The Upgrade Syndrome

[jhempel24]

I wish I could afford to upgrade my Rooted Nook Color. But right now even $199 for the Nexus (which is the one I really want) or the Nook Tablet is a LOT of money for me....maybe around Christmas time I will upgrade if I get some cash from the folks and the in-laws. My Nook Color is working just fine at the moment....*scratch* *scratch*....I do feel that itch though

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

There are car freaks who feel they simply must get the next model, and there are car freaks who keep their cars working as long as possible. I consider the latter the real car freaks, they are the ones with the cool classic car in the garage. I'm not a car freak, but I intend to keep my car, a rather unstylish Toyota Yaris, running as long as it is keeping it is more cost effective than replacing it.

Which makes you the practicality freak. Like me: I happily drove my 2000 Hyundai Tiburon up until this year, after it had a wreck and began nickel-and-diming me half to death. So I replaced it with the best my money could buy, a new Toyota Prius C, which I hope to hold onto until the new model cars can drive themselves (and I can read in peace wherever I go).

[Belfaborac]

I used to be a gadget and computer freak, but these days it takes a lot of work to make me upgrade something that is still working fine. I usually find "upgrades" and "improvements" to be mainly cosmetic and fairly meaningless in practical terms, but hyped up and exaggerated to otherwise convince the clueless and the fanbois. Hence it's usually no hardship to wait until the device in question expires and a replacement becomes a necessity.

[Chi Cygni]

I seem to be quite resistant to upgraditis. I still use ipad 1 (sat out 2 and 3), have Cybook Opus (let Orizon and Odyssey pass) K3 (K4 and 5 pass) and will not upgrade to whatever they may/will announce in September. BUT not to look all so saintly, I have Opus x 2 (bought a black model because I had a pink one and it was driving me nuts) and recently ordered Ainol Novo 7 Fire, just as a 7" inch tablet took my fancy but I completely do not need it. At 136€ delivery included I took the risk.

[Freeshadow]

Originally Posted by wyndslash

i'm affected largely by the peers i keep company with

We shall see
HEAR! Hear! It's time to start a new lounge thread: "MobileRead members searching a boyfriend for wyndslash"

[QuantumIguana]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

Which makes you the practicality freak. Like me: I happily drove my 2000 Hyundai Tiburon up until this year, after it had a wreck and began nickel-and-diming me half to death. So I replaced it with the best my money could buy, a new Toyota Prius C, which I hope to hold onto until the new model cars can drive themselves (and I can read in peace wherever I go).

Oh, I may be a freak in many ways, but I don't think I'm so alone in this. There are a lot of cheapskates out there, and there are people a whole lot cheaper than me. Have you ever read "The Millionaire Next Door"? It's about the habits of self-made millionaires. They don't tend to live extravagant lifestyles or engage in displays of wealth. I am not one of those millionares, but I know a lot of people who use similar philosophies to live pretty good lifestyle (if devoid of extravagance) on modest incomes.

I tend to upgrade to different products from different vendors. I've found that too many vendors are providing incremental upgrades these days, presumably because it means greater sales. Sorry, but I want something more significant for my hard earned dollars.

[Kumabjorn]

Why do "we" upgrade so often? Don't know about the rest of you, can only speak for myself.

I have this emotional hollow cave inside my chest, reminding me that life is way too short, that I will remain alone, that I will probably never become a mother again, that a male's commitment is inherently ephemeral and that women's are even more so. A never ceasing string of male companionship does nothing to extinguish the fire of loneliness.

But, a new gadget does. A new smartphone, eReader, tablet, WiFi printer, multimedia keyboard, bluetooth connector for the stereo, fills that void instantly. At least for a day or two.

I just pray that the reviews on Amazon aren't paid for advertising blurbs. If they are, I fear that void would return in an instant.

[wyndslash]

Originally Posted by Freeshadow

We shall see
HEAR! Hear! It's time to start a new lounge thread: "MobileRead members searching a boyfriend for wyndslash"

Feel free to apply

I usually am really excited about upgrading after a loooong time of sticking with the same device. You can really see the difference

[Fluribus]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

a male's commitment is inherently ephemeral

I have been committed for the last 30 years. The food is pretty good, the straight jacket is kinda comfortable, and Napoleon is always good for a laugh.

Of course, they rarely let me upgrade. I was never an upgrade fanatic, but I wish I could do it more often. I'm pretty much at the it-ain't-broken-just-needs-more-tape phase.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Solicitous

Hi All. Something that has been ticking through the back of my mind of late is the number of blogs, news and forum posts about the 'absolute possibility' of new devices being released, and it got me thinking - Why are we now so constantly obsessed with product upgrades?
...

Because that's what the manufacturers want us to be.

Just say no!

[haydnfan]

Those that like their toys are obsessed with the upgrades. The majority of people are not.

After a certain point though it will stop being interesting. for instance tablets are interesting now, pcs not so much.

[booklover6]

In a house/life, that has been taken over by the demands of small people (who keep getting bigger), I have few things that I can claim as "my own." My birds, and my books. My ereaders!

As for upgrading, I finally upgraded my PC after 9 years. My DH is using my old one. My kids play minecraft on my new one (doesn't work on any of the XP models we have). Our cars, we drive a 97 Cavalier, a 94 Buick Skylark (inherited it in 2003) and a 2000 Dodge Grand Caravan (for when all 6 of us need to go somewhere). We'll drive them until they can't be driven.

I won't be upgrading my Fire or my kids' Nook Color. I didn't upgrade my K3. I won't upgrade my Sony T1.

I might be tempted to get a new Kindle Touch if it has higher resolution, more memory, more buttons, and heck, a light in addition to all that. Of those things, the higher resolution would tempt me the most.

If Amazon releases an MP3 player similar to the itouch or galaxy note, I will be tempted to get that for DH. He is using a $10 mp3 player.

But upgrade just to get a new model, no. We are cheap, and on a fixed income. 4 kids in private school, and Christmas coming....got to hold on to those pennies! No smart phones here. Just ordered a tracfone for DH. So we'll each have one, he gave his to the oldest kid who just started high school. All prepaid. Cheap!

[LovesMacs]

I generally don't upgrade hardware if what I own still works well enough and meets my needs. If something breaks, sure. Likewise if it is substantially easier or less expensive to buy something new rather than upgrade something piecemeal.

This might sound inflammatory, but I think it's wasteful to buy the latest model of something just because it's new, if what you currently own suits your needs. Spending money like that stimulates the overall economy but it's not so good for your personal finances and probably not good for the environment either.

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by LovesMacs

This might sound inflammatory, but I think it's wasteful to buy the latest model of something just because it's new, if what you currently own suits your needs. Spending money like that stimulates the overall economy but it's not so good for your personal finances and probably not good for the environment either.

It's not inflammatory, at all, but you've kind of begged the question. Very few people would buy something just because it's new. Particularly if what they own already suits their needs. This part is easy; I wouldn't upgrade if I were perfectly happy with what I had and the upgrade offered no improvement.

Paperbacks suited my needs...until I got an e-reader. I liked my iPad 2 - but the resolution on the iPad 3 was even better, so I upgraded to it. If the new kindle has sufficiently improved contrast, I may upgrade to it. Or not, if it isn't improved enough.

I think that there are always reasons to upgrade; it can just be hard to tell which reasons are good and which are not.