Gadgets, We Love Em

Australia’s appetite for consumer technology seems to be never ending. Just recently a major national retailer that focuses on the sales on consumer electronics has increased it’s profit outlook for the year. In a time of doom and gloom for practically every, everyday essential from petrol to housing, consumer electronics remains on the shopping lists of Australians.

I have a couple of theories as to why this is so.

First up gadgets have a shorter life span. I remember being young and the family TV lasting for over ten years. Today TV’s may still last that long, but the technology change in a flat panel over a ten year period so much that after a few years the flat panel on the wall of the lounge is quickly moving to another room to be ‘the second’ tv set. With this in mind we’re encouraged to up-grade our gadgets more frequently to take advantage of the better features, technology and so on.

Gadgets are also used a lot more in our daily lives. We choose a gadget and do everything with it. It doesn’t matter whether it is a laptop, digital music player or mobile phone. The simple act of using our gadgets more today than yesterday means they wear out faster either through use, or being dropped, crushed or my own personal favourite – falling into water!

Gadgets are getting cheaper each year and therefore becoming more of a purchase option than a luxury item. Now before you yell at me in disagreement let me clarify. Have you seen a 42 inch flat tv costing $15000 lately, me neither. You can pick up a great 1080P flat screen for under $3000. Phones and digital music players packed with features are now far cheaper than five years ago. There are still top of the line devices that fit into the luxury pile, but overall if you want a great phone or a great digital music player $500 should see you purchasing one outright.

The big question is, “will the party continue”. Let’s check back on this one in six months.