Think about what goes on in your head when you buy something new, take a photo of your favorite designed object and answer the following questions:

Why is it that we want our belongings to do more for us than to function well?

I have recently purchased a new Sony Ericsson C902 mobile phone. I had a perfectly working mobile phone before getting this one, however. It didn't look anywhere near as good. I bought this phone due to both technical and aesthetic reasons. When i think about it though i would probably still have bought it if it had a 3 Mega pixel camera rather than the 5 it has, this indicates that i based my purchase upon the design.
In the current day it is not just enough to have something that just does its function, it has to do something extra, it has to look good while it performs its function. We want people to see what we have and think WOW! that looks amazing. Consumer goods are all based on looks and it is important to have your product 'accepted' by society. No one would have bought this phone if it wasn't aesthetically pleasing, even if it was the best functioning phone in the world!

Why are we willing, as soon as we can afford it, to pay extra for things with appealing forms?

While it is obviously important for things to function well and do more and better things it is vital that they look good. Going back to mobile phones, the most popular phones are those that look the best. We always want our things to look the best, people want to be able to pull out their mobile phone and people to look and be impressed by it. Everyone wants to have the latest design, when a new product gets released with maybe only slight alterations with its function but drastic design improvements it becomes must have and so much better.