For me it was Sharper Image. I am a gadget freak and for a time they dominated that space both through their catalog and brick and mortar. Alas, the Internet has changed a lot of things, including them.
I really liked this piece. I also have a writing job that I have to explain to people constantly - but unlike Seinfeld, our biggest media representation was fucking Dilbert (Tina the technical writer).
I don’t know what else I wanted to say. I fought with my phone and made a substack account though because it made me sentimental and curious about a man I didn’t know existed, a career I also didn’t know existed*, in an era I wasn’t alive for. It’s also the only time I’ve ever read a whole article that was sent to me on a mailing list.
I agree with him on the topic of images, too. It’s better for us to use diagrams than screenshots. Screenshots can come out looking awful or dated. Even if a sketch is also dated, it has a better chance of being a style choice than just “this is a picture taken on April 9, 2029”.
*But now that you’ve written it down, of course that career exists.
Weird, I never did get a J. Peterman catalog back in the day; I wonder why, it would have been right up my alley as a consumer.
Your recounting does sound a fair bit like another one of those 80's catalog offerings: DAK Industries. I loved getting those in the mail and bought a bunch of stuff from them. I even still have my DAK Breadmaker stashed away in a cabinet; I made a lot of bread in that little R2D2 baker on my counter https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/~nUAAOSwUyZj6R~O/s-l1200.png
just gotta figure out a replacement gasket for the bottom of the pan...
For me it was Sharper Image. I am a gadget freak and for a time they dominated that space both through their catalog and brick and mortar. Alas, the Internet has changed a lot of things, including them.
I really liked this piece. I also have a writing job that I have to explain to people constantly - but unlike Seinfeld, our biggest media representation was fucking Dilbert (Tina the technical writer).
I don’t know what else I wanted to say. I fought with my phone and made a substack account though because it made me sentimental and curious about a man I didn’t know existed, a career I also didn’t know existed*, in an era I wasn’t alive for. It’s also the only time I’ve ever read a whole article that was sent to me on a mailing list.
I agree with him on the topic of images, too. It’s better for us to use diagrams than screenshots. Screenshots can come out looking awful or dated. Even if a sketch is also dated, it has a better chance of being a style choice than just “this is a picture taken on April 9, 2029”.
*But now that you’ve written it down, of course that career exists.
Weird, I never did get a J. Peterman catalog back in the day; I wonder why, it would have been right up my alley as a consumer.
Your recounting does sound a fair bit like another one of those 80's catalog offerings: DAK Industries. I loved getting those in the mail and bought a bunch of stuff from them. I even still have my DAK Breadmaker stashed away in a cabinet; I made a lot of bread in that little R2D2 baker on my counter https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/~nUAAOSwUyZj6R~O/s-l1200.png
just gotta figure out a replacement gasket for the bottom of the pan...