Thoughts on Chapter 4

What I am about to say is probably a dumb question, but this question kind of popped up when I was reading chapter 4.

After reading sections on “The Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility,” I wondered if there could be any exceptions to the law. The authors gave us examples on service goods like long-distance calls and movie tickets. I certainly agree that utility diminishes as more amount of these items stack. But what about necessities such as paper towels, rice(for Asians who always consume rice basically three times a day), or water? Is the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility still in effect with these kinds of common goods? If the law still applies to these basic goods, how are they different from service goods such as movie tickets?

Also, reading about "Network Externalities" inspired me to think about how same thing can be perceived as completely different depending on public opinion. For example, football is one of the most famous sports in the United States while it is one of the stupidest sports perceived by many other countries. Same thing works for soccer. It is the most exciting game across the globe except for North America. On the other hand, North Americans seem to perceive soccer as the most boring sports ever. This isn’t because football and soccer rules are different in North America and the rest of the world. It is because majority of people in North America and the rest of the world have different expectations and stereotypes about these sports. This indeed shows how powerful public perception can be especially when we think about how DVD and Facebook grew up from who-cares-thing to way it is now in just less than 10 years.