I remember the last time I went shopping for a laptop. As soon as I inquired about the various models being offered, I was ambushed by the different sales people at the store. After one of them caught my attention he began informing me about the Intel versus AMD processor, DDR versus DDR2 memory, and 40/60/80 GB HD. I consider myself somewhat knowledgeable in technology. I surf the internet, watch movies on my computer and know what the difference is between an MP3 and an MP4 player, but I’ll be honest, sometimes this jargon confuses me. Should I be ashamed?
The thing is, this is not an isolated case, and I will bet you have experienced the same with other electronics purchases: the all-in-one cell phones, the LCD and Plasma Television dilemma, or if 7 Million Mega pixels are enough. Should it be so difficult?
Many companies advertise their products based on tech specs, add more and more features, bury the product’s main use in so much useless information, and tend to forget what’s in it for us, the consumer. What they are basically doing is thinking of their bottom line: market share, profit margin, etc. In other words, how can they achieve more for themselves by selling to as many people as possible?
I believe in getting more as a consumer. Instead of piling many features that are mostly useless and function only half the time, we would like the few that answer our needs and do so when expected. For example, most cell phones today offer a camera, organizer, music player, internet, games, etc., but we all have different needs. An amateur photographer may not have a need for a music player, games or even an actual camera, but would for a large screen with high resolution and simple software to manage his or her photos such as done in a flickr account. An executive, on the other hand, may need an efficient organizer, powerful email capabilities, and a stock calculator, but a camera or music player may simply burden and take up space. Companies must understand that our bottom line is closely correlated with theirs. While remembering and striving towards achieving our bottom line of getting what we pay for, they in return may realize their goals of success. What the product can do for us is more important than how it does so. Am I the only one that feels this way?
