farmdoc's blog post number 19

Robert Pirsig. Have you heard of him? He is a 79-year-old American writer and philosopher. I was reminded of him a month ago when I wanted to buy two webcams – so my sweetheart Vivienne and I could see each other when we are apart and we talk on Skype. When online I found a webcam price range of A$15-110, I quickly realised I had a decision to make. And at that exact moment my mind jumped to Pirsig’s 1974 book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values. In it Pirsig explores the metaphysics of quality via discussions between motorcyclists during a journey across the USA. Wikipedia tells me it sold millions of copies in 27 languages, and has been called the most widely read philosophy book ever (after first being rejected by 121 publishers, more than any other bestselling book, according to Guinness World Records). I know nothing about Zen or Motorcycle Maintenance, but this is one of the most useful books I have read – which I did over 30 years ago, so I have little recall of its content. But the message it gave me is that quality – which Pirsig deemed undefinable – is paramount. So I bought two high-end webcams – Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000, for the record. And they are top quality and wonderful – as is Pirsig’s book.