list a: recent products that are emblematic of a “broad societal change,” whatever that means.
iPhone
Foursquare
app markets
open source software
microbreweries
Google Maps
iTunes —> “single” culture
tumblr
online banking
DVR
social entrepreneurship
Skype
list b: cultural products which are great, or at least nice diversions, but probably don’t really indicate anything about society as whole, so stop trying to convince me they are, media; at most they’re a curiosity and at least a recurring historical archetype
Lady Gaga
boat shoes
Justin Bieber
anything fashion-related
American Idol
vinyl resurgence
chillwave
hipster runoff (<3)
‘geeks are in’
