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Articles & Essays
ARTICLES
MakerBot's Meta-Tools
Fast Company, January, 2012
Politics As Entertainment
The New York Times Magazine, January 4, 2012
The Dog Ate My Paycheck
Marketplace, December 16, 2011
Recognizably Anonymous
Slate, December 8, 2011
A Visual Object for the Digital Era
The Atlantic, December 2011
The New York Times, October 23, 2011
MoMA.org, October 21, 2011
The Atlantic, September 2011
Marketplace, August 18, 2011
The New York Times Magazine, August 5, 2011
The New York Times Magazine, July 15, 2011
Slate, July 5, 2011
Marketplace, June 16, 2011
Slate, May 31, 2011
Marketplace, May 23, 2011
Marketplace, March 31, 2011
Slate, March 22, 2011
The Sound of Radiolab
The New York Times Magazine, April 7, 2011
Ghosts In The Machine
The New York Times Magazine, January 9, 2011
The Unlikely Success of Boing Boing
Fast Company, December 2010/January 2010
Taking Lulz (Sort of) Seriously
The New York Times Magazine, July 16, 2010
The Song Decoders
The New York Times Magazine, October 14, 2009
Tobias Wong on Consuming Consumer Consumption
Theme, December 2007/January 2008
Can A Dead Brand Live Again?
The New York Times Magazine, May 18, 2008
Handmade 2.0
The New York Times Magazine, December 16, 2007
TV Land
The New York Times Magazine, March 18, 2007
The Guts of a New Machine
The New York Times Magazine, November 30, 2003
CONSUMED
Fun Stuff (Digital Collections)
The New York Times Magazine, February 11, 2011
Go Figure (Scalies)
The New York Times Magazine, February 4, 2011
Global Entertainment (Digital Maps)
The New York Times Magazine, December 30, 2010
Hearing Things (Music Objects)
The New York Times Magazine, September 10, 2010
Brilliant Mistakes (Digital Antiquing)
The New York Times Magazine, July 25, 2010
Valuing $0 (Gifts)
The New York Times Magazine, May 13, 2010
Rewind (The Cassette)
The New York Times Magazine, April 23, 2010
Slightly Used (Best Made Ax)
The New York Times Magazine, April 3, 2010
Stuffed (Hoarders)
The New York Times Magazine, December 17, 2009
Immaterialism (Digital Goods)
The New York Times Magazine, April 29, 2009
The Accidental Icon (Fail Whale)
The New York Times Magazine, February 12, 2009
Venturesome Consumers (The iFart App)
The New York Times Magazine, January 28, 2009
Talk Is Cheap (The "New Frugality")
The New York Times Magazine, December 12, 2008
Subliminal Branding (Team Speedo USA Parka)
The New York Times Magazine, October 3, 2008
Shared Memories (Scrapbooks, physical and digital)
The New York Times Magazine, September 12, 2008
This Joke's For You (Brawndo)
The New York Times Magazine, May 4, 2008
Things That Look Like Other Things (Handsoaps)
The New York Times Magazine, January 13, 2008
Imaginary Brands (Last Exit To Nowhere T-shirts)
The New York Times Magazine, November 18, 2007
Timeless Object (Counterfunctional watches)
The New York Times Magazine, October 28, 2007
Not Necessarily Toast (Back To Basics Egg & Muffin Toaster)
The New York Times Magazine, April 8, 2007
Merchant Memories (Mall of America Souvenir Merch)
The New York Times Magazine, March 4, 2007
Unconsumption (Freecycle)
The New York Times Magazine, January 7, 2007
Animal Pragmatism ("Critter" Wine Labels)
The New York Times Magazine, April 23, 2006
Original Tastemaker (Ladies' Home Journal Houses)
The New York Times Magazine, March 5, 2006
The Story of O's (Cheerios)
The New York Times Magazine, February 19, 2006
For Kicks (SBTG Customized Sneakers)
The New York Times Magazine, March 3, 2005
Making Babies (Reborn Dolls)
The New York Times Magazine, February 2, 2005
The Good, The Plaid and The Ugly (The "chav" hat.)
The New York Times Magazine, January 2, 2005
Pattern Recognition (Realtree High Definition Camouflage)
The New York Times Magazine, October 17, 2004
The Filth Epiphany (Dyson vacuums)
The New York Times Magazine, August 8, 2004
COMMENTARY & ESSAYS
Marketplace, November 29, 2011
Disliking "Dislike"
Marketplace, March 31, 2011
Collecting: Bicentennial Quarters
DesignObserver.com December 9, 2010
The Hidden: Filtering "Friends" On Facebook
TheAtlatntic.com, October 4, 2010
Clutter, Objects, Joy
Murketing.com, March 4, 2010
Shopping Our Way To Safety (Review)
The Journal of Industrial Ecology, February 2010
Site and Sound: One Home, Sixteen Objects and the Things We Listen to Now
Essay for Rewind, Remix, Replay exhibition at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, January 20, 2010
Noted, Without Noteworthiness (The End of the '00s)
The Awl, December 23, 2009
Balloons (Part of a package on favorite toys)
I.D., September 2009
Active vs. Passive: Forward to Ad Nauseam
Murketing.com, June 2009
If You Follow Me I Will Follow You Back ("Blowing Up The Brand" NYU keynote)
Murketing.com, May 8, 2009
Surface Effects (2005 essay for Shepard Fairey's Supply & Demand)
Murketing.com, 2005
Why We Laff
The New York Times Magazine, December 28, 2003
Let There Be Lite
The New York Times Magazine, December 29, 2002
Me, My Brand, and I
The New York Times Magazine, May 14, 2000
Fauxhemian Rhapsody
The New York Times Magazine, January 23, 2000
Rob Walker is a technology/culture columnist for Yahoo News. He is the former Consumed columnist for The New York Times Magazine, and has contributed to many publications. He is co-editor (with Joshua Glenn) of the book Significant Objects: 100 Extraordinary Stories About Ordinary Things, and author of Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are. Recent Essay
Street Life
In praise of street art that draws attention to more than just itself.Recent Book
Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are
Rob Walker
Random House, 2008
More Books >>
Other Essays: 2010-2012
MakerBot's Meta-Tools
Fast Company, January 2012
Politics As Entertainment
The New York Times Magazine, January 4, 2012
The Dog Ate My Paycheck
Marketplace, December 16, 2011
Recognizably Anonymous
December 8, 2011: Slate
A Visual Object for the Digital Era
December 2011: The Atlantic
What Percent Are You, Really?
November 29, 2011: Marketplace
The Machine That Makes You Musical
October 23, 2011: The New York Times
The Cult of Bang & Olufsen
October 2011: Wired
4CP Friday: Effacement
September 2011: HiLobrow
Replacement Therapy
September 2011: The Atlantic
Not All Consumers Are Equal
August 18, 2011: Marketplace
The Trivialities and Transcendence of Kickstarter
August 5, 2011: The New York Times Magazine
The Swan Song of the Top 40
July 15, 2011: The New York Times Magazine
Foursquare's Branding With Badges
July 5, 2011: Slate
Failure Chic
June 16, 2011: Marketplace
Hiring "the crowd" for a design job
May 31, 2011: Slate
Advertising that's "relevant" — but to whom?
May 23, 2011: Marketplace
Disliking "Dislike"
March 31, 2011: Marketplace
The Propaganda of Concern
March 22, 2011: Slate
The Sound of Radiolab
The New York Times Magazine, April 7, 2011
Disliking "Dislike"
Marketplace, March 31, 2011
Fun Stuff (Digital Collections)
The New York Times Magazine, February 11, 2011
Go Figure (Scalies)
The New York Times Magazine, February 4, 2011
Ghosts In The Machine
The New York Times Magazine, January 9, 2011
Collecting: Bicentennial Quarters
DesignObserver.com December 9, 2010
Go Figure (Scalies)
The New York Times Magazine, February 4, 2011
The Hidden: Filtering "Friends" On Facebook
TheAtlatntic.com, October 4, 2010
Hearing Things (Music Objects)
The New York Times Magazine, September 10, 2010
Taking Lulz (Sort of) Seriously
The New York Times Magazine, July 16, 2010
Brilliant Mistakes (Digital Antiquing)
The New York Times Magazine, July 25, 2010
Valuing $0 (Gifts)
The New York Times Magazine, May 13, 2010
Rewind (The Cassette)
The New York Times Magazine, April 23, 2010
Slightly Used (Best Made Ax)
The New York Times Magazine, April 3, 2010
Clutter, Objects, Joy
Murketing.com, March 4, 2010
Shopping Our Way To Safety (Review)
The Journal of Industrial Ecology, February 2010
The Unlikely Success of Boing Boing
Fast Company, December 2010/January 2010
Site and Sound: One Home, Sixteen Objects and the Things We Listen to Now
Essay for Rewind, Remix, Replay exhibition at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, January 20, 2010
Complete List >>
DESIGN OBSERVER JOBS
BLOGROLL
Aesthetics of Joy
Arkitip Intel
The Awl
Bem Legaus
Beyond The Beyond (Bruce Sterling)
BLDG BLOG
Box Vox
CratyPod
Contained
Deep Glamour
Disquiet
HiLobrow
HUH
Know Your Meme
Marginal Utility
More Intelligent Life
Mind Hacks
99% Invisible
Not A Real Thing
Poppytalk
Product Displacement
Sociological Images
Sunday Magazine
Things That Look Like Other Things
Things Magazine
Unconsumption
Uni Watch
Videogum
War Dog Of The Week
ROB WALKER: RECOMMENDED BOOKS
Alien Phenomenology: Or, What It's Like To Be A ThingIan Bogost
Believing Is Seeing: Observations on the Mysteries of PhotographyErrol Morris
Still Life with Oysters and Lemon: On Objects and IntimacyMark Doty
Program or Be ProgrammedDouglas Rushkoff
UnmarketableAnne Elizabeth Moore
Beautiful LosersAaron Rose & Christian Strike
Obsessive Consumption: What Did You Buy Today?Kate Bingaman-Burt
Air Guitar: Essays on Art & DemocracyDave Hickey
The Sponsored Life: Ads, TV, and American CultureLeslie Savan
Fables Of Abundance: A Cultural History Of Advertising In AmericaJackson Lears
