[hmkpoker]

I will also point out that businesses are not alien to the idea that Barry Schwartz is talking about. They spend a lot of money getting crackpot psychologists just like him to figure out what will make people want their product. It's called marketing.

Sometimes consumers are happier with less choice, but sometimes they want more. For example, if I buy a car (something I don't understand particularly well), I will test drive a handful of models and say "that one." I spend very little time fussing over the details. If I buy a computer on the other hand, I want to know every nook and cranny of every piece I'm buying. I want to analyze all the motherboards, processors, and hard drives on the market and build my computer. I did this a few years ago, and I was very proud of my purchase. I'm sure that if I felt the same way about cars, I could have busted my butt to customize a car in a similar fashion. But I didn't, so I went with a simple choice.

The point is that there are different markets within markets. There are computers for casual, tech-dumb bozos and computers for geeks. A casual user will go to an electronics store, talk to a salesperson, and select from a handful of main display computers. A very knowledgeable user will buy a computer like the stereo buyer in Schwartz's lecture.