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(Mis)Uses of Technology

by Mike Masnick

Thu, Oct 16th 2003 9:17am





The Gadgets We Buy, But Never Use

from the oh-so-true dept

I come by my gadget obsession honestly. When I was a kid, I remember my father bringing home from work one day an "automated envelope opener" that a friend of his had sold him. It was a little box with a small slot, wide enough for a typical envelope. You slide the envelope through the slot, and a little motor kicks in, grabbing the envelope and zipping it through, while popping out a spinning blade to slice off just the tiniest bit of the top of the envelope. We both thought this gadget was amazing, and would change our lives. It was so fun to open up envelopes this way. Of course, after the first day of use, the device ended up in a drawer, and no one ever bothered to pull it out and actually use it ever again. We're not alone. Plenty of "early adopter" types have this problem, I'm sure. You go out and buy the latest cool technology that you absolutely must have and rave about how it's going to change your life, and then put it in a drawer and never use it again. Either they're more complicated than we expected or they're less useful - or both. The reactions in the article from folks who have this "problem" are quite interesting, as they're very introspective about their gadget buying ways. Some people blame advertisers, though, that seems like a bit of a cop out.

7 Comments | Leave a Comment..


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  1.  

    Pass 'em on

    identicon
    Oliver Wendell Jones, Oct 16th, 2003 @ 9:32am

    I am an early adopter. I buy lots of gadgets. After I get bored with them I put them in a box and wait for the next computer show or hamfest, or if I'm really anxious to get rid of them - ebay.

    Sure, I never get back what I put into the gadget(s), but I let someone else get a good deal on an item that I've already had my use of.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  2.  

    Re: Pass 'em on

    identicon
    Chris, Oct 16th, 2003 @ 10:09am

    Some of the examples are questionable. I'm not sure a CD-RW drive or a scanner qualify as "gadgets" anymore. I own just about everything they mentioned in the article. A digital camera completely transformed how we archive our pictures. A GPS has provided countless hours of fun with the kids goecaching. Maybe the difference is that I buy these things as "toys", so my expectations are lower to start with.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  3.  

    My favorite gadget from the mid 20th century...

    identicon
    Precision Blogger, Oct 16th, 2003 @ 10:32am

    My favorite gadget from the mid 20th century -- a gift to my parents -- was a combination electric can opener and radio. (I don't think you'd want to use both at the same time though.)

    - The Precision Blogger
    precision-blogging.blogspot.com

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  4.  

    Computers

    identicon
    msykes, Oct 16th, 2003 @ 10:37am

    Sounds like a lot of these people were stymied more by their inability to figure the gadgets out, rather than a lack of desire to use them. I bet if they owned Macs they would all be using their CDRW's and scanners more.

    msykes

    PS: Anybody who's not using their digital camera please send it to me. Thanks

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  5.  

    Useless Gadgets ...

    identicon
    Ron Popeel, Oct 16th, 2003 @ 11:16am

    Ahha but I got you all to buy my hot air poppers and record cleaner players and countless other must - have items rotting away in your basements now ...
    ... laughing all the way to a wealthy retirement ...

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  6.  

    Re: Useless Gadgets ...

    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Oct 16th, 2003 @ 4:24pm

    hot air poppers are awesome.

    I cut my coffee bill in half by using mine to roast coffee, in fact,I bought it specifically for that.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  7.  

    I hate to buy

    identicon
    D Henkel-Wallace, Oct 16th, 2003 @ 8:06pm

    ...because I hate the responsibility of owning. I have a 4-year-old flaking-out computer, but I don't want to replace it -- it still works most of the time!

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]


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