Another Example of Status
I happen to be have a fairly easy extension number - the 2 same digits, followed by the preceeding digit repeated. I was allocated the number by random in the place that I am currently working, and within two weeks of being allocated it, I was offered a 3 figure sum (in dollars, not Dirhams) for it. I didn't think this wholly professional and declined. However, you can see the lengths that people will go to to attain something considered "status worthy" in the UAE. It wouldn't have been particularly if I had told you about mobile numbers - those get traded all the time. And "special" car number plates are an ultimate symbol of power, assuming you have the right colour...
The reason I got thinking of this was due to a little experiment called One Thousand Paintings. I'm not sure that it is a status thing, but it does have that "got to have one before they run out" mixed in with the million dollar home page. Who knows? Maybe this guy, Sama, will get lucky. Think he sold close to 50 today, at a total of 175. And if it does get successful,watch the bandwagon follow suit, with the same concept being copied by someone out here, selling the same in Arabic numerals or the like. Creativity or a Con, I'm itching to see whether it reaches 1000, which no doubt it will. And then the "collector's item" will be auctioned on ebay, or perhaps Sama has other ideas to bolt onto this, so that the numeral paintings are actually worth their value. Markets eh?
The reason I got thinking of this was due to a little experiment called One Thousand Paintings. I'm not sure that it is a status thing, but it does have that "got to have one before they run out" mixed in with the million dollar home page. Who knows? Maybe this guy, Sama, will get lucky. Think he sold close to 50 today, at a total of 175. And if it does get successful,watch the bandwagon follow suit, with the same concept being copied by someone out here, selling the same in Arabic numerals or the like. Creativity or a Con, I'm itching to see whether it reaches 1000, which no doubt it will. And then the "collector's item" will be auctioned on ebay, or perhaps Sama has other ideas to bolt onto this, so that the numeral paintings are actually worth their value. Markets eh?
posted by grapeshisha at 12:53 AM
4 Comments:
I'm looking forward to seeing how Sala's experiment fares as well. It reminds me of the 2000Bricks project, which is also starting to take off.
Yeah, it's a great idea that will split into two camps - the sceptics and lovers. I want to see what happens afterwards - if Sala has something up his sleeve, it would be very very interesting. I want to see if the mainstream press pick up on it before it reached 1000!
Seth Godin also called it perfectly viral - it is!
I was instantly stuck by the coolness of the 1000 paintings project (and quickly snapped up '365' in the first batch of 100, getting a nice discount in the process). Like you, I can't help but compare it to the quirky, once-in-a-lifetime collectibility of the million dollar homepage. They're selling quickly, and I'm sure mainstream press attention will not be far behind.
I graphed the sales history of One Thousand Paintings and posted the results at 2000 Bricks. It's interesting stuff.
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