Ever since the walkman, Sony has pursued the “ah ha! I need that!”, leveraging on the idea of “need creation” with all of the talent of Ron Popeil, a man who could sell iceboxes to Eskimos.
Greenland store, selling iceboxes to Eskimos
Need Creation through history
People have been coming-up with "need creation" products for centuries:
- Shaving cream - Plain old soap has worked fine for centuries
- Fingernail clippers - Folks have used sissors to trime their nails since Roman times
Has this need creation has gone far enough? The Onion has this germane commentary (Warning NSFW):
http://www.theonion.com/content/video/sony_releases_new_stupid_piece_of
