We live in a hyperconnected world where technology advances without stopping and every day faster, we invest our money in updated technological equipment and a few months later they are not so advanced, because the new model comes out, with better specifications and of course at a higher price.
I remember seeing a documentary and at one point they talked about the electric bulb and its origin, and I was very attracted to the fact that those first bulbs had a long duration, they lasted for years, which was good for the consumer but bad for manufacturing companies, because consumers did not need to replace them, therefore, the companies agreed and began to manufacture light bulbs that lasted shorter, today we have led bulbs and even connected by bluetooth, but these are expensive although their duration is very long, which compensates for the price, investigating in this regard I realized that this is one of the oldest cases regarding this issue, another very resounding case was the case of the Ipod and its irreplaceable battery.
We talked a little about the origins of this issue, now we are going to bring it to the present, nowadays companies and sometimes we convince ourselves that we need these last generation devices, which keeps companies afloat and reduces our budgets.
The marketing that bombards us every day in all media and social networks, keeps our attention on those products, but is it really necessary to have the latest model? I think it is not, what we must do is to be clear about our objectives and needs with respect to the device or product that we want to buy, for example if you plan to buy a car to just go to work and take the children to school you do not need a Mustang GT of the year, with some good sedan car you can achieve the same goals, I do not need a formula 1 to just use it to go to work and return home.
I know many snobbery people, and they tell me, I bought the last Samsung Galaxy Note and I ask them, and what is the difference with the previous one? and they don't know what to answer because many times these smartphone are smarter than their owners, I also have friends who really need that most recent smartphone because their work asks for it because they need to be connected and they practically work anywhere with that powerful tool.
What is needed is that we are conscious buyers and not buy only for fashion as many people do, companies like Apple have products of the most advanced that exist today, because they use quality materials these usually last a long time, that’s why they make their products obsolete through the software, preventing the update to the latest versions and thus forcing the acquisition of the most recent models, even though those products are still working perfectly, I have a friend who has an Imac of about 10 years ago and He only changed the hard drive for a SSD (solid state drive) and it works as the last generation.
Nowadays we are used to the planned obsolescence due to the rapidity that technology advances and we see it as normal, but there is another consequence that is the great production of garbage coming from the technology, which has generated a term known as E -waste, millions of tons are produced annually, which seriously damages the planet.
The important thing is to become aware and buy what is needed and use it for as long as necessary and what we are not going to use, like that old android that you have in the drawer, it is better to donate it to anyone who may need it, we help to make the world a better place, I read over there that it is not our children who need a better planet, it is our planet that needs better people.
