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Gadget Fatigue: Is It Hitting You Yet?

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fatigueMSNBC.com is running an article suggesting that the ho hum reactions to the iPad, Google Buzz and 3D TV might be due to tech fatigue and perhaps consumers just being smarter with their dollars in tight times. Suzanne Choney quotes analysts who suggest we’re getting smarter about our purchases and perhaps seeing through the hype rather than being overwhelmed by fatigue.

It’s a good read and it begs the question that is in the headline of this post. It also begs more depth. Most of the great rush in gadget land these days is for consumption devices, in fact it all is. Several assumptions follow that path: 1.) assuming consumers will (at some point) be willing to pay for content on shiny new gadgets, and/or 2.) revenue will be generated by advertising.

On the first, I think there’s a limited amount consumers will spend for content based purely on their budgets. On the latter, I still wonder how advertising generates so much revenue (and it does) when just about everybody hates it, and I’ve sill yet to meet a person who clicks on an ad.

Rather than gadget fatigue, I’m guessing the trend that will cause real problems will have to deal more with resistance to paying for content (again for budget reasons not ideological ones) and resistance to advertising.

So, how about you? Gadget fatigue? Chime in and let us know.

12 Comments

12 Comments

  1. Epyon

    02/12/2010 at 12:54 pm

    No fatigue here. I’m just bored with useless,crippled, gimmicky gadgets.

  2. sbtablet

    02/12/2010 at 12:56 pm

    Well, Warner, you’ve met a clicker now. But not because I’m really interested in the advertising. On my favorite ad supported websites, I just make it a point to shut down the ad blocker and click on some ads every now and then. I do want them to stay in business.

  3. GoodThings2Life

    02/12/2010 at 1:05 pm

    On the matter of gadget fatigue, I have to say yes… I don’t particularly need/want any new gadgets. Hardware just doesn’t impress me that much. Now it’s part of my job, yes, and I make sure that what I buy for work is properly researched and such, but for myself I don’t need to go out and by every gadget just because hype and advertising tells me to do so.

    On the matter of advertising, I’m an AdBlock junkie. That said, I agree with sbtablet that I disable it on sites that I enjoy (like here). I’m a software junkie, so when I see interesting SOFTWARE advertisements on sites I like, I’ll click through and research the program. I’ll even buy it if it serves a purpose, or donate if it’s freeware.

  4. Sumocat

    02/12/2010 at 2:52 pm

    I think you hit it right on the head by bringing up consumption, but the real limit isn’t money but time. Even if I had the money, the iPad, Google Buzz and 3D TV still wouldn’t excite me (well, maybe the iPad) because I’m already burning too much time consuming media. Right now, they’re just more of the things I need to cut back on. It’s like I’m trying to lay off the donuts, and they’re introducing even better donuts. Thanks for improving the donuts, but I shouldn’t even be eating what I already got.

  5. John in Norway

    02/12/2010 at 3:28 pm

    I’m with Epyon. To me it seems as if technology is going backwards. Non-active touchscreens on Tablet PCs , screens on phones that are useless outdoors when the sun is shining, capacitive touch on phones. The list goes on. I’m still using the same TabletPC that I bought 5 years ago and the same phone that I bought 2 years ago because, apart from my OQO that only lasted 18 months, I haven’t found anything better.

  6. SAM

    02/12/2010 at 4:37 pm

    It seems like alot lot of new items are “dumbed down”
    as if people are not smart enough anymore to use them

    Also, I see alot of items that are “tiedin” with
    subcriptions, contracts, etc to keep you paying for
    the device you have already paid for.

  7. Scott

    02/12/2010 at 4:52 pm

    What!? People aren’t swept away by the next thing we want to sell them? It must be the consumer’s fault. Let’s blame them.

    Maybe your product just isn’t so great? And maybe, just maybe, people don’t always buy into the over-the-top hype.

  8. turn.self.off

    02/12/2010 at 5:07 pm

    heck, 3d tv is just another excuse to attempt to fool people to replace their fully working hardware yet again.

    it seems we have run out of hardware ideas, and software ideas are increasingly hard to sell.

    we may need something new at the physics side of things before the world pis up.speed again. Or maybe we should take a hint that the last couple of generations of development speed was abnormal? Probably scares the corp suites crazy.

  9. timjones17

    02/12/2010 at 5:33 pm

    No gadget / info tech letdown here. Happy with my netbook and my Windows phone is ok. I look up stuff on Twitter, keep up with people on Facebook. Amazed at Google Maps and stuff on Youtube. Looking forward to the Nexus One for Verizon Wireless. Apple fanatics might be feeling kinda bummed about the iPad’s lukewarm reception, but I consider Apple’s stuff to be generally overhyped and overpriced so, I wasn’t surprise about the iPad ho hummer. Get songs for free, for your own personal use, of course: Download Youtube videos and convert the videos to mp3 using Real Player.

  10. chris hickie

    02/13/2010 at 12:47 am

    Well, if the iPad, Google Buzz and 3D TV actually did something useful for my computing needs, I might be excited about them.

    It’s not fatigue if you aren’t even interested in it…more like disdain.

  11. Jake

    02/13/2010 at 11:31 am

    Isn’t it possible that the iPad, Google Buzz and 3DTVs are just crap products?

  12. bluespapa

    02/15/2010 at 6:43 pm

    I have some good tools, but money is a factor in my holding off. The Tablet PC I’m typing on right now is too loud with fan noise (Core Duo, not Core 2 Duo) to be useful in meetings and classrooms, and the Samsung Q1UP-V on which I put Windows 7 is about the best computer I’ve owned, but I’d love to have a QUIET Tablet PC with more capabilities (like the Lenovo, or if someone would work out a really good slate that’s not infuriating for some modest and thoughtless design error).

    But there are a whole bunch of almosts and not-quites that I find irritating. The ebook readers that have a way to mark up the book with a stylus, but no way to set a margin to make room. The Tablet slates that aren’t quite portable. Phones that don’t really have more function than what they’d replace. Software that doesn’t quite meet expectations. All the steps required to do the simplest things.

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