Project For a Cooperative Society

SharperImage.com

Date of Account: mid-2000s

Account

It's hard to watch even a bit of cable television these days without coming across the Sharper Image infomercial for its "Ionic Breeze" air purifier. I purchased one of these pricey units and tried it in my home.

For the length of time normally occupied by a television program, Sharper Image actors do their damndest to persuade the consuming public that the Ionic Breeze is the air purifier to purchase. Their description of its operation and praise of its benefits are about as glowing as can be.

However, during the entire infomercial, Sharper Image conveniently forgets to mention, even once, not even in small print at screen bottom, that this device produces ozone as a by-product of its operation. Ozone is considered unhealthy to breathe, especially for senior citizens, infants, or anyone whose immune system may be compromised or undeveloped.

Sharper Images does mention the ozone briefly in the user guide--which one gets only after going through the trouble of purchasing the product!

The long infomercial also neglects to mention, even once, that the unit produces a strong and distinct odor, because of the ozone that is produced. Ozone smells! Again, the user booklet does mention the odor, advising to switch the unit to a lower filtration setting if the smell is bothersome (it is). Of course, doing this reduces the air-cleaning efficacy of the unit!

Moreover, in its May 2005 issue, Consumer Reports magazine reported that five Ionic Breeze models are actually ineffective at their raison d'etre: cleaning the air!

. . . . .

Update: in a de facto admission that ozone production is of concern, Sharper Image now includes a technology called OzoneGuard on some of its models. The consumers who bought their Ionic Breeze when first introduced, or anytime until now, and who have been breathing in ozone all this time? Tough luck, I guess.

One of the key pernicious aspects of capitalism is that safety is not its first concern--profit is.

Analysis

The Ionic Breeze air purifier without OzoneGuard appears as a product that was released prematurely, before all its safety bugs had been addressed and resolved. This is routinely done under capitalism because the company that brings a given product to market first often reaps great economic rewards in the form of inital sales and access to a brand new market, association with that kind of product in the minds of consumers, increases in share price for publicly-held companies, advantages in acquiring related licensing deals, and other respects. Thus does capitalism provide powerful, indeed irrestistable, incentives for companies to release products prematurely, all other considerations--including safety--be damned.

The Ionic Breeze with OzoneGuard technology, and the technology itself, must be studied to determine efficacy, and whether purchase of even these models is warranted. Even supposing ozone by-product has been eliminated, there remains the question of general product efficacy, relative to competing products.

Moreover, and of equal importance, how can we again trust Sharper Image? My long-standing faith in this company has been shaken. If its owners or the managers who act on their behalf would be so callous about our health in this instance, I must wonder which other of the many devices and gadgets they sell are potentially harmful, too.

We now know that we can't trust them to tell us.

The value of this account is its role as reminder and corroboration that the overriding concern of the ruling class, no matter the industry or product, is profit accumulation and indeed maximization, and "successful" competition--not safety. Those who will be hurt--the elderly, the infirm, infants, or others, is not of decisive importance to those who ultimately control resources under the economically and morally obsolete system of capitalism.

Another key point of this account is the illustration of the continuing breakdown of trust between people and in society, driven by profit-hungry owners who do whatever it takes to bring in as much money as possible, as fast as possible. These corporations, large or small, are often owned or run by people with large and powerful egos, under intense two-fold pressure from shareholders and competitors, alike, as well as family, lifestyle, and their own compulsive internal instruction to "win." There is simply no way in most cases that they will--or even could--succumb to lofty but largely economically irrelevant notions such as morality, safety, beauty, sensitivity, trust, or love.

I write "or even could" because the fact is that capitalism makes the accumulation of profit a legal mandate for every company, at least those publicly-traded: under threat of prosecution, each such company has a "fiduciary responsibility" to make as much money as possible for its shareholders! Have you ever heard Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton railing against this directive and advocating its abolition?

If you desire a society meaningfully and genuinely characterized by the beautiful notions delineated above, you must join One Human Family to help our species transition from capitalism to a cooperative, love-centered family system of providing for each others' needs!

Note, February 2008

Here's another example of the value of this account: Commentators are predicting another economic downturn in the United States; this evening I heard on the radio that Sharper Image has gone bankrupt, apparently one of the first wave of pre-recession casualties. In the jungle of capitalism, every competitor, or "animal," tries its hardest to survive and flourish by getting a leg up on its competition and thereby more quickly and effectively reaching its "prey," whether the largest possible market share or control or ownership of a competitor. In this case Sharper Image tried by trying to persuade consumers to buy an unsafe product brought prematurely to market, but couldn't escape the reality that capitalism is so cutthroat that the predator of one creature is the prey of another. Thus, Sharper Image, itself, had a predator: the marketplace.

In the case of Sharper Image, and many other companies that will fall victim to the recession before it's through, the recession itself, a recurring and unavoidable characteristic and fact of life under capitalism, was the predator. Or, as the Qui Gon Jin character in Star Wars put it: "There's always a bigger fish." Sometimes that fish is a competitor in the marketplace, and sometimes that "bigger fish" is the marketplace, itself.

Ironically, even as the Sharper Image sought to prey on consumers by zealously marketing an unsafe product, the company was in the crosshairs of another predator, the marketplace, itself, in the form of the common market characteristic called "recession," that sought to, and indeed did, prey on *it*. The point? It all illustrates the economic and social folly of capitalism, a system based on division and chaos, not unity, and moral and economic logic.

	APPLIANCES REAL LIFE ACCOUNTS
	SharperImage.com Date of Account: mid-2000s Account It's hard to watch even a bit of cable television these days without coming across the Sharper Image infomercial for its "Ionic Breeze" air purifier. I purchased one of these pricey units and tried it in my home. For the length of time normally occupied by a television program, Sharper Image actors do their damndest to persuade the consuming public that the Ionic Breeze is the air purifier to purchase. Their description of its operation and praise of its benefits are about as glowing as can be. However, during the entire infomercial, Sharper Image conveniently forgets to mention, even once, not even in small print at screen bottom, that this device produces ozone as a by-product of its operation. Ozone is considered unhealthy to breathe, especially for senior citizens, infants, or anyone whose immune system may be compromised or undeveloped. Sharper Images does mention the ozone briefly in the user guide--which one gets only after going through the trouble of purchasing the product! The long infomercial also neglects to mention, even once, that the unit produces a strong and distinct odor, because of the ozone that is produced. Ozone smells! Again, the user booklet does mention the odor, advising to switch the unit to a lower filtration setting if the smell is bothersome (it is). Of course, doing this reduces the air-cleaning efficacy of the unit! Moreover, in its May 2005 issue, Consumer Reports magazine reported that five Ionic Breeze models are actually ineffective at their raison d'etre: cleaning the air! . . . . . Update: in a de facto admission that ozone production is of concern, Sharper Image now includes a technology called OzoneGuard on some of its models. The consumers who bought their Ionic Breeze when first introduced, or anytime until now, and who have been breathing in ozone all this time? Tough luck, I guess. One of the key pernicious aspects of capitalism is that safety is not its first concern--profit is. Analysis The Ionic Breeze air purifier without OzoneGuard appears as a product that was released prematurely, before all its safety bugs had been addressed and resolved. This is routinely done under capitalism because the company that brings a given product to market first often reaps great economic rewards in the form of inital sales and access to a brand new market, association with that kind of product in the minds of consumers, increases in share price for publicly-held companies, advantages in acquiring related licensing deals, and other respects. Thus does capitalism provide powerful, indeed irrestistable, incentives for companies to release products prematurely, all other considerations--including safety--be damned. The Ionic Breeze with OzoneGuard technology, and the technology itself, must be studied to determine efficacy, and whether purchase of even these models is warranted. Even supposing ozone by-product has been eliminated, there remains the question of general product efficacy, relative to competing products. Moreover, and of equal importance, how can we again trust Sharper Image? My long-standing faith in this company has been shaken. If its owners or the managers who act on their behalf would be so callous about our health in this instance, I must wonder which other of the many devices and gadgets they sell are potentially harmful, too. We now know that we can't trust them to tell us. The value of this account is its role as reminder and corroboration that the overriding concern of the ruling class, no matter the industry or product, is profit accumulation and indeed maximization, and "successful" competition--not safety. Those who will be hurt--the elderly, the infirm, infants, or others, is not of decisive importance to those who ultimately control resources under the economically and morally obsolete system of capitalism. Another key point of this account is the illustration of the continuing breakdown of trust between people and in society, driven by profit-hungry owners who do whatever it takes to bring in as much money as possible, as fast as possible. These corporations, large or small, are often owned or run by people with large and powerful egos, under intense two-fold pressure from shareholders and competitors, alike, as well as family, lifestyle, and their own compulsive internal instruction to "win." There is simply no way in most cases that they will--or even could--succumb to lofty but largely economically irrelevant notions such as morality, safety, beauty, sensitivity, trust, or love. I write "or even could" because the fact is that capitalism makes the accumulation of profit a legal mandate for every company, at least those publicly-traded: under threat of prosecution, each such company has a "fiduciary responsibility" to make as much money as possible for its shareholders! Have you ever heard Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton railing against this directive and advocating its abolition? If you desire a society meaningfully and genuinely characterized by the beautiful notions delineated above, you must join One Human Family to help our species transition from capitalism to a cooperative, love-centered family system of providing for each others' needs! Note, February 2008 Here's another example of the value of this account: Commentators are predicting another economic downturn in the United States; this evening I heard on the radio that Sharper Image has gone bankrupt, apparently one of the first wave of pre-recession casualties. In the jungle of capitalism, every competitor, or "animal," tries its hardest to survive and flourish by getting a leg up on its competition and thereby more quickly and effectively reaching its "prey," whether the largest possible market share or control or ownership of a competitor. In this case Sharper Image tried by trying to persuade consumers to buy an unsafe product brought prematurely to market, but couldn't escape the reality that capitalism is so cutthroat that the predator of one creature is the prey of another. Thus, Sharper Image, itself, had a predator: the marketplace. In the case of Sharper Image, and many other companies that will fall victim to the recession before it's through, the recession itself, a recurring and unavoidable characteristic and fact of life under capitalism, was the predator. Or, as the Qui Gon Jin character in Star Wars put it: "There's always a bigger fish." Sometimes that fish is a competitor in the marketplace, and sometimes that "bigger fish" is the marketplace, itself. Ironically, even as the Sharper Image sought to prey on consumers by zealously marketing an unsafe product, the company was in the crosshairs of another predator, the marketplace, itself, in the form of the common market characteristic called "recession," that sought to, and indeed did, prey on it. The point? It all illustrates the economic and social folly of capitalism, a system based on division and chaos, not unity, and moral and economic logic.
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