That was..a post that could develop into a 3-day seminar @the-traveller..
I feel that the vast majority of techno-consumers tend to be passive rather than aware techno-literate ones. The desire to continuously upgrade their gadgets to the latest ones, even at only a mini incremental upgrade, is fuelled by their inability to treat gadgets as mere tools like one would treat a drill or a hammer (now if you told me to pay double the price for a new hammer with a leather grip upgrade or a stronger wood handle, I would not really be so convinced to buy, yeah?).
This mentality of greed is likely more pronounced in Asia and in larger cities because the mindset of youngsters that possessing the latest editions of gadgets is cool. I've noticed that so many people react in an overly-approving way - whether faked out of politeness or genuinely - when they see a new gadget and hear that it is the latest version, even if they have zero knowledge at all about that particular model. This fuels a trend of people wanting to either give or receive the latest version of GoPro camera, iPhone, etc. etc. for birthdays or special occasions. I don't belong in this category, because I've been on the receiving end and realised that some of these gadgets, I don't even use regularly even after the initial hype I felt when I first got it.. I would really rather have a cool experiential gift or even cash over those.
But it's not only about me. I wouldn't put this down to peer pressure per say, I would put it down to the norm that everyone accepts, and then internalises and starts to practice as a default mode..
Come to think of it, a lot of people are in default mode, that is why there is not as many active proponents of the idea economy yet.. People simply haven't recognised the gravity of being left behind and choose to remain complacent in the face of all the change and talk of change going around them..Or maybe they don't even know where to get started.
Anyway, I belong to the group that is passive about my technology, so maybe I'm being kinda two-faced..but as I said, I treat tech as a tool of convenience..that's why I also take photos with my phone really, because the pictures quality is still decent and it's a lot more convenient..I'm a big technological noob really, and that has to change sometime, but I'm still swimming around in complacency regarding this because I can rely on my husband for help always :)
Note: my observations are generalisations from only my small view...I accept that they are not very representative, and I don't think it includes the people here on steemit so much..from the feel of it during my short time here, the community is made up of rather intellectual, forward-thinking, nerdy (i mean this in a good way! :p) individuals..I think at least 50% are big on reading specs too ;)
Sorry if my comment is super rambly and disjointed..brain is a bit fuzzy right now..not feeling so well. Anyway, great article..is this kind of content what you would like to put on Udemy? :)
you guessed my evil plans for world domination... Eventually I do think I will turn this material in online courses. Material such as Kevin Kelly's is like a manual for the future. We are given all this stuff without good guidelines on how to use it. It's like an open bar for teenagers...
A lot of people are unconsciously abusing it and believe me, as a coach I see some people who are having serious career issues. Their abuse of social media is eating up the time they should be putting towards developing their business. Believe me that in a few years we will be talking about digital addiction as if it were tobacco. Especially kids are severely affected to the point where it can affect their brain development.
Try this as an experiment. Shut your mobile off and stuff it in a drawer for more than 24h. See how that affects you, you might be surprised... The reason why distraction technology is so powerful is that it works directly on the reward centers in our brains: Reminds me of Simon Sinek:
The constant cycle of upgrading to new is playing with these same reward centers. I tell ya, the tobacco industry will start to look innocent if we start to realise how the tech industry is pushing our buttons...
Regarding the showoff factor, I remember when cellphones were new and trendy, some guys had dummy ones that were actually lighters...