What Tech Leaks Do to Consumers (like me)

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Random Observation/Comment #256: Technology will always be my passion. Always.

I want a tablet. I’ve wanted one for a very long time and I have kept very closely on techmeme, techcrunch, engadget, gizmodo, mashable, and androidandme to get that holy grail advice of when to buy something that won’t be obsolete in 2 months.  And that was actually the problem.  The general consensus almost urged me to “Wait until X comes out.”  Or better yet, “X looks like it’s coming out in 2 months and it will change everything.”

All this leaked tech information is lovely – It’s just awesome peering into the future and day dreaming about when everything I own can be integrated the way I want it to.  Yet, these leaks all fuel my dream and make my reality so dull.  I get frustrated with only relatively old devices because of 2-year contracts with these giant telecommunication asses. All these companies are siding with networks from T-Mobile vs AT&T vs Verizon vs Sprint, and honestly, the consumer doesn’t really care.  We just want good service and cool smartphones.

It’s not the fact that I don’t want to spend the money in getting a new phone or tablet or cool geeky thing; it’s the fact that I don’t want to spend the money in giving away my old device.  Hardware is going crazy jamming quad-core into a super-duper phone when software can barely keep up.  I feel worse than my Dad waiting 3 years to buy a flat screen TV, and then after the purchase, continuing to read up on the TVs afterwards thinking how it would be if he would have waited a few more months.  Maybe I can tie it into relationships, but I probably shouldn’t go there.

I think this will always be the consumer’s psychology and hesitant mindset when dealing with any product lines of release. The only difference is that companies hiring really expensive advertising and marketing companies to push products do so in a very deliberate way.  They plan and spread the releases just the right amount of time apart to make profits until the last moment where they slash prices with the expectation of releasing the next upgrade to that product line.  Unfortunately, this marketing scheme blows up when you hear about the iPhone 5 six months too early and start dreaming about how awesome that will be and how much it will revolutionize everything.  Of course you’re going to wait with your crappy phone just a little bit more…

So what is the solution? I think the only way to do it is to plan the leaks. Buy the blogs. Buy the underpaid blog writers. Pay off the reviewers.  It sounds terrible underhanded and sneaky, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s already being done.  Just Kidding! I think it’s an unwritten rule (or maybe written somewhere) that bloggers should not tell consumers what to do.  They need to be objective with facts and let people come to their own conclusions about devices.

The truth is: advertising is replaced by peer reviews and whatever comes up on the first 5 searches of “best DSLR camera” in Google.  So the only thing to do is make an amazing device and don’t flood the market with so many choices.  Good for you, Apple.  It works.  Your loyal iPhone 3G fans will switch to iPhone 4. And those same iPhone 4 fans will switch-over to iPhone 5.  And by the time this happens, you just took over the world within 2 years made smart phones accessible to everyone.  You did what hybrid cars could not. You did what 3D TVs can’t.  And you’ll do it with your pretty round edges.  Now, just let telecommunications come back and lay waste with their limited bandwidth and vice grip dragging us around by the data plan (a.k.a. balls).

~See Lemons Still Buy It