Ubergizmo.com, a “trendy web magazine dedicated to consumer electronics news and reviews,” such as a $2,650 Fujitsu Tablet PC and a “Wiener Dog Accent Lamp,” had a puzzling entry last week that discussed an amazing new sleeping tent, then surprisingly slammed the free-market system by whining about glorifying “the excesses of capitalism.“ Basically, the Water Shelter tent is an easily portable tent that also collects rainwater and can even be dropped in by air, which would be a lifesaver for flood refugees.
At the end of the blurb, the author threw in a comment that is strange for a site that is filled with small articles designed to highlight and promote capitalist goods. Was this an unclear joke or yet another anti-capitalist dig from an unlikely source?
Here's the whole blurb:
Developing countries often experience disasters such as recurring floods, which is why designer Robert Nightingale came up with the Water Shelter project that responds to such situations, focusing more in the geographical region of the Zambezi basin in Sub-Saharan Africa. This design makes it easy for the user to move around at a moment's notice, boasting all the necessary tools and information that promotes self-sufficiency no matter what stage of the disaster is. In addition, the design addresses shelter, drinking water, product transport and information needs in a single device, making this a potential life saver in many situations. Good to see some altruistic designs coming out instead of those that do nothing but glorify the excesses of capitalism.
Very out of place for a site that only exists to “glorify the excesses of capitalism.” I would usually automatically assume that the writer was being silly, but since anti-capitalism is cropping up in strange places, like Democratic presidential candidates and throughout the media, which exist only because of those “excesses,” it is so hard to tell. If it isn't satire, I wonder if the writer knows that even though another site, YankoDesign.com, wrote the tent was “carried out” with UN and NGO contracts, without that evil capitalism, those Water Shelters wouldn't exist.
I think it could also work for lost hikers or people in areas without access to drinkable water and would be excellent survival tents. I hope this is available to the consumer markets of campers, hikers and search and rescue groups. As Ubergizmo should know, that will bring the price down and drive further innovation, but I apologize for glorifying the “excesses of capitalism.”
Go ahead and check out this really cool product and the bizarre comment that went along with it. Tell me what you think the writer meant. Was this a joke or a bizarre anti-capitalist dig from a site that reliably features the latest cell phones and electronic gadgets?
Image via Portland IndyMedia
Contact Lynn with tips and complaints at: tvisgoodforyou2 AT yahoo DOT com
