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What do you call it when you try to simultaneously optimize and commoditize something? It’s a kind of categorical canonization. Like trying to make the best basic toast. St. Toast. A lot of v-commerce seems to be driving towards that. Define the category with the best unbrand.
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Things I’ve seen that fit this Socks Backpacks Underwear Shoes Notebooks A lot of premium basics that act like they’re defining the category. Seeking a sort of “by a;pointment to the Queen” cachet like those weird British brands
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i'ma thinkin' about how that kinda seems like a contradiction in terms, since the best commodities are necessarily optimized in ways that suit the commoditization process – like how tomatoes are tough to survive transport
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Great post by @altimor with a useful coinage: the Tough Tomato principle. Tomatoes were bred to be tougher than “ideal” to withstand the industrial tomato-harvesting process. Incentive systems everywhere similarly create tough tomatoes in *all* sorts of contexts twitter.com/Altimor/status…
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Not sure if this fits but the next-gen mattress companies like Casper feel a little like this: one mattress that works for everyone and is supposedly superior to the more expensive luxury brand mattresses