Comment by oreally
2 days ago
This is called marketing and pushing a brand. It's nothing new.
It could even be faked. There was a clothing brand who said their stuff was all hand made, artisanal, only to be found out they sent their stuff to China to make. Now the Chinese workers are ranting about getting credit for their quality work.
It's why I think it's a sign of maturity to be able to get past all the narratives and spin to a product, all the while living less materialistically.
As humans, we appreciate also the process in making things, not just the end result. For art this is especially more important than for everyday, for practical use products. The more one knows about a specific kind of art and can relate to the experience of making such art, the more they are usually interested in parts of the process because the more information they can extract about the piece of art. That also often gives new perspectives in the art piece itself. Art (and many other things) is much about contextualizing. Contextualizing an art piece to a specific process of making it or a specific era that was made may help notice details that would otherwise go unnoticed. Perception is not neutral and cannot be, and art appreciation even less.
Yes it is true that some may try to trick people with fake information about the process of producing something, but that does not mean that the reason people may be interested in the process itself is marketing. It is part of the human condition and experience imo that some may try to take advantage of, but is important otherwise.
> As humans, we appreciate also the process in making things, not just the end result.
I generally think this doesn't apply to most people unless it affects the result they want out of the product. But hey, more power to you!
Almost all humans appreciate the process.
However it doesn't mean they will actually pay more for the process. At the end, money talks, thoughts and prayers don't.
It depends what we are talking about. Are we talking about investors in a company? Or about people going to a concert? I am talking about stuff like the latter, mostly.
All else being equal, most people prefer to own things that are valuable and exclusive to things that are cheap and mass produced, and the fact that care and effort has been put into making something affects the perceived value of the product.
This is why affects like 'limited run', 'hand-made', 'artisanal' tend to imply a higher price than the equivalent temu slop.
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I was in Uzbekistan one time. A granny sold a scarf to my mum. "My daughter made this. Hand made." A week later in Turkey, we found the same scarf on the street. "Made in China!" the shopkeeper said.
In Germany things are frequently labelled "Hausgemacht" or "housemade" which is designed to make you think "homemade", but actually, any kind of building is a "Haus".
In German 'Haus' means both small building and home. Think 'Zuhause'.
I kind of disagree. The more I learn about manufacturing and crafts, the more I appreciate made objects. I used to skip old furniture in museums and now I look as close as I am allowed to. Same with art, cars, typewriters and most machines.
Considering things at face value is wasting a good opportunity to truly appreciate what’s in front of you. I think that being more discerning makes you more mindful about the things you surround yourself with. That might mean buying less junk, and loving what you end up buying.
I'm talking about the practicalities though. For example I'd really like my smartphones to be long lasting and reliable such that I only have to replace every 10 years. All that Apple marketing isn't convincing me to buy their iphones knowing that I'm going to be locked in.
Generally, the majority of humanity is too tied up in their personal troubles to think deeply about their products. So the best thing is to accept the narrative of the marketing of the best marketed product, then deviate comparisons from there.
Apple phones are typically fully supported supported for 7ish years, and security updates for longer. For example the iPhone 6s, a ten year old phone, still received security updates this fall.
My 6 year old iPhone 11 is still trucking along fine. I did opt for a new battery recently, but the old battery was still at 78%. Quite frankly, its pretty incredible that a device that lives in my pocket, has been frozen and exposed to extreme heat, has gotten wet, and is probable my most used possession is running great, and probably will be supported by the manufacturer for another 4 years.
Lock in seems exaggerated to me, but if that's what worries you, then the Fairphone is promising a decade of support, and Samsung is offering 7 years now on the s24.
> There was a clothing brand who said their stuff was all hand made, artisanal, only to be found out they sent their stuff to China to make.
So is was hand-made (in China) as the advertising claimed.