The Car That Killed Glamour - Tesla and the end of the automobile as an object of desire

THE ATLANTIC:

Just as the smartphone has become a centralized, standardized window onto the world, so soon the automobile might soon do the same. There, fantasy and ideals—even foolish ones wrought by the lure of advertising—become invalid rather than just misguided. Why bother cultivating an identity defined in part around an automobile when the automobile is poised to become a mere appliance, a commodity for conveyance? Better to redirect that energy toward your new Apple Car app or your Uber X flexworker microbusiness or your favorite data-harvestable, Google-operated pastime. Silicon Valley’s dispatch of automotive aspiration doesn’t end aspiration, it just redirects it—back toward Silicon Valley.

It’s no wonder we lust after Italian automotive design...

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