Shiny Object(TM) Syndrome and how to manage it.
The hysteria of product launches (like the iPad2) have ushered in a level of consumerism like we’ve never seen before. Thanks to the Internet and news media outlets, we’re inundated with gadget unboxings, photos of long lines on product launch day, and the resulting plethora of product reviews on blogs and tech sites that keep the hype machine fueled in the consciousness of peoples’ minds for weeks and months without end – whether we want (or can afford) the product or not.
It’s kind of numbing, isn’t it?
Many people get caught up in the hype of having to have Shiny Object(TM) on the day of its release. As an all-round geek, I can understand the excitement, but I prefer to keep my distance from the spectacle. I almost never buy a product on its release day.
Why?
Invariably, there will be bugs with any new product. Instead, I prefer to let others “field test” new toys for a few months before I jump in, evidenced with the purchase of my last laptop, an early 2008 Macbook Pro.
The siren song for new hardware purchases can be difficult to resist. Here are four questions I ask myself before purchasing new hardware:
- Do I really need it?
- Can I afford it?
- Does it do what I want it to? Will it do what I want it to?
- Will this improve my productivity in a significant way?
I can arguably justify any purchase, but I have to be realistic and honest with myself. Toys are fun to have, sure, but family priorities and expenses come first.
Just because I can afford something, doesn’t mean I need something. I don’t buy something just to keep up with the Joneses. Lasting value is incredibly important to me.
The potential applications of a Shiny Object(TM) are just as important to me as what it could do for me right now.
Translation: Will this save me or help me earn more money?
From the reviews I’ve read, I have no doubt that the iPad2 is an excellent tablet. Like most self-professed geeks, I want one, but I don’t necessarily need one.
One of the big things holding me back on the purchase of an iPad is the fact that I want to primarily use it as a drawing instrument. To that end, pressure sensitivity and a stylus are features I need the most. That doesn’t seem likely in Apple’s roadmap (though it may happen in the future), so for me, the iPad2 remains a really neat, but not essential, gadget.
But maybe I’m missing something. Do you own an iPad? What do you primarily use it for? How do you justify your tech purchases? Sound off in the comments below.
-Krishna
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Tell me what you think!
Claus Wolf
March 12, 2011 at 11:39 amHi Kirshna,
Excellent blog post, like your way of thinking about it and thank you for voicing your thoughts about it. I personally have decided to buy one, when it becomes available in Germany, but that is just because I feel that it is a really good fit in my personal life.
At the same time I have decided not to upgrade my phone when it’s contract is up for renewal – my iPhone 3GS does a very fine job for me and I think once I get the sim-lock removed by the carrier at the end of the two year contract period it will be even more useful to have an unlocked phone, versus having the latest and greatest – especially if I can have some of the latest and greatest in a more comfortable form factor.
But honestly, would I buy it, if I didn’t know there was a bonus coming my way that will cover the expense? No, but knowing that this bonus will come around, allows me to invest in a toy for myself and safe the rest for the family. Perfect :)
Benjamin Schollnick
March 12, 2011 at 3:14 pmKirshna,
The iPad does have the ability to use a stylus and be pressure sensitive…
See http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/2010/07/demo-pressure-sensitive-sketching-on-ipad.html
And I believe that the Crayola application, http://www.griffintechnology.com/crayola-colorstudiohd, takes advantage of pressure sensitivity for the different drawing styles…
But, the crayola app, is the only one that I am aware of, in the commercial market, to make use of pressure sensitivity…
qka
March 12, 2011 at 3:23 pmThere is Jorge Colombo who received much coverage two years ago for drawing cover artwork for The New Yorker on an iPhone. http://www.tuaw.com/2009/05/25/can-you-believe-it-new-yorker-cover-done-on-iphone-app/
I’m sure by now there a number of professional artists using the iPad or iPhone in their work.
That said, you’re comfortable with suite of tools you have for creating the kind of art you wish to create. So the iPad would create a dip in your productivity until you got to the place you wanted to be, creating art on it.
Kevin Rubin
October 14, 2011 at 5:57 pmI have an iPad, and while I think it’s a great toy, my primary use of it the last few months is to have a hard, stiff rectangle in my backpack to help it keep it’s shape so books don’t bend…
I used it to read in my previous apartment, but my current one is too uncomfortable, and during the summer I found reading paper books in public parks is more fun, for the discussions they start with random strangers…
I do want to try and port a programming tool to it, so I can learn that, using the iPad out in parks and not haul a laptop…
Maybe if I had an iPad 2 with a 3G account I’d use it out and about…