Are people... dying for using unfashionable laptop bags? That's terrible.

No, people are dying because they can't get good enough jobs, which is 100% contingent on what other people think of them, or because they've been ostracized from their previous support structure, or because they're depressed and commit suicide, or because they're divorced and alone. Very few people can get away without worrying about what anyone else thinks of them.

Perhaps it's a coincidence that Joe O'Brien died this week at 48 or 49 https://old.reddit.com/r/rails/comments/1nn3jel/joe_obrien_1... after being ostracized from the Ruby community†. But there aren't many people who die that young. Social isolation is a top risk factor for depression.

______

† for, in my view, good reason: he fired his employee after she turned him down when he sexually assaulted her in a bar. I don't think he deserved to die for this, but I also wouldn't have wanted to hang out with him.