(Roughly) Daily

Alex Murrell on the surge of sameness all around us…

The interiors of our homes, coffee shops and restaurants all look the same. The buildings where we live and work all look the same. The cars we drive, their colours and their logos all look the same. The way we look and the way we dress all looks the same. Our movies, books and video games all look the same. And the brands we buy, their adverts, identities and taglines all look the same.

But it doesn’t end there. In the age of average, homogeneity can be found in an almost indefinite number of domains.

The Instagram pictures we post, the tweets we read, the TV we watch, the app icons we click, the skylines we see, the websites we visit and the illustrations which adorn them all look the same. The list goes on, and on, and on…

Perhaps when times are turbulent, people seek the safety of the familiar. Perhaps it’s our obsession with quantification and optimisation. Or maybe it’s the inevitable result of inspiration becoming globalised…

But it’s not all bad news.

I believe that the age of average is the age of opportunity…

Lots more mesmerizing examples: “The age of average,” from @alexjmurrell.

* Richard Feynman

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As we think different, we might recall that it was on this date in 1976 that Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne signed a partnership agreement that established the company that would become Apple Computer, Inc.– a company that was all about trumping sameness– on January 3, 1977.

Wayne left the partnership eleven days later, relinquishing his ten percent share for $2,300.

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