Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Much More For Less and Less For More
Posted by Jonathon Watkins in "THOUGHT" @ 06:00 PM
"Things are getting cheap. And I mean, "things". Things you can touch and feel. Not intangible services, but manufactured goods. . . . Indeed, about six hours work at the British minimum wage will probably now earn you enough to pay for a microwave oven. The prices of services on the other hand - particularly the labour intensive services - keep up with earnings. Six hours of minimum wage work would probably not pay for a plumber to replace a washer. Now this development has some interesting consequences: the cheaper goods become, the more casual we are about how we consume them. "
This BBC news story provides a thoughtful perspective on the rise of the 'disposable society'. Since the UK consumer price index was launched in 1996, the price of 'goods' has fallen by an average of 2%, while the prices of services has risen by 35%. It's often cheaper to throw things away and upgrade, rather than repairing something. This is a rational choice when faced with a choice of fixing a microwave for £85 or getting a brand new one with more features for £80. On the other hand, you need to think about the quality of newer goods and the impact of the environment and labour market etc. The article points out that we have barely begin working through the consequences of these changes. I had noticed recently that computer equipment and PDAs seems to have gotten much cheaper (than usual), but this article really made me start thinking about the implications. Could this shift in expectations partially explain why some OEMs seem to be trying to turn Pocket PCs into 'appliances' with limited firmware fixes and no OS upgrades? What are your thoughts about a 'disposable' world?
This BBC news story provides a thoughtful perspective on the rise of the 'disposable society'. Since the UK consumer price index was launched in 1996, the price of 'goods' has fallen by an average of 2%, while the prices of services has risen by 35%. It's often cheaper to throw things away and upgrade, rather than repairing something. This is a rational choice when faced with a choice of fixing a microwave for £85 or getting a brand new one with more features for £80. On the other hand, you need to think about the quality of newer goods and the impact of the environment and labour market etc. The article points out that we have barely begin working through the consequences of these changes. I had noticed recently that computer equipment and PDAs seems to have gotten much cheaper (than usual), but this article really made me start thinking about the implications. Could this shift in expectations partially explain why some OEMs seem to be trying to turn Pocket PCs into 'appliances' with limited firmware fixes and no OS upgrades? What are your thoughts about a 'disposable' world?
