnumer nation. Govt is only to help you do that, at all cost.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

On the go(zay masta) in Japan again

Cool cat the Japanese are Tokyo at dusk  My second visit to this land of the rising sun after almost a decade. Back then clearly I was wet behind the ears product manager and likely didn’t pay attention to all (efficient) things Japanese. But today I did and of course continue to be impressed. It is as much the obvious stuff like on time travel that is both clean and comfortable and all that which makes it possible. The impressive landmark and landscapes that these humans have put together despite their cramped (or because of it) surroundings and precarious geological conditions could amaze a novice architect among us. But it’s also the little things that someone had to think about which have a phenomenal impact on day to day lives that make the Japanese stand apart. Below are few random examples- 1. Providing a very fine machined wooden toothpick in every packet of wooden chopsticks. The said chapsticks are simply set on the To Go counter of any food vendor/ convenience store wher...

Presumptive Society

Today's world is hyper connected.  I am not so sure what it means but you hear it a lot.  It is probably hyper but not sure how connected it is.  Sugar (fermented or not) is available in many ways than before and so getting hyper is easy.  It is probably more a threat than cocaine since it is sold legally. And what is this connected stuff?  Most people I encounter seem disconnected from reality.  So going back to this assumption that we are connected there are subtle and no so subtle instances of how brands and companies and middle men try to portray someone - A linkedin profile for somebody working for X years at a place advertises to the connected network that so and so is CELEBRATING X years @ Such and Such Inc. Do we know if (s)he is celebrating or cringing?  Perhaps a better way to portray will be - So and So LASTED X years @ such & such inc. Then it exhorts the readership to go ahead and congratulate them for this lasting effe...

The Central State aka MP

Narmada river and site of Omkareshwar Indore Rajwada or palace of the Lady Holkar   Somewhat geographically centered in India is the hot landscape of MADHYA PRADESH. A region I had a faint memory of visiting as a young lad eons ago. Now in my (along with my best half) quest to get to know lands far and wide I got an opportunity to visit Indore city and surrounding areas in MP. It begins with an evening visit to a bustling old market selling native snacks both savory and sweet. It is the realm of jewelers who run night time street side restaurants once they close their primary operations at dusk. Think of it as desi style block party that I am told goes into wee hours of the morning. My impression was it is worth one visit.  The humid and hot ambience along with crush of humanity doesn’t make for a pleasant dining experience but the sheer variety of foods sort of makes up for it. From piping hot coconut filled fritters to oodles of milk based sweet confections, I gorged on item...