Walmart makes a coffee mug for like $2. Louis Vuitton will sell you one for $385. But there's an entire class of coffee mugs in the middle, where you're paying more than it "should" cost, but less than you would for status signaling.
An example is this mug [1]. It's $18, so it's not even close to being a status symbol. It's also a little nicer than a Walmart mug. But I'd be hard-pressed to argue that it's 6x as nice like the price would imply. I suppose you could consider it a luxury good? But in my mind, it feels weird to lump it in with a Louis Vuitton mug.
Playdate feels like it sits right in the middle of the spectrum? I dint think the price is being marked up for status related reasons. But they probably could have made something similar in functionality for a lot less money. It's just a product that's nicer than it "needs" to be.
This reminds me of a story of Diogenes the Cynic [1], who embraced minimalism to the point that he slept in a large wine jar and owned only a few simple possessions, such as his tunic and a drinking bowl. One day, he saw a boy drinking water from a trough by cupping his hands and bringing it to his mouth, so Diogenes threw away his drinking bowl and stated that the boy had found true minimalism because "nature had already provided him with a cup."
Comments
It's a spectrum.
Walmart makes a coffee mug for like $2. Louis Vuitton will sell you one for $385. But there's an entire class of coffee mugs in the middle, where you're paying more than it "should" cost, but less than you would for status signaling.
An example is this mug [1]. It's $18, so it's not even close to being a status symbol. It's also a little nicer than a Walmart mug. But I'd be hard-pressed to argue that it's 6x as nice like the price would imply. I suppose you could consider it a luxury good? But in my mind, it feels weird to lump it in with a Louis Vuitton mug.
Playdate feels like it sits right in the middle of the spectrum? I dint think the price is being marked up for status related reasons. But they probably could have made something similar in functionality for a lot less money. It's just a product that's nicer than it "needs" to be.
[1]: https://www.notneutral.com/collections/siblings-lino-mug-10o...
This reminds me of a story of Diogenes the Cynic [1], who embraced minimalism to the point that he slept in a large wine jar and owned only a few simple possessions, such as his tunic and a drinking bowl. One day, he saw a boy drinking water from a trough by cupping his hands and bringing it to his mouth, so Diogenes threw away his drinking bowl and stated that the boy had found true minimalism because "nature had already provided him with a cup."
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diogenes#Asceticism