What kind of world are we making when everything we own can be tracked, measured, and remembered?
The Future of Stuff explores a future in which objects no longer simply sit in our homes and fade into the background. Instead, they carry histories: where they came from, who used them, how long they lasted, and what happened to them when we were done. In such a world, ownership may become less fixed, less about possession, and more about access, stewardship, and choice.
This book invites you to think beyond gadgets and convenience. It asks what happens to our habits, our identities, and our values when “stuff” becomes smarter, more visible, and harder to ignore. If every object has a digital trace, what does that mean for waste, repair, sharing, privacy, and responsibility?
Rather than offering predictions dressed up as certainty, this essay opens a conversation. It encourages you to imagine different paths forward: ones shaped not only by technology and markets, but also by human priorities. What kind of future feels worth building? What should we hold onto, and what should we be willing to let go?
Short enough to read in an evening but rich enough to linger in your thoughts, this essay is for anyone curious about how everyday things quietly shape the larger world—and how the choices we make now may shape the lives we live next. — Book Review by ChatGPT
In industrial capitalism the first duty of each mass-produced item is that it must sell. We exist as end points in a manufacturing process: as soon as the goods are sold, they are the buyer’s property, and everything after that point is the buyer’s problem.
The book shown above is the first in a series that are essays that have been published as books although they are very short. The Book Review was written by ChatGPT at my request. It is my plan to ask for more such reviews for the books in this series and perhaps for other books. I think what was said here by ChatGPT is of more value to a potential reader than a Book Promo from the publisher and repeated by goodreads.com or Amazon.
I have given a pass on the afternoon walks this past Sunday and yesterday. Both days had afternoon wind gusts of over 30 mph and there was a better than 50% chance of rain yesterday.
Got an email reply from Solokey with a link to a page where I could print a label to return the key that I could not get to work. That would be great if I had a printer. What I did was forwarded the email to the Park office here and asked them to print it for me.
I found out yesterday that Wellstrade does not allow me to sell cash secured Put options. The require me to use a telephone to one of their traders just like they require me to call if I want to buy/sell Treasury issues. Yes it is an online brokerage but has restrictions that you would not expect from a full service brokerage. What else they will not let me do online will only be found when I try to do them.