ah the life of luxury. with the steep rise in shallow consumerism ala sex and the city and the emergence of stupid terms like bling bling, it was inevitable that one of the main showcases of wealth…technology…strode right into the world you cant afford. ny times has an interesting article today on the new luxury market for spiffy electronics. even though companies like bang and olufsen have always catered to people with more money, sony is overstepping them all into the world of the ridiculous with their new qualia line. having drooled over the qualia cam in a past post, the qualia name actually encompasses an entire line of uber-expensive electronics that are geared towards quality above all else. $15,000 for a stereo system, $12,000 for a television (not plasma), and a $30,000 home-theater projector…nothing the average person can afford. and youre not just paying for the electronics…youre paying for a way of life. because even after you purchase your qualia product, they coddle you to no end.
“In Week 1 after purchase, the customer is to receive a personalized letter from his or her Qualia concierge.
In Week 4, the customer is to get a choice of “welcoming gifts,” like tickets to a performance by Yo-Yo Ma, Bruce Springsteen or another Sony Music artist. Thereafter, the customer will receive a Qualia quarterly newsletter.“
yesh. the article even goes into some of the other luxury brands that have emerged, such as the $15,000 nokia/vertu cell or that tacky diamond-encrusted motorola custom-made by jacob the jeweler. now im not usually one to poo on the mass consumerism of our society. my friend min would even tell you that im all for the mass consumption of swishy products. but id have to draw the line here somewhere because…well, this is just pathetically excessive. the filthy rich wouldnt buy these products to make their existence any easier (than it already is). and theyre not getting a super-exclusive technology available only to those that can afford them (like those shuper-secret mind-control machines, or the anti-fart pills). these products exist solely so the purchaser can flaunt them to his other affluent friends at the hamptons as they drink cristal and name their children chad and skylar. even porsches and lambourghinis, as expensive as they are, were built to blow away all their cheaper brethren. feh…i suppose ive always attributed wealth more towards what youre capable of doing, not necessarily what youre capable of blowing scads of money on.
> luxury electronics (via ny times)
> qualia homepage (jp)
