Trend toward Aesthetics? Nah...

Review on Boxes and Arrows about The Substance of Style: How the Rise of Aesthetic Value Is Remaking Commerce, Culture, and Consciousness

"Postrel points out that “'form follows emotion' has supplanted 'form follows function'.” How else do you explain the success of the iMac, Volkswagen Beetle, and the Michael Graves Toaster at Target?"

Sorry, this is just rubbish. Of course form still follows function. If the iMac, Volkswagen Beetle etc didn't function exceptionally well, they'd have been a flop.

The notion that people value aesthetics more now than they did then is a misnomer. People can afford aesthetics now, where before this was a luxury. As the population becomes more affluent and companies cotton on to the fact that people have always wanted aesthetics, goods become cheaper and more aesthetic.

People in poorer countries (or westerners earlier this century) couldn't care less about aesthetics. If something works, and they can afford it, then that's enough for them. If aesthetic goods were cheap enough, they'd have those instead, because the desire for beauty and individuality is something that runs deeper than trend. It roots in the way humans value themselves. This isn't transient, in my opinion.