Christian Farrell Blog 1

It is truly amazing how fast today’s technology advances. There are countless pieces of technology that we have all used that by today’s standards are considered obsolete. When asked to list all of the past technology you have used over your lifespan, you start to understand just how fast these technologies become obsolete. The first piece of technology I can remember using is my Gameboy Color. By today’s standards it is not a very advanced piece of technology, but when it first came out, the Gameboy Color was at the top of the list for hand-held gaming systems. However, since the Gameboy Color’s release in October of 1998, Nintendo has released ten hand-held gaming systems. On average that’s approximately a new gaming system every 19 months. Leaving their shelf-life limited to less than two years, before they are replaced by a better system.

            These days it does not take long before any piece of technology becomes obsolete. Just looking back at the phones I have previously owned, the difference between a Motorola Razr and an Iphone is night and day. With the rate at which technology is becoming obsolete increasing, companies that produce technology are able to profit more from people buying new technology. Companies know this and advertise to make the buyer feel like they need the newest technology, so as not to be obsolete. Every year, Apple comes out with a new Iphone that is faster and better than the last. The question is, how much better is this new technology? Is it really worth spending all that money when your current phone works just fine? These questions are better answered by the individual consumer. Personally, I don’t like to replace my phone until my contract is up or until I absolutely need to. I have had three phones in my lifetime, and each time I upgraded I was blown away by how much phone technology had progressed. Just upgrading from my Razr to my HTC phone, I was amazed at how I could now go on the internet with my phone while using a touch screen. Then upgrading my HTC phone to an Iphone, I saw even more improvements and advancements. Such as; being able to listen to my music, use a Facebook application, and use other great applications. It’s not just the phones that are advancing quicker than we can replace them, laptops, computers, and televisions are being made better every day. And with the creation of the tablet, laptops are slowly losing popularity to these smaller, easier to use tablets that can do all the same things a laptop can do. It seems so long ago that televisions use to have a back to them. Now it seems that the flatter a television or laptop screen gets, the more advanced the technology is. How fast is too fast for the technology world? If the rate at which technology becomes obsolete increases anymore, will people stop buying the newest technology? At this rate people may be replacing their phones six months at a time instead of a year at a time.