Pay to Hang

One image stuck with me after reading Nellie Bowles' latest Silicon Valley state-of-the union: the pager. 

The pager used to be a status symbol. I remember as a kid seeing friends' parents with pagers—or better yet palm-pilot cases—strapped to their belt loops and thinking, "Wow, they must be a big deal."

Pagers signaled importance. Now, as this weeks article observes, the opposite is true. "If you’re truly at the top of the hierarchy, you don’t have to answer to anyone. They have to answer to you.”  

What I love about Bowles (she also wrote the piece for ABC 82 on screens) is that she finds stories hiding in plain sight. We've all anecdotally observed the public renunciations of social media and the ostentatious digital detoxes, but she sums up the trend beautifully: Avoiding screens is a status symbol. 

The wealthy can opt out of the attention economy, while the poor often don't have a choice. 
 

Here's the piece: Human Contact Is Now a Luxury Good

Warmly,
Simo

P.S. The new Solange album is very good. Here's my favorite song on the album. Also, I learned why there are so many short pop songs from this excellent podcast.
P.P.S. Have a friend that would dig the ABC? Send 'em here.