The part about “Hedonics” is very interesting, it explains how if a computer costs the same as it did a year or more ago but has more features or more capacity etc. they say that it has fallen in price. This keeps the inflation figures down. What really happens in too many cases is simply that a person is forced to pay for a lot of stuff they don’t really want or need. Washing machines with so many cycles that you have to read and study the manual to figure out how to use the one or two out of eight that you really need. Cell phones that are a mystery to those of us who just want to be able to make or receive calls and don’t need a qwerty keyboard, a video camera etc. I have a microwave that has so many buttons on it that I have to put on reading glasses to see how to operate it. In a lot of cases these things would be worth more to most of us if they DIDN’T have all the unwanted features.
Now that my memory is not as good as it used to be if I don’t use something every day I soon forget how to use it and sometimes need to have a refresher course before I can use it again. It wouldn’t be so annoying except that mostly I am trying to figure out how to avoid setting off something that I never wanted in the first place.
I’ve taught myself how to use iTunes to load up my iPod — twice. Currently, I have no idea how to use iTunes to load up my iPod, and I don’t have any inclination to teach myself a third time.