As consumers do we get held back on technology?

Hedge

Hedge

Hedge

Soldato
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Somewhere in the middle.
Is technology far more advanced than the stuff we purchase in shops. IE TVs , Hifis, Cars etc.

Ive just been thinking, are things always advancing and we are always given the best at that time, or are we given stuff that is old technology, yet new to us?.

If a company sold its best product, then they wouldnt have a constant cash flow... if ya get what i mean.

Im so crap at explaining things, but is this the case?
 
Of course, products are strategically marketed and released so that they can complete a full run of their product life cycle and maximise profit and turnover for a company,towards the end they introduce a new groundbreaking product (technology) to the market which will maintain high turnover as the old tech dies out.

Bit of a crap example but look at how long it took them to release 1080p TV's after the 720p ones, they've had the tech for a while but they left it a few years so that they got their monies worth from the 720p ones. Thats how i look at it anyway.
 
Of course it's not upto date. Just look at japan. But it's mainly down to cost and manufacturing the qauntity. Rather than actually keeping us back on purpose.
 
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It's just business. A company will always strive to generate revenue through the most efficient means possible. Competition keeps it in check and prevents any real exploitation of the consumer.
 
Thanks for replies, i was pretty confident that was the case, just nice to get comments from people too.

So they drip feed us things so they get the most cash out of each phase. Makes sense i spose, Would be interesting to see some of the stuff that some huge firms like Panasonic etc have in there R&D departments.
 
The excuse that companies give for releasing lots of stuff in Japan is that the Japanese are the nation in the world that is willing to accept new technology with open arms. Apparently the US and UK (for example) are more reserved, hence, it makes sense to delay the launch of new products in these countries. They (apparently) us Japan as a test ground and if it does well there, then they ramp up production and go world wide. I think the best example of this was MiniDisc - when Sony released it first in Japan and after quite some time we saw it in the UK (the launch was tentative and was only brought forward to kill Phillips' DCC). But in the UK MD never has really taken off, big time. In Japan, however, MD has been accepted from its birth.
 
sunama said:
The excuse that companies give for releasing lots of stuff in Japan is that the Japanese are the nation in the world that is willing to accept new technology with open arms. Apparently the US and UK (for example) are more reserved, hence, it makes sense to delay the launch of new products in these countries. They (apparently) us Japan as a test ground and if it does well there, then they ramp up production and go world wide. I think the best example of this was MiniDisc - when Sony released it first in Japan and after quite some time we saw it in the UK (the launch was tentative and was only brought forward to kill Phillips' DCC). But in the UK MD never has really taken off, big time. In Japan, however, MD has been accepted from its birth.
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That's very true :)
 
A lot of products have been in development for a long time before they are released. Sed tvs for example have been in development since 1985, even before lcd tvs were released! Just shows you how advanced technology is in the science labs.
 
Hedge said:
Thanks for replies, i was pretty confident that was the case, just nice to get comments from people too.

So they drip feed us things so they get the most cash out of each phase. Makes sense i spose, Would be interesting to see some of the stuff that some huge firms like Panasonic etc have in there R&D departments.
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I would say that even firms like Panasonic are behind military organisations and specialist university/research departments. The true groundbreaking innovations simply take ages to filter through, but the Internet has widened this narrow information outlet slightly. The other day i was reading about some research into an enzyme that destroys the HIV virus, years off of commercial use but nonetheless.. research being done.

At least if weve learnt anything from mutual destruction that it will rapidly increase technological advancements, so all we do is have another world war and we will be in flying saucers.. no time at all!
 
Energize said:
A lot of products have been in development for a long time before they are released. Sed tvs for example have been in development since 1985, even before lcd tvs were released! Just shows you how advanced technology is in the science labs.
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Haven't all the companies working on SED TVs given up on them?

I think I read something that if they were to be released in 2008, say, that their cost would be so prohibitive that nobody would buy them. Instead they would simply opt for a high end plasma or LCD, which would offer image quality almost as good, at less than half the price. And obviously, because of SED's price, it would never become a mainstream product. In turn, because it would never go mainstream, the cost of making them will always be high (economies of scale dictates that the more you make of a product, the lower its cost of production becomes). Hence, companies have just abandoned the development of the SED TVs.
 
Id never heard of SED until now, what i just read on wikipedia makes them sound impressive though!
 
Energize said:
Don't know where you read that. Mass production is planned for next year. There were a few delays due to legal proceedings.
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From Wiki they say this regarding the legal stuff you mention..

Also in December of 2006, it was revealed that the delays in SED TV mass production were caused by litigation between Applied Nanotech, a subsidiary of Nano-Proprietary, and Canon. Nano-Proprietary claims that Canon broke an exclusivity agreement by sharing information related to electron emissions from carbon nanotubes with Toshiba. The litigation has been reportedly ongoing since April of 2006.

On January 12, 2007, Toshiba announced[8] an agreement by which Canon will purchase all of Toshiba's outstanding share of the SED joint venture, in order to satisfy Nano-Proprietary's complaints. This is also expected to prevent the litigation from dragging on in American courts.[9] The company must purchase 50% of Toshiba shares to produce SED TVs on its own.[10] Canon is still planning a release of SED displays in Japan during the 4th quarter of 2007, and will be 'reassessing' its future mass-production plans for SED panels.

On February 22, 2007, Federal Judge Samuel Sparks, with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, ruled in a summary judgment that Canon violated its agreement with Texas-based Nano-Proprietary by forming a joint television venture with Toshiba.[11] However, on May 3, 2007, a jury ruled that no additional damages beyond the $5.5m fee for the original licensing contract were due.[12][13]

On May 25, 2007, Canon again announced due to prolonged litigation, it will postpone the launch of SED televisions, originally planned for October-December of 2007. The company said it will announce a new launch date in the future.
 
Energize said:
Don't know where you read that. Mass production is planned for next year. There were a few delays due to legal proceedings.
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http://avzombie.com/blog/2007/05/25/sed-dead-as-toshiba-and-canon-concede-defeat/

If you go over to the av forums, they talk in detail about the likelihood of SED ever appearing in the UK. Sadly, the consensus is that SED wont be appearing in the UK for at least the next 2 years, if at all.

Also, consider that SED TVs have been in development since the mid 80s. Their launch repeatedly gets put back, but the fact that Toshiba pulled out completely is the biggest nail it SED's coffin.

Consider also, that LCD TVs are improving. I think there is going to be a LCD TV with a contrast ratio of 50,000:1 on the horizon. SED really is going to have its work cut out.
 
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Whether it be due to cost, safety, political/environmental/social impact, etc there is always technology being intentionally held back from the the public.
 
tbh bring out newer technology to soon is pointless because the people who the technology makers need to sell to wont buy ie families low paid people, the people who lap up new technology are people with disposable income but they are few and far between.

Technology just depends on the cost and how good it is to the general public, CRT where great and last a long time but Plasma and LCD offered a totally new way of watching TV, SED tvs dont look like they offer that much to warrant buying a new tv in a few years and it takes a while for people to fully understand the new technology, people still think having a HD tv means they will have HD sky bbc but that is not the case.

Same with Hi Def media its better than DVD but the gains are not really worth spending money on updating your whole collection of DVDS, bluray/hd dvd will become the norm if they can drop the price of players to £50.
 
I find it amazing how some people are blissfuly unaware of the car fuel economy technology advances being sabotaged by oil companies. In that sense, yes we are directly being refused technology that already exists.

Imagine what a loss oil companies would endure if we were all driving around in 300 MPG cars. Suffice it to say, oil companies will do whatever they can to shutdown research and production of these technologically advanced cars.
 
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