Jacob offers a an interesting view on Starbucks as both a coffee lover and libertarian:
Coming back to the original question, my take on Starbucks has to be more nuanced than loving or hating it. Starting out by raising the bar of high end coffee, it created niche markets for even better specialty coffee retailers even as its own quality leveled off. Similarly, though it has been a homogenizing force as it has spread into every retail corner imaginable, it has left consumers with a far more diverse selection of coffee drinks and coffee houses than they had access to ten years ago.
I realize consumer culture doesn't always have such happy resolutions, but in the coffee case things seems to be working out quite nicely. The artisanal cappuccino sippers and the venti caramel macchiato gulpers can co-exist, each of them finding more possibilities for enjoyment than they've ever seen before. Drink up and be happy.
No comments:
Post a Comment