dispatches from the new world of work

Cool Friend: Nissanoff

Our new Cool Friend Daniel Nissanoff has written a book called FutureShop: How the New Auction Culture Will Revolutionize the Way We Buy, Sell, and Get the Things We Really Want. The subtitle gives a good idea of the focus of the interview. Nissanoff's argument is that when online auctions get truly seamless, then purchasing behavior will shift. If a purchase can be considered temporary, will you buy the item whose features or use you may not be able to master, knowing that you can pass it on to someone else with ease, recouping much of the cost? See the full discussion in our Cool Friend interview here. Or visit the FutureShop website or blog.

Cathy Mosca posted this on 04/12/06.

Comments

I had a mind-altering experience in Dec. 1999. I had decided to do a thorough housecleaning in honor of the millennium, and discovered that my Silicon Valley power suits and high-heeled shoes were still taking up too much space in my closet. I hadn't worn most of them since moving to New Mexico 7 years before; but, in the Depression-era mentality I'd picked up from my parents, I wasn't supposed to get rid of them because they were Still Good. With a tremendous sense of liberation, I packed them up and hauled them off to a local thrift shop.

At the shop, I started looking through the racks and made some amazing discoveries. When I came home, I reflected ruefully that my empty closets would soon fill up again with my "finds." Then the light dawned: when I got tired of them, or they outlived their usefulness, I could just donate them back to the thrift store. I'd get a tax deduction that would partly offset what the item cost me, and someone else would give it a new lease on life.

I've been doing this ever since. While I'll probably wear a few favorites until they fall apart, most of my "finds" cycle through my closet for a season or two, then move on to a new owner. I enjoy the process of discovery, and take pleasure in the item while I have it, but letting go of it has a Zen-like flow too.

Posted by Paula at April 12, 2006 5:11 PM

Paula,
Thanks for the story. I'll keep it in mind the next I go through my closet.

Posted by cathy at April 12, 2006 5:35 PM