Why You Should Be Late to the Technology Party

I'm never the first one with the new toy...but I end up with it eventually.

I'm generally a pretty smart shopper, and in general, am always looking for the biggest bang for the least buck: but I'm also a sucker for sweet deals. When it comes to tech purchases, I almost never buy things as soon as they come out despite all the buzz.

First, they always cost entirely too much money. Take the I-phone for example. When it first came out, it was around 500 bucks. Now, you can get one for about $200, and guess what? It's still one of the most (if not the most) state of the art phones out there!

Secondly, the initial release of new technology ALWAYS has design and/or software issues. So, not only are you paying an ice-cream-loving motherload for the new toy, but your new toy is breaking an awful lot. Your buck is not doing a whole lot of banging.


A couple of weeks ago, I bought a new computer. But before I did, I wanted to figure out the best way to get my buck to bang like Casanova on Spring Break. First: what do I need? Well, I really like having a laptop, but I've been disappointed by the difficulty in upgrading components as well as the generally short lifespan they have. Plus 75% of the time, I'm not really taking my laptop anywhere.

So, I resolved to buy a desktop as well as a new hard drive for my struggling laptop which should remedy it's current crappy performance. Now, I have a laptop to take with me to do anything I would need a computer to do, along with a kick-ass powerhouse computer at home for me to gawk at while I check email on my unnecessarily huge 23 inch screen.

Now, where do I buy it? I checked prices online for the configurations I liked. Then, I checked arguably the best store ever in the world and did some comparisons.

Costco never fails me.

The HP's loaded with the features I wanted were at least a couple hundred bucks less than anywhere else! To boot, Costco has an excellent return policy. To double boot, as an executive member, I get cash back on the purchase. To double boot, plus one sequined white glove, I get cash back on my American Express card too! To double boot, plus one sequined white glove plus a smooth looking fedora, by paying on my American express, they double the initial warranty on the product!

Of course, being an admitted sucker for deals, I went ahead and paid another $150 to get a bigger monitor and a whole slew of upgrades which I really don't need. But my bucks are the star of the party!

Now that I had the computer though, I felt like one other thing needed an upgrade. I had been talking about upgrading my old-school flip phone to a fancy schmancy Smart phone. As I mentioned above, the prices these days are pretty bangin.

So, I did my research, and as a Verizon Wireless Customer, narrowed my choices down to the Blackberry Storm, Samsung Omnia, and LG Envy touch. I was all set to purchase the Samsung until I went into the store to do one last personal inspection.

I had heard mixed reviews about the BB Storm, but apparently these issues have since been mitigated by the latest Blackberry software updates. The LG Envy Touch had a smallish touch screen plus a qwerty k-pad which to me is useless when you have a touch screen. The Omnia was sleek, but the ergonomics of the interface were difficult and you needed to use this rinky-dink stylus hung on the side of the phone to dial and text on the crammed keypad.

But I still wasn't ready to purchase. Today I watched a few video's online evaluating the Storm and comparing it to the I-phone (arguably the most popular phone on the market) and it's pretty much neck and neck. Apparently some of the luke-warm reviews I have been reading were posted before the recent software upgrades.

Blackberry it is!

So today I'm gonna roll in and get my new Blackberry state-of-the-art phone for only 100 buckaroos!

Sure, I might be late to the party, but aren't those the guys who get the most "bang" anyways? ;)