Upgrade Or Else

I've never been the kind of person who needs to have the latest and greatest gadget. I like technology and toys, but I don't have to run out and camp in front of a store overnight to get it. I am fully capable of having an iPod that is a few generations old and not really feeling like I am somehow less involved in the world. However, I am finding that stores are starting to make it harder and harder to keep going with this feeling, because it seems like the second a new piece of technology comes out they stop selling anything related to the older stuff. It is almost as though if you don't have the newest thing you may as well no longer shop there. I get that the world of electronics is constantly moving forward, but just because something new and shiny has come along that doesn't mean the last versions of a product have all suddenly ceased to exist.

The way that I noticed this was I went looking for a replacement to something I bought not that many years ago. Business don't even try to keep products relating to the old stuff around. Have you ever tried to fix any piece of electronics that is more than a couple years old? My iPod battery suddenly doesn't want to hold a charge for very long anymore. But, I like this iPod. It holds enough music, can play videos if I feel like it (though, I never do) and other than the battery issue it works just fine. So, when I was passing an Apple store the other day I went in and asked about getting the battery fixed. The kid couldn't understand why I didn't just want to upgrade to a newer iPod. I tried to explain to him that it had everything I wanted and I didn't feel the need to upgrade to something that had a bunch of features I am never going to use. I may as well been telling the kid working behind the counter that I thought cameras would steal my soul.

And it is not just hardware. It's everything. As soon as the new stuff comes out the old ones should be tossed away. I have been having a computer issue the last couple of days. It's Internet-related, so there is nothing I can really do to fix it on my end - I am at the mercy of the people who do the programming. So, I sent along an email to the support team for this particular website and asked when I might expect the thing to return to normal. I was told that they were working on the problem, but in the meantime, how about I just use their new interface? In other words: "We aren't really working on fixing the old stuff, so just suck it up and start using the new program. Oh, but don't get too attached to that format either, because we'll be switching to yet another program in 6 months."

I'm trying not to get too angry-old-man on you, but it's really frustrating. Look, I get that things go out of style and that eventually it isn't cost-effective to keep producing parts for something no one is going to buy. Also, it makes good business sense to stop making products to force people to go out and buy the newer, more expensive version of your product. After all, there is a reason they stopped putting movies out on VHS. But even the accessories are impossible to find. I'm not looking for parts for a Ford Edsal here. Besides, wouldn't it be smart to keep a few items around, just in case they come back around in popularity? Hell, they still make record-player needles and records were four formats ago. So I'm sure it's just a matter of time before everything that was old is new again. In the mean time, would it kill you to keep a few older-generation iPods around, just for parts?