When credit is cheaper to use and easier to arrange, people do use more of it. — Virginia Postrel Copy Share Image
Persuasion has become a kind of force. The more the advertiser knows about what consumers want, and the more desires the product… — Virginia Postrel Copy Share Image
More than two decades after the birth of Louise Brown, and all the hysteria that surrounded her 'test tube' conception, we should… — Virginia Postrel Copy Share Image
The profusion of fonts is one more product of the digital revolution. Beginning in the mid-'80s and accelerating in the 1990s, type… — Virginia Postrel Copy Share Image
By binding image and desire, glamour gives us pleasure, even as it heightens our yearning. It leads us to feel that the… — Virginia Postrel Copy Share Image
Airline glamour never promised anything as mundane as elbow room, much less a flat bed, a massage, or an arugula salad. It… — Virginia Postrel Copy Share Image
Chains do more than bargain down prices from suppliers or divide fixed costs across a lot of units. They rapidly spread economic… — Virginia Postrel Copy Share Image
The history of the Internet is not, as some people have tried to make it, a libertarian just-so story. It is a… — Virginia Postrel Copy Share Image
Glamour is all about transcending this world and getting to an idealized, perfect place. And this is one reason that modes of… — Virginia Postrel Copy Share Image
Americans hate their cable companies - for bumbling installers, on-again-off-again transmissions, peculiar channel selections, and indifferent customer service. The only thing cable… — Virginia Postrel Copy Share Image
The elements that create glamour are not specific styles - bias-cut gowns or lacquered furniture - but more general qualities: grace, mystery,… — Virginia Postrel Copy Share Image
'CSI' has not only remained a top-rated show through seven seasons; it has had real-world consequences. Police and prosecutors complain of a… — Virginia Postrel Copy Share Image
The low point for neon came in 1982, when Holiday Inn did away with its signature 'Great Sign,' replacing the neon extravaganza with a… — Virginia Postrel Copy Share
'The Matrix' is a movie that is all about glamour. I could do a whole talk on 'The Matrix' and glamour. It was criticized… — Virginia Postrel Copy Share
“Design is not style. It’s not about giving shape to the shell and not giving a damn about the guts. Good design is a… — Virginia Postrel Copy Share
Persuasion has become a kind of force. The more the advertiser knows about what consumers want, and the more desires the product and packaging… — Virginia Postrel Copy Share
When credit is cheaper to use and easier to arrange, people do use more of it. — Virginia Postrel Copy Share
Glamour is a beautiful illusion - the word 'glamour' originally meant a literal magic spell - that promises to transcend ordinary life and make… — Virginia Postrel Copy Share
A standard 'well woman' checkup can last as little as 10 minutes, hardly time for any in-depth discussions. — Virginia Postrel Copy Share
When I was in college, I wanted to be editor of 'Reason' when I grew up. It was an impractical ambition, especially since the… — Virginia Postrel Copy Share
A lot of consumers actively enjoy advertising, especially fashion print ads and clever TV commercials. The nostalgic cable channel TVLand features not only vintage… — Virginia Postrel Copy Share
“Functionality still matters, of course. But competition has pushed quality so high and prices so low that many manufacturers can no longer distinguish themselves… — Virginia Postrel Copy Share
Like the skyscraper, the automobile, and the motion-picture palace, neon signs once symbolized popular hopes for a new era of technological achievement and commercial… — Virginia Postrel Copy Share
When 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' premiered on the WB Network in 1996, American culture was in trouble. Americans were bowling alone, pursuing individual interests… — Virginia Postrel Copy Share
The glamour of air travel - its aspirational meaning in the public imagination - disappeared before its luxury did, dissipating as flying gradually became… — Virginia Postrel Copy Share
Behind the criticism of fashion as an artistic medium is a highly ideological prejudice: against markets, against consumers, against the dynamism of Western commercial… — Virginia Postrel Copy Share
