Upgrading against the speed of technology

[tcm1969]

I told my wife (iPhoner) not to waste her upgrade on the iPhone 4 to 4s. My reason was both genuine (why not wait for the 5 and not waste it on something incremental) and underhanded (I want your upgrade for a Galaxy Note!). I love my wife but we're talking a cool new phone here!
Now I find myself in the same position she was in. the GS3 is around the corner and the Note is already getting "old".
The problem is, by the time the GS3 actually hits AT&T shelves (Q3?) there will be something else right around the corner worth waiting for. The speed of technology is a real when you're addicted to having the latest and greatest!
I think I need a support group.....

 

[Ry]

When you're actually ready to buy a new device, choose the device that best suits your needs that day. If you wait, you'll always be waiting.

 

[Maikai.Guy]

The way I see it, you have three choices.

1) Just buy the next "greatest thing" you want. We don't live forever and you can't take it with you. Give your last "greatest thing" to your wife. ;-)

2) Sell your last "greatest thing" to offset the cost of buying the next "greatest thing." Personally, I don't sell my old phones. The risk isn't worth the reward to me.

3) When you buy your next "greatest thing", don't look again until your contract is up.

 

[tcm1969]

The way I see it, you have three choices.

1) Just buy the next "greatest thing" you want. We don't live forever and you can't take it with you. Give your last "greatest thing" to your wife. ;-)

2) Sell your last "greatest thing" to offset the cost of buying the next "greatest thing." Personally, I don't sell my old phones. The risk isn't worth the reward to me.

3) When you buy your next "greatest thing", don't look again until your contract is up.

I like it, 3 options and no therapy! I think I'll go with option 1!

 

[rbess1965]

I told my wife (iPhoner) not to waste her upgrade on the iPhone 4 to 4s. My reason was both genuine (why not wait for the 5 and not waste it on something incremental) and underhanded (I want your upgrade for a Galaxy Note!). I love my wife but we're talking a cool new phone here!
Now I find myself in the same position she was in. the GS3 is around the corner and the Note is already getting "old".
The problem is, by the time the GS3 actually hits AT&T shelves (Q3?) there will be something else right around the corner worth waiting for. The speed of technology is a real when you're addicted to having the latest and greatest!
I think I need a support group.....

We are your support group
My last device was a Samsung Droid Charge. Had it 8 months and sold it for 180 & bought this Maxx for 199 on contract. I have 5 lines on my account and one of them is always coming up for renewal and always try to avoid letting the kids have the better stuff. That's why they get the iPhones

 

[Maikai.Guy]

I like it, 3 options and no therapy! I think I'll go with option 1!

Yeah, option one is a good one!

If your wife balks at the plan, put your foot down and remind her this is an affliction... a disease... and falls under the "in sickness and in health" section of your marriage contract.

If you're still able to communicate after that, let us know how it turned out. ;-)

 

[cadzilla74]

MaiKai.Guy nailed it. I have so many friends with "trigger failure" who wait for this and wait for that. Whenever I'm in the market for new technology and have the cash at the ready I buy. Period. Unless something I'm really wanting is a week away from release at the most. While my friends wait to pay premium dollar for the next greatest thing that will give them maybe .5Ghz more CPU speed I've already got mine and overclocked it to a level they'll never achieve. Unless we are talking a drastic change in architecture AND there is software that can even take advantage of it then why wait? None of this stuff is built to last forever.

 

[JohnAlpha]

I agree that once your contract is up there isn't much of a point in waiting unless there is something in particular that you really want which is just over the horizon. Technology is evolving so quickly that something better will always be in the works.

That being said, I also don't see the point in constantly wanting to upgrade again as soon as you get a new device. Once you get a new phone, it's pretty much guaranteed that within a few months something better will be released. To me it seems wasteful to be constantly shelling out the money for new phones that are just slightly better. Of course, if you have a good way to sell the previous phones or otherwise offset the cost, the situation is a little different.