Humans new feelings of technological fetishism

With so many new digital technologies and devices around us every day, we cannot easily get away from the digital plethora and spectrum that to a certain degree rule our lives and in most user case, we as individuals would not be able to go along in life in much the same way as we have now become very much used too without our digital companions.

We are talking about technology with the peaks and valleys it offers - as well as our own wants, needs and desires.

Getting a new device of any sort is always an exciting time, there are videos dedicated to unboxing SmartWare, it is possible to spend twenty minutes viewing a HD video as the innards of an Amazon Prime delivery and shiny new product packaging are carefully dissected for the viewers’ enjoyment.

After the carefully crafted injection moulded plastics and paperwork with operating manual and Certificate of Conformity (that we rarely read) are removed, low and beyond there is the new hardware.

It does not matter the type of device, it could be a new smartphone, tablet PC, Graphics card for cryptocurrency mining or a simple USB thumb drive to store music, documents and more, in all its awe; there is the shiny device you paid all that money for.

In real user time, it takes less ripping apart the silly in the way packaging than the generic unboxing videos show due to sometimes sheer excitement and a forward-facing hopeful aspect of how that tightly packed technological marvel can assist as well as organize our lives better going forward - as long as it has a social media chat function, we are ok with that.

For the next few days and perhaps weeks, we will play with the devices after the initial setup and customization.

Let’s say for the purpose of the thought process that the said device is a shiny flat-panel tablet PC of some make, it is like a new dawn, and that is even before you have taken off the plastic protectors, and that is a moment of ecstasy in itself that should be savoured.

As time moves on the device does not become so amazing as it first was, perhaps it was not what you expected - nothing is ever simple, huh!? But that is ok, there is always the internet marketplaces and upgrade options which is where some people are stuck in a constant loop.

Some teenagers and beyond are similar in habit to the hardware nerds with their expensive trainers in that there is always something better and it is nigh possible to achieve that greatness with longevity that would, for the most part, be economically viable as well as less of a footprint on the earth and its geological as well as human-powered resources and all in between.

There is a degree of this technological fetishism that applies to most hardware we use today, Flat panel Devices like TVs and computing devices which encompass mobile phones with tablet devices, there is always a better model - whether we need to upgrade or not is another matter.

Yeah ok, all hardware gets old, Moores law and all, but that we should all ask ourselves whether we really need that piece of newer equipment and next version update, in most cases we can just carry on until a later device.

In this world of fast commerce and wearable technology, it can be all too easy to get caught up in the cool factor and next-generation race of smart devices, that is ok for the most part but do try to be a bit more conservative when the desire takes you to new extremes; if not for your pocket - but for the environment too.