Thursday, April 16, 2015

Improvements in Technology

Ally Mitchell
Economics
4/13/15

The constant demand for improvements and advances in technology has caused a huge market to pop up to provide all of the items that aren’t necessarily needed, but are badly wanted by the public. Our society teaches us not to be content with what we have, but to always push towards attaining whatever the newest, best product is that’s being produced. This is both a blessing and a curse for the companies that produce the equipment we rabidly buy up because they can make a lot of money with each new product they release, but they can’t ever just sit back and let their product sell. They must constantly be meeting the demands for better products, and they have to be able to supply these better products in order to remain relevant so that they can continue turning a profit.
In this day and age that seems to be run by technology, we are all aware of how quickly technology grows old, and Ian Hamilton puts it well when he says, “with technology, the only constant is change.” Take Apple for example, just when the hype over the latest iPhone has died down, a new one is suddenly introduced to the consumer market. Although there is nothing wrong with their iPhone 5, consumers will rush to the store to buy the iPhone 6, which is good for Apple because of the revenue they bring in, but bad for your wallet in the long run (how different is the iPhone 6 from the iPhone 5 anyways?)

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Just as all the previous versions of the iPhone are out-of-style and out-of-date, there are a list of other items that are projected to become obsolete in the near future. In his article “5 Tech Products That Will Be Dead in 5 Years”, Micah Singleton predicts that DVD players, stand alone in-car GPS units, dial-up internet, low-end digital cameras, and car keys will no longer be around. All of these disappearances would be due to the fact that advancements in technology replace them. Who would feel the need to own a DVD player if all of their movies can be streamed on Netflix or if they can buy them on iTunes? Who would need to buy a low-end digital camera when their phone can take equally good if not better pictures? Who would want to waste money on inelastic goods that can be replaced by better supplement goods?

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As you can see in the graph above, the amount of music in general that is being purchased has seen a sharp decrease. While consumers are buying less CDs, they are investing more in digital downloads, which only came about in recent years. As with the extinction of DVD players, it’s not unlikely that CDs won’t disappear as well with the rate we are moving towards digitizing everything. Hamilton brings up an interesting subject when he says that physical objects give us a sense of nostalgia that their digital equivalents just can’t drum up. For instance, “Parents might keep forever the books they read to their children, but probably wouldn't keep the digital file or a Kindle they used to read to their child” (Hamilton). This makes sense, but I’m not sure that nostalgia is powerful enough to slow down the mark that technology is leaving on us.



Hamilton, Ian. "With Technology, the Only Constant Is Change." The Orange County Register. 12 May 2011. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.  

Singleton, Micah. "5 Tech Products That Will Be Dead in 5 Years." - Techlicious. 30 Dec. 2013. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.

35 comments:

  1. There is an upside to rapid technological improvement because it means that we increase our productivity frequently. This increase in productivity means we can increase the amount of goods we produce and decrease the amount of time it takes to produce them. These are important factors behind the concept of economic growth, and that is important to maintaining and improving the standard of living.

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  2. This is a good topic to talk about because many of us have smartphones know and not the old flip phone. It has been really cool to see how technology has improved. I thought the picture of the iPhone's was really cool to see how the technology of that particular phone is continuing to change over the course of time. Also I liked how you had mentioned that if a new phone comes out that somebody would rush to the store to get that phone. Even though there wasn't much wrong with the phone someone had before. The technology inside the phone is actually changing and getting more advanced. Overall, you did a good job explaining how technology is continuing to improve.

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  3. Times are changing fast and products are being rushed. For video games it is common for a unfinished game to come out. Companies are rushing their games just throwing them at consumers and the worst part is that consumers are buying them. This is why products are being rushed in any market and the more consumers buy the more they make. It won't be long before you paying $300 for a phone that doesn't work and it being recalled and re fixed constantly. The only way to stop this, would be to get consumer to stop buying the product wait for the finished one with new technology.

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  4. Apple will keep creating more and more "versions" of the iPhone because it creates revenue for them. Even if the new iPhone really isn't that different from the one before it, people will buy the new one. They will buy the new one just to be able to say they have it. Apple knows they will make a profit so they just keep creating new "versions".

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  5. I was surprised to hear the predictions of what current technologies might be extinct in just a few years. Of course there have always been technological advances throughout time, but today’s competitive and creative mindset is causing technology to be constantly and rapidly changing. This is, in most cases, for the better. However, the case you bring up about nostalgia is thought-provoking; will people choose the trade-off of easily accessible e-books and the opportunity cost of a childhood story book?

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  6. Most of the phone companies will always be making new versions of their phones just so they are able to out do the other companies and make more money. There are lots of people out there that know that a new product might be just the same as the old one buy they don't care because they just want to be able to say that they have it.

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  7. I agree with you about how society teaches people to always want more and that nothing is good enough. Personally, I think that it’s pretty ridiculous how people rush to get the new, “better” version of things like iPhones, but really it’s a waste of money because the iPhone 6 is pretty much exactly the same as its predecessor. It just seems like a scam for Apple to get more money in my opinion. I thought it was interesting how people keep their physical items like books for nostalgic purposes.

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  8. Apple company knows what people will use these days and that is why the upgrade them all the time to make it look better and to make more money. But I believe that humans buy this products because they know that it will be cheaper because they already had/have the plan of the company and that is how they will get the product for cheaper price.

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  10. It’s weird to think that by the time I’m old, things like dvds and cd players could be completely replaced. I suppose this can easily be predicted though considering the popularity of itunes and Netflix. Something that really surprised me was the mention of car keys because it never occurred to me that when all of these new cars starting with the push of a button that car keys would--or even could--be replaced. The reason for these products being the preferred ones is probably because they’re a lot easier and faster. If you want a movie, you don’t need to go to the store or order it online; you can get it on your laptop in 2 seconds. This is the same for albums and books. There was a mention towards the end about how some people like the actual objects though for nostalgic reasons, but I just happen to really like cds. I understand that I can by the album cheaper on itunes, but I like having the actual and tangible cd. I also really prefer reading a book versus a kindle.In a way, I hope some of these things don’t dissapear.

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  11. It’s true, technology is changing so fast we can hardly keep up. Technology can be detrimental to the businesses that provide things such as DVD players and poor quality cameras like you mentioned, but also, I don’t agree that they will completely disappear. What are people going to watch their already existing DVD’s on? If they won’t make DVD players anymore and they will eventually all fail, how are they going to get rid of all the existing DVD’s? Also, though CD’s and cassette tapes have gone down, the music industry is doing just fine considering all the artist’s revenue from merch and concert tickets.

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  12. You're right, Apple products are constantly changing; their goal has always been to be bigger and better than all their competitors. We, as a society, look at these newly released products and decide we have to have them solely because they are "the new thing." I know Kindle's are all the rave right now, but I am one who can't stand to read a book off a small device. I, like the small amount of people who share my feelings, intend to stick to paperbacks.

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  13. While I do agree that we are advancing rapidly in technology, and numerous things such as books, dvd players, and cable are becoming less necessary as our society once deemed these electronic items I feel as though I must disagree with your point pertaining towards nostalgia. While it may be quite some time before books printed on paper completely vanish, items such as e-books or ipads will most likely serve as their replacement thus filling that void. These items will be nostalgic for the children who listen to these stories, similar to how some individuals in this time period refuse to get rid of their VHS players despite the fact that they already own a DVD player which could easily replicate what was presented in VHS tapes at far superior quality. Of course nothing in the future is ever guaranteed, but if something such as this could occur in our time period it could very well occur with future generations. It dose not matter what the item may be as long as it connects with an individual on a positive level it could create a nostalgic grasp surrounding that item.

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  14. Technology is one of the most important source today's life for everyone. Without technology we can't create anything today's daily life and also software are improving more day by day. In olden days people had used push button phone or flip phone but today is not like that we use smart phone. In the smart phone You can do anything you want for example in the push-button phone you can't watch you tube or Facebook but in Smart phone you can watch it. today's life technology has growing rapidly changing.

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  15. I think the increase in technology will greatly outweigh any nostalgia value old products have, because increases in technology result in much greater efficiency and shift current production possibilities. If this increases profitability or saves time, then nobody will bother trying to use obsolete technology which will likely be unprofitable to continue to sell.

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  16. Technology is advancing, and I don't think things like nostalgia would slow down the market. Parents won't stop reading to their kids, they'll just use iPads and Kindles instead of paper books and people won't stop watching tv, they'll just use Netflix instead of cable. The demand for the technological products are not slowed down due to this and every new piece of technology, from the time radios were a big thing to when now people are getting the once si-fi idea of 3d printers and there has been constant huge profits, so there is no trend that people will slow demand for new technology.

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  17. Ally, I thought that your topic was really relevant to everyday life and connected to all of us. You made very valid points that was connected to ourselves and our nature to desire the latest and greatest technology. I also thought that your graph was very interesting and it was very telling to see all of the different types of music technology and how generations and technology has come and gone throughout time. I thought that using apple was a very good product to compare how fast the technology market has grown. There has been a lot of changes in technology due to the fact that people and marketers are constantly demanded in everyday life. I thought that you used very good visual and it contributed well to the topic. I think that maybe you could enhance this by using more examples to just add as evidence to your thesis.

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  18. Ally,
    I think that this brings up a very good point. I think that its true younger children are getting phones, nice phones a lot sooner. I think that its also a shock because, no one is just okay with having the old phone. They always want the new phone and they always want the newest thing that is coming out no matter what. This is very good for apple and all the others because, people will always buy the best new thing.

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  19. The trends you mentioned in your post are definitely ideas I have seen from many different sources, which is that technology is moving along when it doesn't even have to, just because consumers want more and they want it as soon as possible. The iPhone 6 could be the same exact thing as the iPhone 5 only with a slightly different casing and screen size, and yet billions of dollars in sales would flow in. Sometimes, newer versions of things aren't even as good as the old ones--Windows Vista and Windows 7 highly outdo Windows 8 in my opinion, and how many of our favorite movie franchises only got worse over time? Newer isn't always better! I for one don't think the DVD player will go completely out of style in the next 5 years due to the fact that not everyone can afford Netflix and Netflix certainly doesn't have everything, but who knows. It's almost sad to watch the mad consumer dash for the "newest" product, no matter what the cost.

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  20. I agree that technology has been rapidly growing and now it's at the point that every year the next generation of phones is released. Even though it really makes no notable changes that would be worth buying a new phone, people will still buy it without hesitation. That's because like you said, as a society we feel it's necessary to get the newest things.

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  21. I think it’s great that we are moving toward a digital word but the problem with it is that older individuals don’t want to accept that things are moving forward. They don’t want to move towards the internet because for the most part they don’t understand it. Have you ever seen one of your parents try to text? It’s pretty hilarious but it also proves that most of the people born before they eighty’s simply don’t understand how to use technology as well as people born later. Maybe by the time our generation rolls around there may be no libraries, grocery stores, or video game stores around, maybe there won’t even be a walmart!

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  22. It's apparent that with technology evolving as rapidly as it is (though less so here in America than in other countries) it's not hard to see that things are going to be lost. As someone who enjoys collecting CDs and DVDs Im going to be sad when they're inevitably gone! One thing I wonder though is how our technological advances compare to those of other countries; have other places in the world already ruled out things like car keys and DVDs? Are we not as far ahead as we think we are? But in total this was super informative and even a nice preparation for what's to come!

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  24. I think some of the technological advancements being made are unnecessary or even dangerous, particularly with cars. Having a backup camera might be nice, but these "blind spot alert" things that alert you when there's another car in your blind spot or "lane drift sensors" or any of these other things that seem to provide extra safety are bad. They might make people think they have to pay less attention while driving and allow them to be lazy or inattentive. Shouldn't you be aware of your surroundings and not be dependent on the car's computer?

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  25. While I prefer to own the physical copies of things such as music, movies, etc., it seems like more and more people choose to own digital versions instead, so it is understandable why the physical versions of these things may disappear in the future. Additionally, as you mentioned, companies like Apple keep creating newer versions of their products, even if they are very similar or unnecessary. While they are earning more money by doing this, it does not do much good for the buyers because even if they get the newest version, they will need to upgrade later.

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  26. I think this is a good point in proving what our society is like nowadays, with everyone wanting the best-of-the-best and the newest technology, or really anything. It's true that now, even when you may be a 5-year-old kid, you may already have an Ipad or a phone. It's interesting that now everyone has technology running their lives, while before our generation was born, people had to have done things with paper and pencil and didn't ave cellphones to communicate with people quickly. In your paper however, I have to say that I disagree with camera's, DVD's, and so on will be "exterminated" just because it's not a day-to-day thing everyone uses much anymore. I assume they will still be out in the world, but improved in a way that is needed throughout the next generation. I like how you brought the Iphones into your paper and how they keep making more. What I don't understand is the difference between each phone, except that it gets bigger. Overall, I enjoyed reading what you had to say about the advancements of technology.

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  27. I find it fascinating that Apple and other phone companies can get away with selling virtually the same product every year but with a different name. The improvements they add are nowhere near the amount that would make a new phone worth it to customers. Apple makes sure that the demand grows by slowly eliminating service for older devices. On the older generation ipods and iphones, apple stopped them from updating to the newest IOS. Technology also causes change in employment, because now robots are able to take over monotonous jobs, causing those with basic skills to go into unemployment, but also, robots provide more sophisticated jobs, which allows for a higher paid public.

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  28. I think that eventually, society will be buying newer products so fast that even the companies won’t be able to keep up. When this happens I believe that companies will begin to slow down their process (even if it’s not that much slower) all in the name of quality. Once consumers buy at a rate faster than the product can be made, more and more companies will be fast pace companies and that will no longer be their upper hand. That’s where the slowdown comes into play. In order to still be on top of the market, companies will start putting more quality into their products instead of quantity, which will of course drive the speed down; then once everyone starts focusing on quality, it will just end up being a race for quantity again.

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  29. This is an interesting and relevant topic. As the advancement of our technology continues to increase, new methods of purchasing music arise. Where once people could spend several dollars to purchase songs, now people can download one for less than a dollar, or now even get them for free. This of course adds difficulty to music sellers, as they have to continue to find ways to provide consumers with music for a low price. This is difficult because they still have to receive profits. Nice post.

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  30. I think that this is a really interesting topic. I think that you could have written the entire article just on music! I feel bad for the music industry because songs are now so cheap and are so easy to get for free now. Overall this was a very well written post with lots of relevant points that are applicable to everyone.

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  31. It is interesting to see the increase and decrease of sales on value of sold music. I thought digital sales would be higher in 2009, but that was over 6 years ago, so I would be curious to see the sales today compared to the sales of CDs. Would The current downloads of Digital be higher than the peak of the CD sales in 1999/2000?

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  32. This is a very interesting topic. It is true we live in a world where technology is evolving so fast that we can hardly keep up. The IPhone situation is crazy. It always surprises me how many people get the latest one every time. I also thought what you said about digital cameras vs phone cameras is interesting. Now that I think about it, I myself don't foresee buying a camera ever again. I wonder if that could have any long term economic significance? Not just with cameras but with other things like alarm clocks, TV, computer, etc. Overall, interesting post great job!

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  33. To be honest you would think that Apple sells a new product every year to help increase revenue. But once the new product is released all the old ones progressively start to slow down and not become as fast as they used to. My aunt has a 4s and it moves at the pace of a snail and is unable to do any of the new updates for her phone because it is so out of date to the Iphone 6. She doesn't need an Iphone 6 its just way to much for her technology use but Apple pushes you to get the newest one by making none of the others work as fast or even provide them with the IOS updates.

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  34. This is a really great topic! The impact on businesses when they have to keep making more and more products to fit consumer expectations is a huge one, since they can never just slow down and enjoy the profit gained from their latest product. They always have to strive for the next, or be lost in the shuffle. Your post had a lot of great evidence, especially the music download graph. I still buy CD's sometimes, yet I agree with you that nostalgia won't be enough to slow technology taking over more and more.

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  35. I think its interesting that our society thinks this way. My dad has this mentality that he thinks once the new thing is out, he needs to try it or have it. Once smart phones became the thing, he got it. Once the nicer laptops came out, he got it. I have had a smart phone for two years now and I don't want to get the better ones because I won't how to use them. I liked your question you had where you questioned how different is the most recent model to the one right after it? There can't be that big of a difference because the technology can't be changing that quickly to make a significant difference. I think people just buy the new phones because they want to be able to say "I got the new. . . "

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