When’s the right time to invest in new technology?
In the week that has seen Microsoft officially launch Windows 7 and Apple release a new suite of products, it’s a good time to think carefully about when the best time to buy is. It’s very easy in the rush to have the latest and greatest technology at our disposal to neglect the very compelling reasons for doing things more slowly. Here are some reasons why you might want to think a little more about that next big technology purchase:
- Is it stable yet? – Often new release products are still undergoing some real world testing. After all, no amount of planning can fully prepare a product for how people will use it in the real world.
- Is it compatible? – Sure the newest iAndrothingamajig is a pretty impressive device – but does it work with your existing technology setup or is it just a device to encourage you to buy a bunch of other stuff as well?
- What will it do for you? – Does the product in question offer you something different to what you’re currently working with?
- Does it do something that you need? – Do you really need to be able to record videos on your iPod or does your mobile already do that? (or – gasp – does your video camera do that?)
- Will you use it frequently? – any device is only worth the functionality it affords you multiplied by how often you will need that functionality.
New technology is fantastic, it’s exciting and it’s the future finally brought into the present, but sometimes it’s worth waiting until the future is a little more suited to your needs before you buy in.
