Tom Standage: “We worked our way through the samples, writing scores for each one. None of us could detect any odor, even when swilling water around in large wine glasses, but other differences between the waters were instantly apparent. Between sips, we cleansed our palates with wine. (It seemed only fair, since water serves the same function at a wine tasting.) ¶ The variation between waters was wide, yet the water from the tap did not stand out: only one of us correctly identified it. This simple experiment seemed to confirm that most people cannot tell the difference between tap water and bottled water. Yet they buy it anyway - and in enormous quantities.”
He goes on to say that bottled water is bad for the environment (the energy required to keep it cold, the plastic bottles making their way to the dump, etc.) and talks about drinking bottled water as a lifestyle. He then complains that despite blind taste tests comparing bottled water to tap water, there is no clear winner (pun intended). Also, ... worries about those in poor nations that have access to no clean water at all, and if they spent one fourth they did on bottled water, people could build sanitation and provide water for millions. But as Malcolm Gladwell noted in Blink, people don't taste things blind. Part of the experience of drinking a branded product is tied up in the visual brand. If celebrities and cool people are doing it, and the cool people around you are doing it, then so will you. Well, if you're that type of person. The main benefit of bottled water is cold water now. I drink bottled water, but I bottle it myself from water in the fridge left there overnight. So why he ignores the main reason I think most people buy bottled water to make a political point (a good political point, mind you), weakens his case.
Anil Dash has written about bottled water at length a couple of years ago, and last year pointed to evidence that it's full of bacteria.
It's mentioned that "people d
greg richardson — Thu, 2005-08-04 06:56It's mentioned that "people don't drink a branded product blind..." I think the point of the original article was that water is water and therefore shouldn't be a branded product. If you think of water as "like air" then consuming certain waters over others seems really absurd. And just b/c something is the way it is doesn't mean it's not open to question. So if we're at a place where the plastic strip on the bottle is more important than the quality of what's in the bottle, then that's not good. So if "people don't drink a branded product blind" then they should change; they 've been hoodwinked.
My point was that Standage do
Richard — Thu, 2005-08-04 07:14My point was that Standage does not directly address the argument, as you do well, that the tasting experience is in part determined by the visual look of something. The example from Blink is that Pepsi was beating Coke in blind taste tests, but only because the test was blind. People still preferred Coke when they knew they were drinking Coke. If Standage had done the test with branded water samples, which is currently how people drink bottled water, then his results would have been much different.
I've always thought bottled w
Ryan — Tue, 2005-08-09 19:11I've always thought bottled water was ridiculous, and made a point of drinking tap water in NY when no one else I knew would touch it.
However, I love and will shell out ridiculous amounts of money for Fiji water. It tastes no better than any other water (I actually don't like it when it's ice cold), but it has an awesome bottle, and it gives me a nice warm fuzzy feeling when I drink it.
It's just water, but it's still a special treat for myself. I buy it when I travel 'cause it keeps me from burning through six sodas in a single flight.