Wednesday, February 11, 2009
The Downside of Technology
It seems like every time you turn around another form of technology is coming out. As soon as you buy a computer, software or a phone a month or two later they come out with the new updated version, that works twice as good. Do you think companies do this on purpose for their own gain?Or, do you think technology is evolving so rapidly that these companies can't keep up? Another issue I would like to get your take on is planned obsolescence. Do companies make their product only last for a certain amount of time before they fail, causing the consumer to have to go out and replace the product? Personally, I have experience this through Apple's iPod. I am on about my fourth iPod in about 5 years (not to mention the screen is cracked on the one I have now). From my experience, around the one year mark they fail. My second iPod actually failed a week after the one-year warranty was up, go figure. So do you think companies plan the short-term life of their products or is it just natural ware and tear that break them down?
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I've had my iPod for a little over a year now and it's still working fine. Although, I do know some people who have had theirs just die on them all of the sudden after not that much time, so I can see where you're coming from on the topic of planned obsolescence. On the other hand, this might be a harmful thing for a company to do...after the first couple of times people might get tired of it and either try to take action, or simply try out another product. It would be something that would be interesting to look further into.
ReplyDeleteI have had my ipod nano for about 2 years now i think and it is still working great (knock on wood). I think all technology is sometimes just unreliable and nothing lasts forever. I don't believe (or don't want to believe) that companies don't make things so great on purpose. I think technology after a while just slows down, gets old, especially i think it depends on how well you take care of these things!
ReplyDeleteMy original iPod that I got over 4 years ago still works, so I don't necessarily think that they design them to only last one year. However, I do agree with you that it's annoying when something new comes out right after you buy something. That's why you have to be smart and do research before making a big purchase in technology.
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