Monday, September 12, 2005
Gadgets and horses
The Western Mail this morning features the £9 billion that British adults spend each year on gadgets they do not use. The list includes bread makers, coffee machines and electric knives as well as sandwich makers, foot spas, toasters and bathroom scales.
I certainly associate with some of these items and can add some of my own to the list. The juicer for example, which sounded like a healthy initiative at the time but which takes much longer in the morning to use than just opening a carton and even longer to clean. We are all obsessed with gadgets, personally I am fascinated by them. So much so that there used to be a shop in Swansea selling nothing else. Strangely it closed over a year ago. Perhaps the key to selling them is not to let on that they are gadgets but to make people believe that they are essential life-affirming accessories.
Talking of consumer spending habits who would have believed that a book on horsemanship could sell a million copies. Perhaps we should provide free copies to those people who allow their horses to wander the streets and graze in local parks.
I certainly associate with some of these items and can add some of my own to the list. The juicer for example, which sounded like a healthy initiative at the time but which takes much longer in the morning to use than just opening a carton and even longer to clean. We are all obsessed with gadgets, personally I am fascinated by them. So much so that there used to be a shop in Swansea selling nothing else. Strangely it closed over a year ago. Perhaps the key to selling them is not to let on that they are gadgets but to make people believe that they are essential life-affirming accessories.
Talking of consumer spending habits who would have believed that a book on horsemanship could sell a million copies. Perhaps we should provide free copies to those people who allow their horses to wander the streets and graze in local parks.
