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Beware Of Gadget Overload

Are consumers suffering from gadget overload? The New York Times wonders. “Are [people] exhausted by the consumer equivalent of the brain fatigue -- information overload -- that is caused by a constant updates of devices and online media?” it asks. The answer: Yes and no.

Nearly half of consumers -- 48% -- do “feel high-tech manufacturers bring new products to market faster than people need them,” according to new research from nonprofit product testing and certification organization Underwriters Laboratories. According to NYT, the finding has two possible explanations: “The first, obvious one is that the pace of innovation is too fast for consumers,” while the second is that innovation is too slow. Come again?

“That is, the new offerings companies are pushing out the door every six months or so are me-too products or ones with a just couple of new features or design tweaks,” NYT writes. “Marketing schedules, not product innovation, are driving the corporate train.” A chief offender, manufacturers in the United States valued “speed to market” more than in other countries included in the report.


Read the whole story at The New York Times »

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