I have never considered myself a geek. And I'm definitely not a gadget freak. I could never put 2 and 2 together without struggling. I was not even part of the show-off tech-savvy brigade that promises a phenomenal understanding of the new gadget that has hit the town - they either own it in a jiffy or save up for a couple more months researching thoroughly about the product, and its upcoming newer versions before making the proud knowledgeable purchase.
Like my husband, for instance, who would not settle for anything less than a Macbook, an IPhone or a
Canon EOS 40D - now eying a Nikon
D3 or
D700 (not that I would know the difference - GRIN).
Naturally, I was shocked beyond words when I first discovered a passion in myself that was more than the usual 'look of interest'. This was in October 2008 when I first laid my eyes on HTC's newest launch,
HTC Touch. Since I'm not too much into the technical specifications of any product, I didn't really care about its GSM/EDGE/BlueTooth/2MP Camera, SD Memory card storage and the like. The few things that caught my obvious attention and made me lust after the Touch were its attractive looks, sleeker design, and feminine appeal. I spent all the money I had in my account, besides swiping the 'privileged customer credit card' which I had refused to use for over two years.
I guess that's how the lure of technology works, or it is my own greed that was speaking for my irrational self at that time. Anyway, I spent way too much money (much more than the cost of all my previous cell phones put together) on a gadget which I took a fancy to - quite unreasonably and illogically. After safeguarding and using it to my heart's content, I lost my neighbour's-envy-owner's-pride mobile on a sleepy evening (sigh!), just a month after celebrating its first anniversary.
That broke my heart and I promised myself that I'll never again look at another gadget in my life - expensive or otherwise. I planned to settle for a simple cell phone that is sleeker, sexier, and feminine-looking (but of course) and would help me make calls, send messages, maybe take a few pictures, transfer songs via bluetooth, and perhaps browse the net for a bit... and Nokia 3600 slider suited my requirements perfectly.
Indeed was I happy for a year. And now technology tempts me again. I should have realized that the pulls of materialism are much stronger than one can imagine - especially when you're trying to move away from materialistic pursuits. Or so you think! Hmph!
I've a good-enough mobile in excellent working condition but I'm eying a
HTC HD2 and still debating on whether I should spend 37K (in fact Rs. 1,000 more than an Iphone - wider grin!!!) on a mobile, however sexy its looks and appeal are, especially because I'm a housewife with no tangible source of income.
As if that wasn't enough temptation, my heart went all out for Fiat's new entrant -
Fiat Linea Emotion. A cool car with excellent technical specs (yes, I understood
most of it I think), I prefer it in either Fox Trot Azure or Pearl Champagne color :P. And yes, it comes with an affordable(?) price tag of just Rs. 7.5 lakhs for the petrol version. Does it really matter that I've a comfortable silver gray Maruti Alto which I've been using for the past 2 years and which had been faithful and never failed me even after a 1000-km-at-a-stretch drive?
The story doesn't just seem to end here.
It got me thinking about not just the pulls of materialism but also about how easy accessibility has become. Internet gives me all that I need without me having to set my foot out. I can inspect the product from various angles, understand the specs and the works thoroughly, check out the price, and probably even book for a test drive / home delivery. Without asking anyone (read experts) for information! All one probably needs to think about in today's world is one's bank balance. If you have enough zeroes (preferably after the one), in your account, you're good to go. As simple-n-easy as that - for the lucky ones I mean!
But now, where do I go?
