Friday, November 12, 2010

The Upgrade

Let's start with the name we give it. Upgrade. Up. Grade. I love that "grade" encompasses both quality and judgment.

Perhaps this is all obvious, but I will argue that the Upgrade drives our lives with a most fundamental promise — the nervous system of consumption. The Upgrade is the constant, an eternal promise. It comes in several forms. I considered one of them just yesterday, while enjoying a no-work-today 3 o'clock shower: the upgrade as a "good deal".

One of the local Moms backed her auto into my scooter a few days ago; I discovered the damage (and confession note) immediately after receiving a filling from my jolly dentist. Since then, I've been pondering what to do next. So, I'm in the shower, and the following thoughts entered my mind:
1. My scooter is 3 years old.
2. The Beast (pet name) has relatively few miles.
3. If I traded it in or sold it, I get a significant percentage of the purchase price.
4. And then... I could get a new — unquestionably better — scooter for not too much additional cash.
Now, the Upgrade as a "good deal" works very simply: You are driven to get rid of your current thing while it's still considered "valuable" in the marketplace. Surely, you don't want to own something that the marketplace does not value highly, so ya betta act now.

For the Upgrade to be eternal, it absolutely must make everything seem temporal. Every trend or fashion must be temporary. The quality of every product must be seen as good... for now — not good forever. As a result, every beginning has its own end in sight. There is no question of whether a new product or idea or system will last, whether it will endure... we're assured it will not, and the quest for the next thing has already begun.

Perhaps this is all a way to help us cope with the other eternal — death — and the separation anxiety that it so generously heaps upon us... I don't know.

2 comments:

  1. "Good forever" would mean THE END OF CONSUMERISM.

    Planned obsolescence, short product lifetimes, reduced quality to increase turnover cycles... these are the engines of a consumerist capitalist society!

    Durable products that can be repaired and kept in service for decades?

    UN-American!

    UN-Patriotic!

    IN-Humane!

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  2. Yeah, yeah, I'm with with ya. What I enjoy about the "upgrade" is the direct release of the personal insecurity valve.

    Now, part of my experience suggests that this phenomenon is simply accepted by a large percentage of consumers — perhaps they even prefer it this way, if they gave it any thought.

    From another angle, I recognize that the designs you've highlighted are — somehow — not terribly obvious, hence the overheard idiot:

    "Why doesn't Apple just release the iPlasdkd with the b,xcioxp interface and the advanced iowerqtoi memory now? I mean... it'd be totally better!"

    Now, the planned obsolescence is quite easy to understand, even for the most dense among us, and would probably be the most interesting to play with. It's very obvious in today's digital toy, automobile, and clothing market, but I wonder from where and when it came? If there was a brilliant shyster who pioneered the idea, I'd like to shake his dead hand.

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