This week's Consumed column in the New York Times Magazine takes a look at how people are using new web services to attach stories to their things.
One of the services is by a St. Paul startup called
Itizen, which
launched in beta in June. Users can affix a tag to any item, and when someone enters the tag's code on its website, it displays a story or anecdote about the item.
Co-founder Dori Graff tells the magazine that they were interested in how brands were using new forms of bar codes, and also noticed they were doing more swapping of clothes and other items in their personal lives. "Our big superlofty goal would be to influence a shift in how people view their possessions," Graff told the magazine.