My rules for technology acquisition

[dsrtao]

• Don't buy the first generation of any product.
  
• Don't buy in the first month.
  
• Where are you going to put it?
  
• What are the ongoing costs?
  
• What can it replace?
  

I hope these are all obvious by now. I'll just mention that ongoing costs include subscription fees, software purchases, accessories, media, and time-sink/time-savings tradeoff. A smartphone, for example, has a hardware cost (could be subsidized by) a contract, a new incompatible accessory like an earpiece or a battery, a new SD card, and some time savings (over not having a phone) and some time-sinks (getting it to sync with your gizmo thingy).

"What can it replace?" also means "are you going to stop using what it replaces? is the old one broken?"

Any others?

Comments

[robertdfeinman.livejournal.com]

How about: "do you really need it?"

I've replaced several items in the last year that had met my needs perfectly, but which stopped working properly. The cost of repairs makes this usually not cost effective, which says something about our priorities as a society.

I still expect things to last "forever" and get upset when they don't. I picked the thing because it had just the qualities I wanted and the new one usually involves some compromise. Seldom do I find the new features, if any, of personal benefit.