Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/01/25
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I have to disagree,from what i was taught in university ,order of magnitude steps in computing are roughly 6 years apart.The improvements consumers can buy in that period are carefully fed in to the market to maximise profits. best regards simon jessurun amsterdam the netherlands > Having spent the majority of my life working for technology manufacturing > companies, I can assure you that this is absolutely untrue. > > While there may be industries in which there is planned obsolescence, the > computer industry is not one of them. > > The issue in the computer industry is that the engineers keep coming up > with new stuff that is very much better than what existed a year ago. If > you don't sell it, then your competitors will. If you don't innovate, you > go out of business. Relentless innovation leaves a trail of obsolete > devices, but if you start feeling sorry for the people who have to buy new > ones, and slow down a little, they'll just buy from your competitors. > > In fact, quite the opposite is true. Development in the technology > industry is in general hindered by a desire to be compatible with the > past. If the hardware and software companies didn't worry about > compatibility with the past, they could probably innovate 20% faster than > they are doing now. > > No one is forcing you to buy newer faster better cameras and computers. As > many people have said here, a 2.1 megapixel camera still takes great > pictures. So why are camera companies racing to make and sell cameras with > more megapixels? Because people will buy them. People want them. This > isn't a conspiracy, it's just market demand at work. > > > > >> I believe one of the basic premises of contemporary >> technology development is the concept of "planned >> obsolescence," with the deliberate goal of encouraging >> consumers to buy new tools on a regular basis, in >> lock-step with the constantly increasing profit motive >> of the manufacturers. > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information