The Costs Associated With Buying New Technology

After having a few generations of Android phones and pushing their geeky capabilities as far as I could, I bought a Verizon iPhone 4 the day they were released. They went on sale at 3:00am, and mine was ordered by 3:05. Almost immediately after I received it, I realized how much I loved it and started wondering what the iPhone 5 would be like.

I also got my hands on an iPad 2 as fast as I could. I buy a new iPod a few times a year just because they’re so cute. Every time a new gadget or technology is released, I have to check it out. Every time I purchase a brand new technology, I justify it by thinking that my 10-year-old son will reap the benefits since he gets all my old stuff, which is never really old when he gets it. He’s the only 4th grader I know who carries an iPod Touch in his pocket when he leaves for school each day. He often FaceTime’s me between classes. I would gladly eat a peanut-butter sandwich for dinner every night if I had to, just so I could buy new technologies as they are released.

I have a disease, which I think is popular among technology geeks. It’s called “early adopter-itis,” and it’s a form of tech gluttony. I started wondering, what are the costs associated with making these decisions? According to this infographic created by Savings, “Early adopters often pay the cost, in cash and quality, for being first in line, but waiting too long will make consumers miss out on the best technology.” In other words, it’s tricky to know when exactly the right time to buy a new technology is.

Steve Jobs said, “This is life in the technology lane. If you always wait for the next price cut, you’ll never buy any technology product, because there is always something better and less expensive on the horizon.” So what exactly does this mean and why do we want everything now? I don’t know the answers to these questions, but apparently 13% of the people in the States have this same illness. I wish it were as easy as taking two aspirin to get rid of it. On second thought, scratch that… the truth is, I wouldn’t want it any other way. #geek