NPR: Who Said Shopping Wasn't a Spectator Sport?

Who Said Shopping Wasn't a Spectator Sport?

My friend at Cool Hunting pointed me to an addictive site. ThisWorld is an interactive map of the Earth that shows who is shopping for what and where. It's part of a new social networking site called ThisNext, where people can recommend stuff to their friends. That's fine, but watching bored consumers shop in real-time has me screaming at the computer like I'm at a hockey game.

"Hey. Dude in China. You're paying too much for that coffeemaker!"

"Come on, UK hipster. Pirate boots?"

I watched a surfer in Redwood City, Calif., flip through shoe after shoe until he seemed to stop at some gold lame sneakers. Do none of these people listen to me?

I suppose there's something I should be learning here. People around the world buy the same crap. Literally. Someone in San Francisco was shopping for coffee-scented soap in the shape of dog poo. Oh Internet, you never disappoint me.

Watch people shop in real-time at ThisWorld.

ThisNext.com

- Robert Smith

5:44 PM ET | 08- 8-2007 | permalink

Send a Comment

Comments are reviewed and edited by NPR prior to display. All comments will be read, but not all will be posted.

NPR reserves the right to read on the air and/or publish on its Web site or in any medium now known or unknown the e-mails and letters that we receive. We may edit them for clarity or brevity and identify authors by name and location. For additional information, please consult our Terms of Use.

E-mail this Page

Recipient's e-mail address:	» Up to twelve addresses, separated by commas.
Your e-mail address:
Your name:
Personal message (optional, 600 characters max):
Your NPR member station:	» List of local stations (PDF)
Are you a member of your local NPR station?	Yes No
Would you like to receive information from your local NPR member station? (see NPR's privacy policy)	Yes No
May we contact you with information about NPR programming and services? (see NPR's privacy policy)	Yes No

(Information collected by NPR will be used solely for internal NPR or NPR member station purposes and only if you selected 'yes' above. See NPR's privacy policy for more information.)

Tom Regan

Blogger

About Us

This year's election cycle has been one of the most exciting in memory. At the NPR News Blog we'll do our best to bring you interesting, informative -- and controversial -- stories from our own reporters and bloggers, as well as the rest of the best of the Internet and blogosphere. And we hope you'll let us know what you think as well.

Want to learn more? Be sure to read our Frequently Asked Questions and our discussion guidelines.