Hunter-gatherers, he argues, could neither accumulate goods nor accumulate culture.
People buy discs, or trade MP3 files, not to accumulate goods but to hear the music they want when they want it.
Jon Pareles has it right when he says, "People buy discs, or trade MP3 files, not to accumulate goods but to hear the music they want when they want it" ["Post Mergers: A Modest Proposal," Feb. 7].
But if it's so easy to increase wellbeing by spending money to save time rather than to accumulate goods, why don't more people do it?
"We've accumulated good points but we'll probably need the same number again to qualify.
The question is whether all that accumulated good will help him hold serve any more often.
Canceling games, which angers sponsors, disgusts fans and destroys years of accumulated good will, is not the answer.
Vinny Testaverde, chosen No. 1 over all by Tampa Bay in 1987, has accumulated good numbers, but still dreams of a Super Bowl.
The question is whether all that accumulated good will — collected through black slaps and Twitter messages alike — will help him hold serve any more often.
He's mostly been in films and TV shows to date, accumulating good notices as a male prostitute in the Channel 4 adaptation of David Peace's Red Riding trilogy; a sword-wielding altar boy in the Nicolas Cage blockbuster Season of the Witch ; an oily superhero in E4's teen sci-fi show Misfits.
