Most of us would scoff at the notion of buying something just because it looks good or is popular. We think we're above such trivialities. But we're deluding ourselves.
If the iPhone has taught us anything, it's that popularity isn't always linked to functionality. Looks, brand, whether your friends think it's cool — all these are factors in our buying decisions, whether we like to admit it or not.
In this week's Whaddyareckon? we're finding out what's more important when you buy a gadget: decent tech specs or the ability to draw jealous glances on the bus.
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oz-nom
04/07/2008 02:21 PM
The distinction is a little off-mark. Functionality is not the same as tech-specs (anyone else ever owned a Nokia? 17 button presses to divert calls!). So it becomes a 3-way contest: tech-specs vs cool vs usability. As a pseudo-geek, I like my gadgets to be high tech. As a professional, I like cool. But I also live in the real-world, so I want my high-tech to work simply & unobtrusively. If the features are hard to use then, after a while, I won't. So for me, while I like cool and I like hi-tech, I'll choose usable (functional) over both. Incidentally, this is why I will probably get an iPhone. It doesn't have all the features of other phones, but it makes the features I use regularly MUCH simpler and and makes some features that I'd like to use (such as web-browsing & email on my phone) affordable and easily accessible.
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andy
04/07/2008 04:14 PM
oz-mon, you are right. Cnet you need to maybe think through some of your what do you reckon ideas. If you have something that is easy to use i would class that as fuctional because i would use it. The cnet guy on the video is waring the same shirt in all the videos. Did they do all the what do you reckons in one day and also at the same place.
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mattye77
08/07/2008 04:22 PM
do you seriously think someone will argue this in the other direction? regardless of whether someone thinks iphone is functional or not - no one is going to post on here arguing that they are gonna buy the iphone just because they wanna be cool or popular (although i believe amany people will)... what a stupid idea for a topic of conversation.
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iconfess
08/07/2008 08:37 PM
Geez Louise. It's a one minute vox pop, not a PhD Thesis. Lighten up, David Stratton.
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janet
08/07/2008 08:39 PM
Is it an open technology? Does it comply with standards for interoperability? Can it be modded? Does it run linux? Is it interoperable? Can data be resaved for other purposes or is it locked in? Consumer rights are my first questions.
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