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Saturday, January 21, 2006

Demystification through avoidance

I had bought a few items off eBay before, but never sold anything. So one evening I logged on, scrolled around to find information about selling and after about five minutes gave up.

This happened several times, until the obvious dawned on me - I didn't want to spend the time to learn how to post something on eBay. It was never going to happen. - "Demystifying the eBay Selling Experience," New York Times, January 21, 2005
Anyone who has sold on eBay must chuckle at the suggestion that it is an arcane and mysterious process. Given as many column inches and the same headline, I could write a decent primer on selling (perhaps a project for a different rainy day). The Times reporter has written about how to avoid and subcontract around a process she has not even bothered to explore. Indeed, one could suggest that branding something as mysterious without looking into it isn't consistent with the highest standards of reporting (which, as we know, the NYT always follows), although I would never make such a petty suggestion.

This is demystification through avoidance. It is akin to writing about "Demystifying the New Car Buying Process" by saying "I knew I would never want to negotiate the price of a new car, so I went and bought a Saturn."

I'm all for recognizing one's likes and dislikes, but is there any quality less appealing than timidity? But that's another topic for later.


posted at 12:47 PM

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