James Stevens

Digital abundance is a mixed blessing: exhilarating, yet flattening and homogenizing. Culture is converted into “content” that blurs together as it flows through the same conduits and across the same interfaces in an endless stream. As we struggle to keep abreast of the accelerating flow of content, drawn by the perpetual lure of the new, we come... See more

The voice of novel technological communication has been, almost from the beginning, a female voice, which is to say the voice of a helper, a perfect helper, pleasant, unflappable, immune to insults, come-ons and bossiness. It’s a short path from the telephone operator to Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa, both forever placating, always even-keeled,... See more

According to Fiske and Silverstein the three kinds of “new luxury” share certain common traits, which set them apart from old luxury. Whereas old luxury goods were based on status, class and exclusivity, a new luxury philosophy inspires consumers to forge stronger emotional ties to the products and brands. Companies engage consumers and reap the... See more

Luxury spending in China has been crimped by the combination of a housing crisis and a government campaign against showy displays of wealth. Rather than monogrammed totes, Chinese youngsters now carry their belongings around in plastic bags to flaunt their frugality.