In urban civilization, one can see how generations of objects, devices, and gadgets replace each other at an ever-accelerating pace. This is how Jean Baudrillard's debut work from 1968 begins, in which he interprets the manufactured things surrounding us as a closed system of signs: a false world of consumption, where desire and goods are inextricably linked. When the work was created, there were no PCs, let alone the Internet. In light of globalized markets and an inflationary world of devices, it is worthwhile to read this fascinating document of postmodern thought again today.