Vendors of hardware and software have been forced by business to differentiate themselves on the ability of their products to deliver value. Sales are no longer guaranteed merely by the vendors` ability to deliver the latest technology, instilling new levels of responsibility and accountability.
Backward compatibility is now more the rule than the exception as business has become less tolerant of having to upgrade components of their IT systems to make them compatible with newer hardware and software releases.
Not having access to unlimited funds to continually upgrade my home technology systems, I think it is high time the consumer market forced a similar change in the consumer electronics market by refusing to buy new products merely because they deliver the latest technology.
Exposure to exploitation
Few self-respecting business people nowadays would condone expenditure of company funds if it could not be justified in terms of delivering business value, so why would these same people spend their own hard-earned cash without demanding similar value?
Who apart from the rich are ever able to get value from their investments in home technology?
Warwick Ashford, portals managing editor
Surprisingly, they do and as long as that remains true, they expose themselves and the rest of us to exploitation.
Consumer electronics manufacturers will continue to develop and market products at the rate of technology advancement as long as there is money to be made, locking the average consumer into a state of eternal frustration.
Who apart from the rich are ever able to get value from their investments in home technology? It is only the rich who are able to afford the peripherals and other upgrade options before the base product changes so much that the latest add-ons are no longer compatible.
If you are anything like me, you will have lost count of the times you have invested in something with the intention of acquiring all the add-ons without ever achieving satisfaction because by the time you are ready to add to your initial investment, add-ons for that model are no longer available.
One day when I`m big
I keep telling myself that one day when I am big I will be able to "get the works" like buying a complete video kit including camera, remote control, tripod, case, lenses, filters, editing software and storage media all at the same time, but I know that day will never come if something doesn`t change.
From where I`m sitting, one of two things has got to happen, but each is as unlikely as the other. Either I have to win the Lotto jackpot or there has to be a shift in the power balance between the producers and consumers of home technology. Considering this power shift that has taken place in the business technology market, I am pinning all my hopes on the latter.
One does not begrudge the profits made by technology producers, but would it hurt them to design new products with backward compatibility and interoperability in mind?
Consolidation of technology advances would be another nice touch. New product releases should represent significant advances in technology in which several minor enhancements are consolidated.
Immaturity costs
Product maturity is something else we as consumers should insist upon. Why do we tolerate what is tantamount to paying for the privilege of testing immature products?
Participation in unofficial product testing in the marketplace is undoubtedly the direct consequence of companies` desire to be the first to market with a product based on some technological advance.
Despite Apple`s attempts to downplay the size of the problem, it still appears that the iPod Nano was released to the consumer market before the robustness of the ultra-slim design was fully tested or proven. Thousands of unsuspecting consumers paid good money to become unofficial product testers, but when the flaws began to surface, only a few seriously took Apple to task.
It`s time consumers of the world unite and force the producers of home technology to get real about delivering value to the consumer market as well as the business market. Consumer collaboration is probably the only real chance that I and others like me have of ever ending the perennial frustration of never being able to "get the works" when acquiring new types of techno-gadgetry.
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