Warped Speed

Convenience – I’m all for it. It is not inherently evil. It is not “ a bad thing.” It’s a part of the sustainable toolkit since characteristics of convenience support an efficient use of energy and time. For example, having farmer’s markets in the parking lots of supermarkets has proven to be a boon for everyone. Shoppers can do all their shopping at once – convenience reigns. Merchants have not experienced an erosion of their bottom line, customers get the quality produce they prefer, and the farmers win as well.

HOWEVER – no doubt, no argument, convenience has led us down some lunatic and wrong-minded paths. When seduced by convenience we can too easily become lazy and loose all sense of sensibility.

Convenience is one of society’s hottest battlegrounds with consumers on one side and advertisers and merchandisers on the other.

Here’s a new product sold as “quick, easy and fun.”
Someone on a design team is feeling very proud.
What do you think?

Comments

[Napanite]

I'm so proud my adopted homeland of San Francisco came up with this one. Still, the nutritional breakdown compares very favorably to the frozen, toaster, brands of pancakes and waffles (which taste like cardboard), and it lets you write your kids name in fried food without having to learn the art of a piping bag. This is a perfect gift item for yuppie parents who want their kids to think they cook for them (and who don't mind if their kids grow up with strange ideas of what cooking is) without taking the time to actually cook anything.

To tell you the truth, I grew up in a "both parents working" family, and I headed another as an adult. Single moms, who head the majority of American families, must feel this even more. There is always just more to do than you can. With my parents it was poptarts in the morning, and bags of carry-out at night. I tried harder with my son, but getting up that half hour earlier when you are continuously exhausted isn't fun. These little short cuts are very tempting, and for some, the alternative would be a cold breakfast eaten on the schoolbus.