Posted on 03/14/2012 9:09:21 AM PDT by expat1000
JewishWorldReview.com | (USNWR) In recent years, a new kind of buyer's remorse has emerged throughout the world. A consumer will make a decision to purchase a new tech product — a new television, computer, or smartphone, for example — and no sooner than the item is out of the box, a newer, better, faster version of the product is released. Making matters worse, the price of the older version always seems to drop just after the new version debuts.
This is a new phenomenon; in the past, technological advancements happened at a much slower pace. Now, new versions of products are released soon after previous versions. Consumers are often confused about if, when, and what to buy.
Fortunately, there are organizations and companies that study technological markets to help consumers make the most informed decisions. And while it's impossible to figure out exactly when to make a purchase, there are strategies consumers can use.
Purchasing as a science. Michael Paulson is the vice president of product and marketing at Decide, a company dedicated to helping consumers correctly time technology purchases, including televisions, cameras, computers, and phones. He says the goal of the company is to allow purchases without regret.
(Excerpt) Read more at jewishworldreview.com ...
Many years ago, a friend told me that the secret to being happy with a tech purchase is: once you buy something, stop shopping.
I learned long ago how to handle it. When I go to buy something I do a ton of research...figure out if I’m going to go big or go cheap. Then I buy. The next step is the critical step. STOP looking until you are ready for something else.
Being the Jewish Review, I figured this would start out about buying wholesale.. ;)
Good thing it is too late to be drinking coffee here. You would have owed me a keyboard!
Good advice. I really wish I did more research on that electric spoon I bought. :(
—I learned long ago how to handle it. When I go to buy something I do a ton of research...figure out if I’m going to go big or go cheap. Then I buy. The next step is the critical step. STOP looking until you are ready for something else.—
This.
I build all my computers, but every time I decide to replace an old computer, I have to re-learn the industry. Fortunately, once you get a background in it, re-learning even major changes is pretty easy.
Last time I went to put my old DC burner in the new computer and found out there was this new thing called a SATA connector. And my hew mother board only had one IDE connector (which I used for my hard drive.
No prob. A new burner was only $40 and had much better specs than my old one. The old one went in the trash.
The “stop looking” advice is also huge.
The other thing I’ve learned is to stop having to have cutting edge stuff. With my TV, I at least went 120 hz and LED edge lit. and got it cheap enough that I can amortize the price over a single year and figure I got my money’s worth.
That’s right, do not be a perpetual upgrader. My dad did not buy a color TV set until 1975. My set was a 19” with knob tuners up until Christmas, 2006. I still own a Sony Walkman.
And my cell phone is a 3G model that functions perfectly well....as a phone!
If that works for you—great. I am a lot more modern and up-to-date than that though. The key is to buy what you want and not try to keep up with the tech jones’s
Buy 1 version behind...
Unless you have some incredibly pressing need for the newest offering. WIth 1 year or less release cycles, newest offerings generally do not offer a huge upgrade from the model they replace. Occassionally they do, but most often the delta isn’t something that’s a MANDATORY for 90%+ of the folks who use it.
“once you buy something, stop shopping”
Worth repeating. Buy the most machine you can, use it until you can’t duct tape the pieces together any more, repeat.
I also use the $1/day rule: when you’ve used it long enough to average the cost to $1/day, you can start shopping again.
My strategy is to lust for vintage stuff, not new stuff.
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