How Less Value Turns Into Added Value
We live in the age of added value. It’s everywhere. Value-added services, value-added products, value-added goods, etc. Actually, the supposed value that has been pumped into us makes me wonder how we manage to hold all of it without bulging. *That’s what an overly packed bag does if too much stuff is squeezed in it*.
If we take a closer look at the flip side of the added value, though, we might be up for a disillusionment. Here’s an example. Everyone is in a hurry to become an owner of a smartphone¹, but what if I want a simplistic phone with NO Internet access, no camera, even no voice mail — just live calls and text messages?
I bet that a phone manufacturer who stops the rush for more new features, would make a fortune in an instant selling the “new frugal” cell phones. With phones, what is supposed to be an “added” value would be the content that comes from the web, plus the capabilities to share the content. So why should someone want a phone without no web access? My word, very soon we will see such phones gain their niche on the market. This niche is already there, in fact¹. Here’s why:
More content and more channels to produce and exchange content are now¹ commonly presented as added value. Hence, a communication device which happens to be a humble phone is supposed to deliver that value. But as we’re over-saturated with content, hiding and/or getting rid from the buzz becomes a big deal. The luxury of focusing on one thing at a time is something that only a few can afford. Besides, wouldn’t it be frugal — “frugal” and “downsized” have become the buzzwords as well — to buy a reasonably priced phone with a minimal set of functions? Or, well, you can keep your smartphone as long as you want to book a table at a restaurant conveniently :) Actually, with little time, your restaurant booking might be handled by a technology which would require no such device as “a phone” at all!
Here’s another example: the added value of owning a car entails a lack of natural movement, which means that you end up paying for gym, etc. Going to a gym, in its turn, brings along an array of more added-value goods and services that turn out not to add but to lessen value, since you pay for what you could do naturally. This is before we even start talking about the carbon footprint.
Take organic products. Now they’re added value. 100 years ago who could have thought that something natural adds value? Now, there’s a rollback. Simple and natural things cost more, but, ironically, they are of less value as compared to the original added value concept for that matter.
.. and the cycle goes on and on. They want to convince us that it’s their thing that adds value to the way we live. The trickiest job, however, would be to step out, disengage, and use our own discernment to figure out what is it actually that adds value to our lives.
Footnotes:
[1] As of 2009–2010
Related:
Minimalism, The New Innovative
Cut Yourself Some Slack From Slack
Cognitive Endurance Basics for Software Developers
Two Approaches to Focus in Knowledge Work
Further reading:
How NOT to Multitask — Work Simpler and Saner
How I Became a Frugal Convert and Found the True Value of Saving Money
This story has been revised and re-written from an earlier article.
