Veblen does the iPad: The ipadification and the technologies of conspicuous consumption

Thorstein Veblen was one of the great scholars of the twentieth century. Indeed, his most famous concept has entered the realm of cliché: conspicuous consumption. Yet the density of his prose has meant that his wider arguments about waste, class and capitalism have not travelled well into the 21st century. Therefore, this article combines the great scholar of the 20th century with one of the oddest products of the 21st century: the iPad. Exploring why the iPad emerged -- in multiple versions -- through the global economic crisis, Veblen's theories of waste gain both renewed effectiveness and application.