> Isn't it depressing to see how technology is turning us into perfect consumers?
I don't know what somebody on the street would consider a 'perfect consumer', but an economist would use that term to describe someone who made strictly rational (i.e. objectively good) purchasing decisions. Maybe I've been drinking too much kool-aid from the econofountain, but what on Earth is depressing about that?
I think you are using words and concepts with multiple definitions like "good", "perfect"(for whose purpose) and "rational". You are swapping definitions at will and it's leading you astray.
Perhaps look at this to temper the econofountain -
"Perfect" isn't a loaded word here, it just means maximally rational.
Take 2 bundles of products - A & B. They both cost the same, but bundle A would bring you 2x as much joy/utility/whatever-you-want-to-call-it than bundle B. To choose bundle B would be "less good" for you than choosing bundle A: that's what irrationality is...by definition. Choosing A is the "most good" option: that's what rationality is. Someone who chooses A over B 100% of the time is a "perfect consumer".
I don't know what somebody on the street would consider a 'perfect consumer', but an economist would use that term to describe someone who made strictly rational (i.e. objectively good) purchasing decisions. Maybe I've been drinking too much kool-aid from the econofountain, but what on Earth is depressing about that?