Barron's favorite things article on me
Barron's magazine interviewed me a few months ago, and the article came out today.
https://tinyurl.com/barrons-decent
Their “Penta” sub-magazine is more a “lifestyle magazine” and the questions they asked were very oriented toward “stuff you can readily buy”. I am guessing that the business model of the magazine is to have stories for people to read about successful people, and then stuff those people buy, so you can be like them.
Initially, the story that the writer put together was rejected by her editor, as my answers were not sufficiently consumerist. I'm more in the school of “you are what you do, not what you buy”. Naturally, I sell an expensive coffee machine, but what makes someone interesting is not that they own a Decent, but what they do with it.
The writer Emily Farache https://twitter.com/emily_farache and I had several extended, really interesting conversations, but ultimately, she needed to deliver what her editor wanted. I'm nonetheless quite happy with how it turned out in the end, with a focus on doing rather than consuming.
Links to items I mentioned in the article:
- the incredibly minimalist Strietman lever machine: https://www.instagram.com/wouterstrietman/
- Coffee beans we drink: https://www.instagram.com/fineprint.hk/
- Colin Harmon's great book about (café) business: https://www.instagram.com/colinharmon/
- Vienna's “Fakes Museum” and the deep question about what constitutes great art: https://www.instagram.com/faelschermuseum/
- Yes, finally, something you can buy, a chamber vacuum sealer: https://www.instagram.com/vacmasterfresh/
- And everyone should know something about Buckminster Fuller https://www.instagram.com/buckyfullerinst/ - “Buckminster Fuller: Thinking Out Loud (1996)” is a great introduction https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VLpWmcHU0g
-john
#interview #John #philosophy #article
Updated 2021/09/21