I tend to agree with Adam Greenfield, Ikea hasn’t “singlehandedly leached all the vitality and vigor out of the world”, you do see their products everywhere but they don’t have store upon store preventing others from existing which to me is the big factor in making a nuisance out of a company/brand.
Not so sure about his Starbucks defense though. He’s right, they do offer a good customer experience and good coffee but they are too ubiquitous for my taste, you can’t tell me that doesn’t hurt our choices buy locking the market with so many outlets. (I’m thinking more Second Cup than Starbucks in Canada’s case) Good read though, a more balanced view than the common “every big corporation is evil” diatribe.