Next week at the WWDC Apple Developer's Conference, Steve Jobs will stride on stage and inspire gadget lust the world over with the latest iPhone. Within a few weeks it will hit the streets, and geeks will line up around city blocks to replace their year-old iPhone 3GS's with the latest iteration.
I'm no stranger to gadget lust, but as I consider my perfectly-working year-old iPhone, I recognize that things are getting out of hand. When last year's blazing tech becomes today's e-waste, rendered obsolete by an ever-shortening hype cycle, when will we ever have enough? I've written previously about community efforts to reduce e-waste, such as the unconsumption movement and Santa Cruz's Computer Kitchen. But good intentions only go so far. How do we gadget addicts quell the craving?
First off: we rediscover the value in the devices we already have. Last year's iPhone won't have all of the features of the latest model, or the sleekest modernist design, but will run the new version of the iPhone operating system just fine. This message is echoed by Last Year's Model, an online support group for techies weaning themselves off of gadget lust. The site encourages geeks to declare their commitment to getting a full run of use out of their gadgets on Twitter, Facebook and Myspace, and offers a number of excellent reasons other users have chosen to hang on to the good-enough gadgets they already own, including "I haven't yet figured out all the things my old iPod can do" and "to save the planet through consuming less."
If you just can't stop itching for a new gadget, it's never been easier to trade what you have for something slightly-used. Ebay and Craigslist are the obvious options here, while new services like Gazelle and Nextworth make it incredibly simply to buy, sell, or recycle used gadgets. This post at Yahoo! Green details a number of similar services. The most shareable option is to go through a service such as your local Freecycle group, and trade unwanted and used gadgets with members of your own community. What's outdated to your neighbor down the street may be brand-new tech to you, and vice versa.
And if that still doesn't do the trick, it may be time to pull yourself away from Twitter and Gizmodo and get some perspective. Take a walk, hit the public library and borrow a book and a DVD. Find a yard sale and remember how quickly the newest tech becomes discarded detritus piled on a driveway. Consider how short the trip is from driveway to the landfill. As geeks, it's incredibly easy to get seduced by gadget lust, as our obsessions are stoked by the endless, breathless Internet hype cycle. But as long as they operate, the gadgets already in our pockets and in our communities are good enough.
Comments
Neal Gorenflo wrote on 06.06.10, 2:14pm:
Here's a quote from a speech Obama made in May at a commencement speech. I think this is pretty remarkable because this is an anti-technology industry message when there's an pretty influential block of tech executive Obama supporters. It's true and brave politically to say.
"You're coming of age in a 24/7 media environment that bombards us with all kinds of content and exposes us to all kinds of arguments, some of which don't always rank all that high on the truth meter," Obama said at Hampton University, Virginia.
"With iPods and iPads and Xboxes and PlayStations, -- none of which I know how to work -- information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation," Obama said.
Paul M. Davis wrote on 06.07.10, 6:52am:
Nicholas Carr's been writing about that topic quite a bit Neal, some provocative stuff that is rather controversial among the bloggerati but is fascinating nonetheless--and more insightful than I think a lot of us would like to admit. His latest piece is an excerpt in last month's Wired from his new book, The Shallows: http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/05/ff_nicholas_carr/all/1
Somewhat related, this "focus test" on NYT's site is pretty fascinating, I scored 67%: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/06/07/technology/20100607-distra...
Andrew wrote on 06.22.11, 8:35am:
I've been fighting gadget lust myself for years. I think though that one of the things that truly helps with gadget lust, although this will sound like counterproductive gadget-lover pandering, is to buy the good stuff when you can afford it. There are timeless items, although they're hard to find in the tech world, and it's much easier to hang onto them longer. I remember that I stuck with an old but premium Nokia cell phone for years simply because it was well made and beautiful even though the technology was quite obsolete
When the iPad was announced awhile back I posted a note on facebook suggesting that Apple should offer a discount on new technology to anyone who will trade in their current handheld or laptop or other device...the idea was for the older devices to be refurbished and given to a group of non-profits that could use them for mobile banking, social entrepreneurs or schools in low income areas...sharing is good:)