There seems to be a ceaseless, exponential proliferation of premium, “artisan”, and odd-combination products available to me today. Just in the past week, in San Diego county, I have been exposed to the following while not even really shopping for any of them:
- Organic Cow, Cave-Aged cheese with herbs and spices
- Basil infused Panna Cotta (a dessert)
- Blueberry mojito (a cocktail with muddled blueberries, mint, lime, and vanilla rum)
- Magnums of 100pt wine
- Mint-melon chewing gum
In case you are wondering, I didn’t actually purchase or consume any of these products. But I just don’t recall this kind of unusual stuff being so ubiquitous in my youth. I am convinced that this exponential availability of choice is driven by a large population of novelty-addicted customers and negligible distribution costs, resulting in some Long Tail-inspired retail practices.
In contrast, recently I seem to be drawn to the simple, fundamental tastes. Here’s a sampling of what I actually did consume/purchase in the past week:
- Fresh, organic strawberries from the local Farmer’s Market
- A hard-boiled egg (no salt or pepper)
- Plain Corn Flakes with milk
- Fresh snow peas sauteed with a little garlic and a dash of soy sauce – note: this was a main entree
Perhaps I am a bad consumer. But I also think that there is something to be said for not going too far out on that Long Tail. I don’t want to get so addicted to novelty that I can no longer appreciate the fundamentals.