Fashion in Technology
I think the same thing is happening right now in the computer and mobile devices industry. Computers and phones have historically been sold based on performance, screen size, and battery life. The slow march of technological progress through the 1990s and 2000s was obvious to anyone who knows the word “megahertz”. But in the past couple of years, I think we have finally reached the 1945 equivalent in automobiles: all devices sold today can do everything any reasonable customer would want. The computer is now feature-complete. Almost all model segmentation is now based on the personality of the customer.
Something that my PC-loving, Android-using friends haven’t recognized yet: the spec don’t matter to the average consumer. Even as a tech guy, the specs seldom matter. When I bought my new MacBook Air last year, the only thing I upgraded was the RAM, knowing that I couldn’t upgrade that down the line. The 128 gigabyte SSD was more than enough, the processor was more than enough, and the graphics were more than enough. I know that I can get a more powerful computer if I go with a MacBook Pro. I know that I could have a Retina screen if I went with a different line of Macs. But I wanted the 11" Air because of the size. Simple as that.
It will be interesting to see what the pricing scheme is with the Apple Watch. Will there be different storage sizes? Will the two different screen sizes have different prices? Will a band come with the watch or will you buy that seperately? We’ll know in less than two months.
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