"Consumers Buy Less Tech Stuff, Keep It Longer"

[diogen]

Is this just to survive the recession or beginning of a long term trend?
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/26/business/26upgrade.html?_r=4

/. discussion
Consumers Buy Less Tech Stuff, Keep It Longer - Slashdot

Diogen.

 

[lparsons21]

My son and I just had a discussion about upgrading yesterday. His computer is about 4 years old and had crapped out. He was talking about all the new stuff and kept moving up the food chain with the differences. So I asked him, did the computer you have do the job you needed? His answer was yes, so I told him to just buy something around the entry level, save the money and be happy that his new one will run circles around his older one.

And that is the very problem the computer makers are having. All the speed bumps and such really only benefit the high end user, most average users don't need it, and may not even notice it. That takes the impetus away from upgrading all the time.

 

[harshness]

Given where all of the excitement resides in modern electronics, it is no wonder people aren't interested. It isn't particularly easy for the average consumer to justify a smart phone or a tablet from other than a self-indulgence perspective.

3D appeals to some but not to many.

Modern computers are no longer "fun" and have become surprisingly expensive for what they offer.

Modern entertainment seems kind of a vacuum in terms of captivating content. I can't remember the last time I was wowed by the technical greatness of a popular music title or network television show.

 

[lucavex]

The issue I believe with today's computer market is that we can't see the huge leaps in speed like we used to. Back when the 386 33 MHZ processor was all the rage, when 486 66 MHZ came out, everyone was clamoring to get it because you could SEE and understand the difference in speed. Everything just happened faster. Today, you could compare a dual core 2.1 ghz system, and a quad core 2.1 ghz system, and 90% of end users will never see a measurable difference. The benchmark has been set so high, that any improvements upon it are only barely perceptible. I believe, however, that we're on the precipice of a new age in computing. Something revolutionary will happen within the next few years, and we'll start seeing those measurable jumps again.

 

[Steve Mehs]

I love advances in technology. My perception is, never be satisfied with anything, always want more, demand more, demand better. Without what I just said, without the desire to have more and better I fear where we’d be today. We’d still be living in caves and drawing stick figures on stone tablets. Today’s technology is not good enough, nothing is fast enough, nothing is big enough.

In the year 2001 I got a new TV, a nice Philips 32” CRT. In 2006 I junked it for a 42” Sony HDTV and I didn’t even have that TV for 5 years before I ditched it for a 3DTV. HD got old, and stale, the LCOS technology had passed, I needed something new and something better so I got it. I’ve had my HTC Evo since less than a week after it came out, so about 8 months now, and I’m bored with it. Great phone and all, I love it, but its old. I can’t wait for it’s successor to come out and I’ll buy it on release day.

I’m in the market for a laptop, my first one, and have been for quite some time and I’ve been waiting for the Intel Sandy Bridge processors to come back out after recalled. No computer I’ve ever owned had anything but the fastest Intel processor available at the time of purchase in it. And I’ve even delayed ordering some computers (like my laptop and my current desktop) in order to get the latest and greatest as new processors were in sight. I just need the best in certain categories inorder to make myself have no regrets with purchases of technology.

Going back to TV technology for a sec. 3D is where it is at! It’s a way to totally immerse yourself into the content I am so glad I bought into 3D now, I am getting so much enjoyment out of it and it does really make things come alive, just need more content.

 

[bhelms]

I used to be an early adopter - paid nearly $5K for my first 66MHz Pentium system just "because". I was also the first on my block with a HiFi VHS system ($1K for that one when a base model VCR was around $400), first with a "Hi-8" camcorder, first with a HD 40" LCD TV ($3K), etc. And my hunger for bigger, better, faster, flashier also extended to many of my non-electronic purchases.

As technology has sped-up and sized-down, my capacity to enjoy the increments has diminished, I guess in part due to my age-driven deceleration and also in part due to my "coming to my senses" !! I know I have paid an enourmous amount of money to live on the cutting edge, and in retrospect what has that gained me? Now I still use a 10 year-old Dell laptop that for many tasks works just fine, and a 7 y.o. flip phone that does absolutely everything I need a phone to do. I did bite on an iPad and have written elsewhere how that thing has changed my life. But at this point, that's about all the change I can believe in now!

For the rest of my life I'll likely tag along with the mainstream. Time to stop and smell the roses so to speak, and I don't mean the ones displayed in 3D from some yet-to-be-released neural transponder!

There's more to life than what technolgy alone can deliver. And like it or not, every day each of us has one less day available to discover and enjoy those wonders. One has to find their own sense of balance, and that will certainly change with age...!

 

[mike123abc]

Computer speed needs have declined. More stuff people do is on the net. Unless you are a gamer using the PC to play a game that has huge system demands, a basic computer satisfies most people (again I said most not all).

Once the computer gets fast enough that things happen in less than a second, improving speed is not appreciated by the average user.