// μ = m // dayvan cowboy // music is math

Why is it that we relate to so many unnecessary abstract entities? I mean, I do realize processes have to be streamlined to survive in modern capitalism and that’s a Good Thing because it means cheaper, better, more available. I’m okay with Wal-Mart and McDonald’s, though I wish Sony and Panasonic or Canon were more like Behringer where the brand means something. I mean, there’s no benefit in streamlining an LG car soundsystem because there’s no streamlining being done. And while I recognize the need for reputation in assymetric information markets, I’d much rather be buying a car radio that’s from some company like Behringer, whose manuals bears the signature of Uli Behringer and you get the feeling that they do fucking care about musician-oriented sound hardware. Yes, there are options available, and good options at that, but they’re both the finer, semi-pro, more expensive stuff and they get even more expensive because small-brand stuff gets poor distribution channels.

It gets worse. I can’t drink a fancy coffee (no Starbucks in Brazil yet, but there are a few chains of fancier coffee bearing good food too) without relating to an abstract, faceless entity like Cafeína or California Coffee (these are local chains). There’s absolutely no benefit in “streamlining” these things behind a brand name because there are no actual economies of scale, there are still people making coffee out of, dunno, some creamy chocolate stuff, (hopefully) good coffee beans and magic secret recipees I could have gotten from the internet and made at home. That, of course, would beat the point of there being a coffee shop, which means “streamlining” to some point the cost of making fancy coffees (both because there are economies of scale there and because I’m lazy) and because coffee shops are a social environment where you can meet a friend without the intimacy of getting him into your home. I can’t even dye my jeans without relating to some abstract entity that might be or might not be a chain of stores, and there aren’t even economies of scale in the reputation level there: I’ve never heard of the store brand, I just want my jeans made green.

I wish I could get my jeans made green from mr. Souza or mr. Kaufmann. I wish I could get fancy coffees from some barista who sees the money potential into making fancy coffee that’s not too fancy. I wish people would invest in getting reputation to their name, not to some stupid store front name they’ve devised — and, boy, do some store front names get ridiculous, at least in Rio. It does even work for small chains that produce specialty goods and sel it in two or three stores. I buy funny t-shirts from a store stupidly named Q-Vizu, which has two or three stores, and I’d much rather be buying t-shirts from mr. Gabriel even if I don’t get to relate to mr. Gabriel most of the time. I should be able to relate to the creation team or mr. Gabriel at some time because they do have to visit the store at some time — at least the original store — to see how finances are doing (do these people control their sales from the internet at home? Have we gone that autistic?). Hell, I’ll never get to relate to Uli Behringer, but he does go out and sign his name in product manuals and say “Hey, I’m Uli Behringer and we’ve done our best to make a product that has good sound and is still cheap enough for young aspiring musicians or hobbyists not too invested into this stuff. And his stuff is streamlined in a factory. Why can’t I get to relate at some point, even if it’s at the label placed on the inside of my funny t-shirts from the stupidly named t-shirts saying “This is a creation of Such Designer for Mr. Gabriel T-Shirts”.

There’s a value proposition in getting out there and saying “this is my name and I make this stuff”. I bought a DVD I could easily have pirated from Orangefiist because I sent an email asking about international shipping prices and got a response from Mark McCrudden, one of the filmmakers himself. (They also footed the additional international shipping charges because “it still works for them”). I’m actually considering starting buying all my funny t-shirts online from people like R Stevens (who does the Diesel Sweeties comics) although it will cost me much more because of international shipping charges and the cost of living being different in the USA and Brazi. But they’re funnier and more quirky and “independent” (even if the actual shirt is printed at American Apparel), as opposed to buying from an aspiring-to-be-big brand like Q-Vizu and I get to interact often with R Stevens who sends his strips by email everyday and responds to questions, even though I never spent money with him.

Seriously, I’m a fucking economist working at some (sadly large faceless institution who adds value to my troupe’s work only because of its reputation; we could just go out as Mr. Boss Economist and His Crazy Troupe because we basically operate independently from the many other things this institution does) and I understand economies of scale in many industrial goods — I understand I can’t just send a letter to Behringer and get a response from Uli Behringer. But you know what? I sent them an email saying I tore out the sticker that came with my Behringer V-Amp (and “Behringer” gets to mean enough that I want to place a sticker on my guitar and would play with that guitar on a stage), asking whether I could get another sticker and foot the international shipping bill. They just sent me another sticker for free. Canon wouldn’t do that, Panasonic wouldn’t do that, Sony wouldn’t do that. Even if Sony sent out stickers (it’s cheap to do so), who would bother putting Sony stickers in their cars or skateboards or suitcases? And don’t get me wrong, it’s not about the stickers, I didn’t get any from Orangefiist and probably won’t get any from R Stevens, but the whole point is that the fact that I’d proudly put an Orangefiist sticker (the filmmakers/skateboardeers are a fucking collective, so a using “Orangefiist” as opposed to “Mark McCrudden” just means “the Orangefiist crew”, not “Orangefiist co.”) name means something, and besides they have some philosophical shtick to it) on my suitcase or guitar or whatever is that I’m in a relationship with Marc McCrudden and the Orangefiist crew, even if it’s a business relationship with someone who made cool DVDs of themselves skateboarding.

But I’m out on the market for a digital camer. A cheap one, not one of the professional ones, even though I’m trained as a photographer and know the basics on lenses and focusing and what additional lenses and filters I’d need for specific kinds of photography; I’m not getting into the photography hobby, I just want one that fits in my pocket like my iPod does. But all I see are cameras by Sony and Panasonic and Canon. WTF does that mean? My mother’s laser jet printer was a Canon (before she moved onto HP lasers). I can probably get Sony sneakers in some cross-brand deal with Nike.

There’s little to none cost to building reputation for a specialized brand like Behringer in the consumer camera market, and what reputation does Canon have anyway? On the other hand, there’s a lot of value to be added in a specialized brand producing consumer-market digital cameras. Behringer stoop low enough for the consumer guitar gear market. Maybe Leica is too proud to get down to it, and that’s ok, because Leica is a tradition, a veritable institution (in the better, noncommercial sense) of the photographic world. Maybe it would ruin the magic of now hard-to-find Leicas. But won’t someone step up and become the Behringer of digital cameras?

I’m probably gonna buy a Sony or Panasonic or Canon (I heard there is alternative firmware that releases great power from consumer-grade Canons on the interwebz, much like there’s alternative firmware for iPods) for the time being. But that’s a change I’d like to see in the world.

Even if I happen to find out Behringer is owned by Sony. I know Behringer makes great stuff that’s not too expensive (and worth the (small) extra price tag) for the consumer market. What the hell do I know about Sony?