Keeping Up with Technology

Please excuse me if I sound absurdly materialistic.

Getting something brand new is such a great feeling, so shiny and clean – the new car smell, a crisp button-down folded in tissue, 32 available gigabytes beckoning music. For a while, you’re careful with it, don’t drink coffee near it and are proud of it. Eventually, you settle in with the object of your affection. Then there’s usually a point where you knock it off its pedestal, take away the “new” title and categorize it with your other old things.

With technology in particular there are several things that usually trigger disillusion.

1. It errs.
A brand-new laptop can never do wrong. The processing speed, the memory and the widescreen display are captivating. But then one day it stops being awesome. The hard drive fails and it has to be repaired. When the technology fails, it no longer seemed new.

2. You err.
Cell phones don’t know what they are in for the first few weeks. They are handled gently, plugged in properly and stored nicely. Then it’s dropped for the first time and survives. Water splashes on it and it dries out in a bowl of rice. Whatever damage you’ve done to the device makes it seem old.

3. Something better.
The thing about buying a new laptop, cell phone, TV or iPad is that something better always comes along. The latest technology becomes less appealing when it’s no longer the latest. The iPad 2 it’s going to be old news come the iPad 3, which people are already talking about. Once something better comes along, the shine wears off.

It’s impossible to keep up with technology between it failing, normal wear and tear and new versions released. So enjoy it while it’s new, treasure it as it ages and sell it if you’re really over it.