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

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

Where are you going to put what it can replace? (the curb *is* an acceptable answer, but I have N old computers in my house because...well, because.)

If it is replacing something, what feature of that thing *isn't* it replacing exactly? Is someone else using that feature?

When will it break? When will it be obsoleted?

How would you get it fixed if it breaks? (toss it/never replace it/tinker with it yourself/get help/get expensive help/return it/etc.)

Where will it go when you throw it out? Is it made from toxic components?

How cool will you look wearing it? wait, not one of yours...