There are days when you wish you didn’t know what was happening in the world of technology, not because you’re a technophobe, but because the sheer volume of gadgets and gizmos being introduced is just too much to take. Your brain is caught in a tug of war between your desires and your common sense; the temptation to buy every new gadget in sight is overwhelming, but then, you know your wallet is not as deep as your desires.

How on earth does it make sense to introduce a gadget that purports to be the latestin technology when its predecessor is hardly a few months old? Why not wait a few months and introduce the latestinto the predecessor? The answer for those who ask these questions in frustration is that if one company waits, the competition is going to come out with this technology. It’s a rat race, one where tech companies are battling with each other to sell their products and customers are fighting temptation to be satisfied with the gadgets they already own.

Contrary to popular belief, technology is not popularized by the innovation it offers or the features it comes with. Rather, the buying trends in technology depend on how each person is going to use the gadget or gizmo and what utility value they see in it. People invest in technology because:

• It is useful cellphones allow them to stay in touch wherever they are, and computers allow them to connect to the Internet, play games and get a host of other tasks done. This category is generally not interested in accessories and in updating their devices or turning them in for newer models, unless they’re faulty and must be replaced.
• It serves a purpose I invested in a BlackBerry because it allowed me to keep in touch with my boyfriend, who was overseas, by using its instant messenger service in a cost-effective manner. So no matter how good Android OS phones are, I’m not going to switch loyalties, even though my friends swear by them. Similarly, I don’t want to trade my old Toshiba for a brand new notebook, because I have Windows 7 Pro installed on it, and it runs perfectly well for me, and I certainly don’t want to shell out extra money to have the same OS installed on a new machine. As long as my technology serves my purpose, I’m not trading it in or switching to the latest innovations, no matter how good they are.
• They are loyal to a brand The Mac fans are typical examples. While I personally cannot understand the fascination with Apple, many of my friends swear by Steve Jobs’ products. They can’t stop going into raptures about all the iProducts and the Mac notebook series. No matter how good a product other tech companies come out with, they’re not going to budge from their stand.
• They want status symbols I have a friend whose 7-year-old son has an iPhone. My friend didn’t buy it for him, rather, it was a gift from the boy’s godfather who did not know what to do with the gadget once he had purchased the latest model of the iPhone, with OS4. It was almost brand new because it had been bought just a few months earlier, and for the godfather, technology is all about status and the latest rather than about utility.

At the end of the day, all the gadgets and gizmos are almost equal on features and performance. Technology will sell more for the above reasons, and less for the innovation that it offers.

====
This guest post is contributed by Bailey Digger, she writes on the topic of web design degree programs . She welcomes your comments at her email id: baileydigger189(@)gmail(.)com.