> I find this worrying, really. Are we so desperate to consume that we're willing to buy shit just for sake of buying?

There's no need to worry, this isn't a sign that society is going downhill. Buying Beats for something other than sound as the primary purpose is no different than buying something purely for fashion sake, which is a centuries old human practice.

This comment reminds me of how every generation finds the next generation's actions worrying.

edit: Grandpa Simpson nailed it: "I used to be with it, but then they changed what it was. Now what I'm with isn't it, and what's it seems weird and scary to me. It'll happen to you..." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV0wTtiJygY

Yeah, makes me want to cuddle my Pet Rock till I feel better.

Why is buying headphones based on their audio quality superior to buying headphones based on their aesthetics?

Because their main job is to reproduce sound in an acceptably accurate manner? Owning a pair of Beats is like owning a Ferrari or a Porsche powered by a 75BHP 1L engine with suspension made of play-doh. Nice to look but drives like crap.

  > Because their main job is to reproduce sound in 
  > an acceptably accurate manner?

Check the frequency response graph of almost any speaker or headphone in the sub-$1,000 range (and quite a few over that price as well). Peaks and valleys all over the place. They're not trying to sound "accurate," they're trying to sound pleasing.

And this isn't even a bad thing. Just understand that sound quality isn't objective, unless you're judging things by how flat their frequency response curve is -- and the headphones/speakers trying to achieve that are generally aimed at audio engineers.

Sure, but the GBP169(!) Solo's (not tried the full sized Beats) really don't sound good (I used a pair for an afternoon and was hugely disappointed by them), they are truly the epitome of a high performance car body wrapped around a lawn mower engine. I mentioned this in another comment, my 15 quid Sennheiser CX300 buds sounded way better than these overpriced fashion statements.

I agree that sound quality isn't objective when it comes to hearing what passes through one's ear holes, but the sound reproduction that passed into my ears from these Solos was noticeably and objectively bad. I don't need a fancy graphs to tell me that.

I should add that I did actually like the construction and build of the Solos.

because headphones are for listening not for looking

Not necessarily if you're buying them as a fashion accessory, which is the whole point of the article. Beats saw a gap in the market, much as Apple did 10 years ago.

It's not for the sake of buying; it's for the sake of showing them off. Like we did with jewelry for millennia.

Or the ultimate in form-over-function: women's footwear.

And ties - what purpose do they serve other than social signals?

"And ties - what purpose do they serve other than social signals?"

Here is an answer: <exaggerate>I am the slave of my company, that's why I wear an expensive, totally useless thing around my neck, that lets me sweat in summer and breathe hard all year round. My company asks that and I do what they say, because I always do what everybody does. And I rather shit my pants than to hold the minority opinion :o)))).</exaggerate>

Well, you are right, its also a social signal.

Depends on the quality. A $300 silk tie sends a different signal to a $2 tie from a supermarket.

It's still a very expensive, very soft, noose around your neck.

You'll notice that ties are (thankfully) finally starting to die out. I've just spent a few weeks in back-to-back meetings with very senior execs, and maybe 1 our of 5 people bothered with a tie.

Industry reports show that the neckwear business is hemorrhaging after peaking in 1995. Good riddance.

Useful for blowing your nose on?

I suppose if you wear one around your head it signals something, socially.

Did you just time-travel here from the 1930s?

Our consumer culture (good and bad) goes all the way back to the post-war boom.

Tell ya what, I'll get off your lawn if you get off mine... :-)