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Waiting for Something Better
Mar. 25th, 2022 12:58 pmAfter buying a new iPhone last weekend I've been wondering whether I also want to replace my laptop, a MacBook Air. While my old phone was just over 5 years old, my Air has already turned 6. I bought it in January 2016.
When a technology area matures, buying new technology becomes a waiting game. Instead of eagerly buying the new model when it comes out, consumers increasingly look at it and think, "Meh. The latest model isn't compellingly better than my old one. I'll try waiting for the next one."
I've been in that zone for a year and half already with my MacBook Air. With the arrival of the new M1-powered Air in late 2020 I was both intrigued and disappointed. Intrigued, because of the promise of greater processing power. Disappointed, because these new Airs no longer have an SD card slot.
That slot is huge to me because it makes loading images from my camera so easy. Meanwhile the increased processing power doesn't really move the needle for me. The main increased capability I'll value is having more storage. The 256GB SSD on my 6 year old laptop only lets me keep 2 years of photos in addition to everything else.
The upshot of new technology models provoking "Meh" responses is that consumers buy them on the same cycle they buy replacement goods in traditional sectors: Not so much when a new one is released but rather when their old one breaks.
I was nearly in that pattern with my last iPhone. Initially I planned to replace it after 3 years, not quite waiting until it was broken but waiting to skip 3 generations of technology. Except then when the 3rd anniversary rolled around we looked at the market and decided to wait another year. And when generation n+4 appeared we decided to kick the can down the road yet again.
Hawk replaced her phone after the 3½ year mark because it had just broken. There's a separate calculus for repair-vs-replace decisions. Repair costs were enough to tip in favor of replacing an aging phone.
I kept mine until last weekend, limping along with a cracked screen the past several months. I was holding out for the anticipated announcement of the SE 3. It was what I was waiting for so I bought it before my old one totally broke. After 5 years there's no need to wait until it becomes an emergency.
Some technologists criticize the decision to wait for new technology— or, more specifically, to wait for something better to come out. Understand that a lot of these people are actually paid marketers. Once you factor out the profit motive the landscape of opinions on whether to buy, buy, buy or wait it out a bit looks different. I can tell you, for example, that after a week of owning my new iPhone it has made little difference over the old one. It doesn't feel faster or more powerful than the old one. The only killer feature so far is, "The screen's not cracked." 🤣
So, I'm waiting for later this year to see what the anticipated new MacBook Air model holds. Hopefully my 6 year old laptop doesn't crack or break before then.
When a technology area matures, buying new technology becomes a waiting game. Instead of eagerly buying the new model when it comes out, consumers increasingly look at it and think, "Meh. The latest model isn't compellingly better than my old one. I'll try waiting for the next one."
I've been in that zone for a year and half already with my MacBook Air. With the arrival of the new M1-powered Air in late 2020 I was both intrigued and disappointed. Intrigued, because of the promise of greater processing power. Disappointed, because these new Airs no longer have an SD card slot.
That slot is huge to me because it makes loading images from my camera so easy. Meanwhile the increased processing power doesn't really move the needle for me. The main increased capability I'll value is having more storage. The 256GB SSD on my 6 year old laptop only lets me keep 2 years of photos in addition to everything else.The upshot of new technology models provoking "Meh" responses is that consumers buy them on the same cycle they buy replacement goods in traditional sectors: Not so much when a new one is released but rather when their old one breaks.
I was nearly in that pattern with my last iPhone. Initially I planned to replace it after 3 years, not quite waiting until it was broken but waiting to skip 3 generations of technology. Except then when the 3rd anniversary rolled around we looked at the market and decided to wait another year. And when generation n+4 appeared we decided to kick the can down the road yet again.
Hawk replaced her phone after the 3½ year mark because it had just broken. There's a separate calculus for repair-vs-replace decisions. Repair costs were enough to tip in favor of replacing an aging phone.
I kept mine until last weekend, limping along with a cracked screen the past several months. I was holding out for the anticipated announcement of the SE 3. It was what I was waiting for so I bought it before my old one totally broke. After 5 years there's no need to wait until it becomes an emergency.
Some technologists criticize the decision to wait for new technology— or, more specifically, to wait for something better to come out. Understand that a lot of these people are actually paid marketers. Once you factor out the profit motive the landscape of opinions on whether to buy, buy, buy or wait it out a bit looks different. I can tell you, for example, that after a week of owning my new iPhone it has made little difference over the old one. It doesn't feel faster or more powerful than the old one. The only killer feature so far is, "The screen's not cracked." 🤣
So, I'm waiting for later this year to see what the anticipated new MacBook Air model holds. Hopefully my 6 year old laptop doesn't crack or break before then.
