The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur News and Links for Tuesday, March 27

Hello, people of the Hoddle!

Let me share a tweet that described part of my day yesterday.

(I will shamelessly work Victor Wanyama’s love of spaghetti into as many things as possible.)

Ramble of the Day

I popped into the nearest store of my cell phone provider yesterday and spent too much time there. I was discussing my trip there with my sisters, and we ended up on the topic of people who get new phones every time a phone company makes a new one. My main question surrounding the situation is: Why?

Let me start with the phenomenon of people lining up outside Apple stores every time a new iPhone comes out. I simply do not understand it. Why not just wait for the phone to show up at the store of your cell phone provider, or for it to come in the mail after ordering it online? Why not wait a few days to find out if this particular model of the phone sucks? There is not exactly a limited edition of these phones.

I suppose this is part of a larger habit of people waiting in line for things. One could ask, Why do people line up outside the original Starbucks in Seattle? (Note: I actually did ask myself this when I visited Seattle a few years ago. Additionally, the location people line up outside of is not the original Starbucks, since the original location burned down.) I was about to continue, but then I realized it would irresponsible to go on without doing some research.

There are several articles about people lining up outside of Apple stores around the release of the iPhone 6, and a consumer psychologist compared it to attending a music festival. Kit Yarrow, said consumer psychologist, told Time, “It’s an excuse to be with other people, to be part of a festival or event. It’s basically a mini Burning Man. People with shared values hang out together and have something to talk about.”

There is also commentary on how some people treat being the first of their friends to pick up an iPhone (or a similar object) as a badge of pride, which is a fairly easy answer to the questions I kept asking, but a bit difficult to understand and easy to critique (for me, at least). The dynamic of sharing experiences with others, however, I understand, though I find that there are probably better ways to make friends. That being said, is there a better place for these particular people to bond? I cannot think of one.

This ramble did not end the way I thought it would.

tl;dr: I did research on waiting in lines.

Links of the Day

Tunisia head coach Nabil Maâloul thinks England is a favorite to win the World Cup this summer.

Lionel Messi, meanwhile, thinks Argentina is not a contender to win the World Cup.

West Brom have a new chief executive, and he is shocked at the club’s finances.

Today’s longer read: Graham Dunbar and Rob Harris of the Associated Press on the details of the 2026 World Cup hosting bids from Morocco and the trio of Canada, the U.S., and Mexico