Justifying new technology

mrochester

mrochester

mrochester

Soldato
Joined
29 Sep 2003
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Newcastle upon Tyne
I'm a techy through and through, but I only buy tech when there's a clear benefit to me in terms to filling a need. I listen to a number of tech podcasts and I'm increasingly finding that commentators really have to stretch to justify some of their purchases and come up with wacky reasons as to why they need X over Y.

Am I just becoming a Luddite as I get older, or is this just rampant consumerism that's getting out of control?

M.
 
the shadow said:
I like Staying behind the curve :)
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Its akin to people buying enormous phones and then saying they need a smart watch for notifications because their phone is too big to get out of the pocket! Are people really that gullible?

These manufacturers must be laughing all the way to the bank with these people.
 
I agree with the OP. IMO the tech sector is overdue a crash to get rid of some of the deadwood - doesn't Twitter have a junk credit rating, yet still has a market cap. of $25bn?
 
Phones in particular seem to come bundled with preinstalled apps that very few people use or functionality that some R&D guy thought would be very useful but invariably isn't.
 
Kronos said:
Phones in particular seem to come bundled with preinstalled apps that very few people use or functionality that some R&D guy thought would be very useful but invariably isn't.
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I think the issue is that technology as we know it has reached a point where everything is just iterative of what has gone before, whether it be smaller, faster or lower power. These improvements alone don't suddenly open up new opportunities that haven't been possible before, they just make everything we already have a little bit nicer. And in absence of anything truly innovative, manufacturers have to invent product categories to flog to keep themselves afloat.
 
On one hand you could say we get wiser as we get older ;)

On the other though - I've been in this game a long time and for the past couple of years I've been saying the same - we really don't have them HUGE leaps in performance/technology to warrant upgrades so often anymore. Look at graphics cards and cpu's for example (cpu's are a prime example - we're talking 5% performance increase at best per generation jump, whereas we used to have double the performance in the past)

Take for another example mobile phones - About 1.8 > 2Ghz quad-core with a 1080p display and thats it - no need to go up higher on cpu speed (battery performance takes a big hit) and a 1440p+ display is just silly on such a small screen (along with the fact you are then crippling the GPU more).
 
I agree that release to release you don't really seem to notice many changes BUT if you're like me and have a laptop for 3-4 years and then get a new one, boy, you really see the difference.

I went from a Dell inspiron that I bought 5 or 6 years ago to a Dell XPS 15 and the difference is just mind blowing. Lighter, thinner, more powerful, touch screen, incredible screen resolution, solid state drive. It's night and day difference.

I've a very bog standard smart phone (Orange San Diego) and it does everything I need it to. No doubt in 2 or 3 years time I'll get something newer and will think 'Wow this thing is amazing!', but going from an iphone 5 to an iphone 6 is going to be very underwhelming experience for most people I'd imagine.

I can say exactly the same thing regarding cars. I've a 2010 BMW and recently I had a courtesy car from them, same model, just a 2014 model and the difference in interior, comfort etc was quite noticeable.
 
Tech nowdays is like kitchen gadgets, look awesome and really good idea but you use them once and think thats a ball ache and keep on using the decent knife you bought 10 years ago.

I do get pleasure from reading about it all though and i never ever ever buy first generation of anything (A Golden rule that applies to everything i want to buy) a year is not so long to wait for the next generation that is usually 25-50% better than the first model albeit in software, build quality etc. Simply down to working in the electronics industry and understanding the stupid time pressure put on getting that first generation out even though everyone involved knows its **** and not good enough for the job, but the marketing people say its fine fine fine.

Accountants and marketing people should not be allowed anywhere near engineering imo :)
 
Rosbif said:
I can say exactly the same thing regarding cars. I've a 2010 BMW and recently I had a courtesy car from them, same model, just a 2014 model and the difference in interior, comfort etc was quite noticeable.
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Yeah I have a 2007 VW Passat and was looking to buy a newer 2012 model until I actually drove one. Yes its feels nippier, but thats not the reason I drive a barge in the first place. Safety for my family is first and the new Passat is just like a tin can! - Doors feel so flimsy its put me off bigtime. Electronics don't impress me in cars and yes the newer version is full of gizmo's but ultimately safety getting from A to B is much more important. You know the practical stuff lol

Need something newer, but just don't know what to get - they don't make cars like they used to! - nice and strong! New VWs / BMWs / Mercs compared to the older ones for example - I couldn't believe I could just push the wing in on one of them with very little force :(
 
MrMoonX said:
Yet we still can't develop a decent phone battery! Batteries are holding everything back
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Amen to that. I don't give a **** about having the latest and greatest processor in a phone. I want a phone I don't need to charge every. single. ****ing. day.
 
Phone batteries can and do run for 2-3 days with normal use these days. If yours doesn't then you probably don't have the right phone for your needs.
 
mrochester said:
I think the issue is that technology as we know it has reached a point where everything is just iterative of what has gone before, whether it be smaller, faster or lower power. These improvements alone don't suddenly open up new opportunities that haven't been possible before, they just make everything we already have a little bit nicer. And in absence of anything truly innovative, manufacturers have to invent product categories to flog to keep themselves afloat.
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well they do, size, speed and power consumption have been the main limiting factors of things and are the reason why have all the "new" stuff.

take modern mobile phones they're not a new product etc all they are is a smaller, faster lower power computer.
 
Batteries have come a long way its just that phones use more power, if you could fit a modern phone battery into an old nokia it would last for maybe a month before needing a charge
 
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