Unrecommendable
I follow a handful of humans who probably make most of their money on recommending stuff. I’ve already written about Blackbird Spyplane, which has a huge paid following and recommends tons of brands, promotes early drops, etc. And I once worked for a tech blog called the Wirecutter, which works exhaustively to find “the best” of a product category. Heck, I recommend stuff from time to time, and I pepper it with affiliate links. Nobody is immune. I’m sure you can think of a bunch more.
The truly weird thing is what happens when you preach minimalism, and you turn around and recommend products. The cleanest example of this came around when Marie Kondo created her own product line, in conjunction with the Container Store, and began selling things on her own website. Because why not buy more stuff after you’ve jettisoned four-fifths of your possessions?
I’ve been in my house for the past 5 years, and I’ve found myself buying hardly anything for it lately: some screws here, some shelving there. It turns out that most furniture lasts a lot longer than 5 years, and once you’ve finished thoughtfully collecting a bunch of buy-it-for-life pieces, there comes a point where you no longer need to buy any. Ditto clothing: I’ve pretty much filled out my rack, and expect to buy hardly anything new for the next few years. Ditto tech: I’ve recently bought two computers that will easily last the next 8 years. Ditto carry: when you buy a bunch of actually bombproof X-Pac bags, they don’t die on you when you’re out. Ditto stationery: you only need one Lamy 2000. Ditto housewares: plants don’t treat their ceramic homes as consumables.
Looking back at my purchases for the past few months, I really just see food, booze, experiences, and basic home goods. The only exceptions: one hoodie and one computer, both of which will last many years.
And so, the take: there is no sustainable, durable business in recommending objects that will last you for many years. You either collect too many of a thing you shouldn’t collect too many of, or you don’t buy enough to make it worth the time & energy of the recommender. The answer, from a business standpoint, is for the recommender to increase the size of their addressable market and accelerate the influx of their readership. You need lots of new blood, all the time, and you need to turn it over fast. This, too, is unsustainable, since you will someday run out of new blood and be sad.
Pursuing durability is a good consumer decision, and it’s good for the earth, but it runs contrary to how contemporary capitalism works. That’s it. That’s the full take. Eventually you will run out of things to replace, and you will sit with the things you’ve accumulated and go about experiencing the rest of life. Take it from someone who’s been there: this is a good thing.