by Benjamin on February 2, 2010
How do we know whether a product is broken and beyond fixing? Did it perform its job? Should I get a new model or keep this one?
Take a car for example. In a sample size of one, you think that you are going to get an understanding of how well or how poorly something performs. Most often, you base your entire idea of a brand based on that one sample size. This is the problem that Ford and the other American automotive companies are facing now. Too many people have had bad experiences with previous cars that they never will get the idea or memory of their old car breaking out of their head.
My laptop broke last week, so I was recently in the market for another one. The old Dell machine has served me well, but how do I know if lasting three years of daily use is enough? I only have one example of their product on which to base my opinion.
So where should we look? Maybe consumer reports are the answer, but I have heard they have become a little biased. I might turn to one of my friends, but he only has one example of his own. Should I just ask Twitter about the best brand? If I followed their advice, I would have then had to have gone with a MacBook for twice the price.
Maybe I should talk with someone who repairs computers. I followed the last piece of advice and went to the repair shop to make my final purchase.
A powerful force in getting people to keep using a product is the inertia of not wanting to change. Most people talk about inertia as a bad thing, but it can sometimes be used for good. Changing is hard to do and most people don’t like it.
Some people are early adopters that like to have the newest things all of the time. But I would argue that most customers will have the inertia to not switch away from your product right away, especially if they are having a good product experience. Who wants to go to a new place to get your haircut when you have an old place that does it exactly how you want?
In the end, inertia won out for me. I went to a great computer repair shop and store and ended up buying a new Dell laptop. What do you all think, was it inertia that kept me with Dell? Something else? I’d be interested to hear in the comments.
by Benjamin on January 26, 2010
(If I had a television, this is probably how my setup would look.)
When did Brett Favre get intercepted during the Saints – Vikings game? What started Adrian Peterson’s fumbling meltdown? How did Drew Brees engineer the game winning drive during overtime?
I didn’t know any of these answers yesterday because I don’t have cable or a television at my apartment. I know who won, because one of my friends texted me the final score. I could see most of the highlights while watching ESPN at the gym. I was able to watch the Colts – Jets game at a sports bar by buying a beer and a cheeseburger during the three hours of the game.
Am I crazy for not having cable? It’s a funny thing when you tell people that you don’t have cable. They stare at you like you have two heads. “No cable? Wow, that’s weird!” I’m not one of those people who looks down on people who watch television. I plan on getting one when I am finished paying my bills from last year. I am still in budget lockdown mode and wrestling with the idea of handing over 60 bucks a month to the cable company when I can get most of it for free on the internet. So, as I wrestle with the decision, I decided to open it up to you all. The pros and cons are broken down below:
Advantages to having cable:
- My entertainment is more intentional, meaning that I wont just turn the television on for white noise or when I am bored. I have to search for shows on the internet or Hulu, which makes me more conscious of what I am watching and I am usually much more entertained.
- I don’t have to schedule my television watching time around when a show airs. I know that this can be done with TiVo or a DVR, but that is also more money per month and isn’t factored into my argument. Most shows can be found either on Hulu, Netflix or somewhere else on the internet.
- Extra (on average) 60 dollars in my pocket to invest in traveling, movies that I really enjoy, books or maybe even to save!
- It gives me more incentive to go to the gym because they have cable there. OK, maybe this one is starting to reach a bit, but I did catch up on my SportsCenter earlier today while I was at the gym.
Disadvantages to not having cable:
- During football season, I miss Monday Night Football, my college football team’s games and SportsCenter every day. This either causes me to miss most of my beloved sport, buy food at a bar or beg my friends to let me come over and watch. However, now that I live in Maryland, most cable services will not play my favorite college or NFL team’s games anyway. I would have to go to the bar to catch the games if I didn’t buy NFL ticket.
- If Hulu decides to charge for their content, my saving money without cable theory goes out the window, depending on how much Hulu decides they will charge. All of what I watch now is either from Hulu or Netflix. But after paying for Netflix and a burger and beer at the bar a few times every month (especially during football season), my current solution might be just as expensive as buying cable.
Is it crazy? Does it even make sense to not have cable? Am I actually saving money by not having it? Should I be finding a better use of my time than debating with myself whether to buy cable? I am really interested to hear what you all have to say; whether or not you have cable and why. Let me know in the comments!
