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Robin Baum
Robin Baum

27 Followers

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Aug 16

Buying A New Case for my Smartphone

A Consumer’s Stream of Consciousness Recently, I had to buy a new smartphone case; the old silicone type seemed to be still functioning, but it was broken and frayed in several places, which didn’t look good to anyone anymore; additionally, I started imagining that the other functions were not as…

Smartphones

4 min read

Buying A New Case for my Smartphone
Buying A New Case for my Smartphone
Smartphones

4 min read


Jun 7

Immersion as Sales Strategy. Apple’s “Vision Pro”

So far, the next big thing hasn’t worked out so well — virtual, mixed, and extended reality haven’t made it to the broad market despite the efforts of big players like Microsoft, Meta, Sony, or Google. Now Apple is the next of the usual suspects to try it. They call…

Immersion

3 min read

Immersion as a sales strategy. Apple’s “Vision Pro”
Immersion as a sales strategy. Apple’s “Vision Pro”
Immersion

3 min read


May 30

Annie Ernaux’s History of Commodities in the 20th Century

It sounds rather moronic to want to write “the” history of consumption. If one takes the word at its word, consumption is such a fundamental activity that one might immediately ask about metabolism per se. But something must have happened when vocabulary like “consumer society” appears. In her novel The…

Literature

5 min read

Annie Ernaux’s History of Commodities in the 20th Century
Annie Ernaux’s History of Commodities in the 20th Century
Literature

5 min read


Mar 14

Bret Easton Ellis’ Pants

Truth is good, trust more effective Bret Easton Ellis, author of American Psycho and Glamorama — please read the titles as words — has sat on stage for about a minute. …

Bret Easton Ellis

3 min read

Bret Easton Ellis’ Pants
Bret Easton Ellis’ Pants
Bret Easton Ellis

3 min read


Mar 12

Refusing Consumption

To Have or Not To Have In my old flat-sharing community, there was a poster whose platitudinous exclamation I quote from time to time: Who lives, disturbs. The updated version would probably read: Who lives, destroys. For he who lives cannot not consume — and every consumption has its costs…

Consumerism

4 min read

Refusing Consumption
Refusing Consumption
Consumerism

4 min read


Feb 18

On The Take Off of Advertising

Never Mind The Product — You Are Okay You see the goods and wonder how and when it could happen. For example, tea blends: Happy Nature, Soul Balm, Inner Harmony, and Women’s Tea. When and how did this happen, that the promises of marketing emancipated themselves from the products, that…

Advertising

4 min read

On The Take Off of Advertising
On The Take Off of Advertising
Advertising

4 min read


Feb 11

Deciding consumption

Three questions for the goods Buying a product is a lengthy, usually annoying affair. If you “research” a product on the net this might sound familiar, but even if you put a carton of milk in your shopping cart, it took a lot of time. Probably few during that one…

Consumerism

7 min read

Deciding consumption
Deciding consumption
Consumerism

7 min read


Feb 4

Use against Brand Value

Consumption is the permanent task of distinguishing between personal needs and social promises What about »use-value«? Doesn’t sound very sexy when you put it like that. Telling a story about the benefits of a warm blanket won’t make you look like a sophisticated consumer — but if you add that…

Values

5 min read

Use against Brand Value
Use against Brand Value
Values

5 min read


Jan 28

Values. Economy + Culture

In consumerism, »value« is a cross-functional concept that bridges culture and economy. “Value” is a fancy word for preference management gone social. As such, it is highly pervasive and can be found anywhere: a spoon is considered a valuable tool the value of commodities come as prices companies want to…

Consumerism

4 min read

Values. Economy + Culture
Values. Economy + Culture
Consumerism

4 min read


Apr 22, 2022

Boring Postcards by Martin Parr

My shelf controls the number of books I keep. And since I keep buying, I have to get rid of old ones. So time and again, I leaf through them, questioning which ones may stay. So I encountered Martin Parr’s “Boring Postcards” again. The first book features historical postcards from…

Martin Parr

4 min read

Boring Postcards by Martin Parr
Boring Postcards by Martin Parr
Martin Parr

4 min read

Robin Baum

Robin Baum

27 Followers

Design practitioner with a background in media/culture theory and a thorn in his side.

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