News flash! There’s always another innovation

News flash! There’s always another innovation

Instead of queuing overnight to be one of the first to get your hands on an iPhone 4, why not just… well, not?

June 29, 2010 3:06 by Sam Potter

I can’t keep up with technology. Or more specifically, with the pace of change of technology.

I’ve tried. Really I have. I’ve read Wired magazine. I’ve frequented the electronics shops to keep my eye on the latest arrivals. I’ve dutifully watched Apple demonstrate the latest gizmo, and read news stories on how tablets could change life as we know it.

But the fact is, I don’t own any of these revolutionary products. And I’m not likely to either, because I can’t escape the feeling that if ever I buy one, there’ll be a new improved version waiting just around the corner.

A case in point: The latest version of the iPhone, the 3GS, launched in the UAE in October last year. Now the iPhone 4 is rumored to be launching in September – that’s less than a year’s gap between the two. How can something costing around $500 have a shelf life of less than a year?

Maybe the problem is that I’m not bothered enough. As far as I’m concerned, technology is already pretty flipping good. I have a camera – video and still – in my phone, and that phone sits in my pocket. I have a computer that links me to almost everyone I know in the world, almost instantly. Devices like this have revolutionized my life, and I wouldn’t be without them. But do I want to keep pouring cash into the black hole that is keeping up with tech? Not particularly.

Though I do admit, it’s increasingly hard to resist. A swath of recent articles has painted the new iPhone launch as just about the most exciting thing since ever, and today I almost caught myself getting swept up in the hype. “It could be time,” I thought to myself, dramatically. At last, time to jump on the crazed iPhone bandwagon.

Then I checked myself. The advance word is that the device has issues, the Steve Jobs launch was calamitous, and I don’t need a new phone. Add to that the fact that the iPhone 5 will probably be out a month later, and all the signs say I should avoid the hype.

What it boils down to is this. Maybe I will go for it, and buy the iPhone 4. But at $500 plus dollars, I’ll be expecting the thing to last me longer than 11 months. So when Apple, or whoever is next, unveils the next newest, most brilliant-est ultra cool invention, I won’t be in the queue – I’ll wait until the brilliant-est ultra cool invention 4, at least.