The Brand Age

Super interesting look at the conflict between building for good design and building for a good brand. Back when good design was driving watch manufacturing, a good watch was identified as one that was thin and good at telling time. Today, with brand now being what’s important, watches are no longer competing on quality but rather on how effectively they display wealth. When the game becomes about brand, dollars that would’ve been spent on production quality are instead spent on advertising.

There are many other funny - and ugly - side effects of this shift to the brand age that Paul Graham explores in this. Highly recommend reading.