Apple’s faster and cheaper iPhone 3G will be on sale starting July 11 for about $199, but some of us are still trying to save up for the first one, the original costing about $599. Apple has reinvented the iPod many times since it first came out in October 2001 (which is almost seven years ago!). And I still have yet to own one. Both are prime examples of how fast technology is expanded and updated, maybe sometimes too fast.
How am I supposed to keep up? It reminds me of being in elementary or middle school when all the “cool” kids had their hands on the latest toy or video game equipment. If you didn’t have it, you weren’t cool. But the real issue was if you didn’t have it, you probably couldn’t afford it. Since those times, technology, toys, and video games are updated so fast that if you blink you will miss it. And if you don’t have it, apparently you are missing out.
I remember seeing the iPhone for the first time and thinking how crazy it would be to spend that much money on a phone, but I still wanted it anyway. But why is it that companies like Apple feel the need to update or create new products so frequently? Is it our fault that we are so bored so quickly with our new toys?
Obvious answers would be that companies are always trying to compete with other companies, keeping up with the times, keeping their customers interested in their products, and, of course, making money. But I think it is also a reflection of the kind of society we live in. We want what we can’t have, about when we do have it, we want more. Or, similar to how companies compete, we also like to compete with ourselves, our friends, and even people we don’t know. No matter how old we get or how mature we may be, we always want to be better, cooler, etc., and if having the newest iPhone lets us do that, then we will be the first on line to get one. If not, then we will be waiting seven years to even consider buying it.
