Upgrade Fever

Article from ADMIN 13/2013

By ADMIN Magazine

There's a special feeling you get when you turn the calendar from the old year to the new. Whether you anticipate Canonical's two new Ubuntu releases, Microsoft's latest Windows, or Apple's newest big-cat-inspired Mac OS X version, you know something cool is on its way. However, new operating system versions and subversions are only part of the story. New versions of your favorite applications, apps, and gadgets are no doubt on their way as well. It's a never-ending story of update, upgrade, refresh, replenish, and buy, buy, buy.

You can also count on an invigorating flurry of new techno-marketing buzzwords to induce that uncomfortable queasiness you get from their repetitious use. Yes, each New Year brings new products and much marketing fluff with it, but don't get me wrong; I understand that companies need something to differentiate themselves from the competition, and a superior product doesn't always do the trick. I don't have a problem with marketing, upgrades, or fair competition – just the opposite, in fact – competition makes good business. It's the over-the-top claims, hyperbole, and continuous feeling that I need bigger, better, faster, and more that gets on my nerves.

My hope is that companies will release products when they're finished; that they'll make products that last more than six months when the next one hits the market; that they'll fully support their products for more than two years after their initial release; and that I won't feel pressured to have the latest and greatest technology in my hip pocket or on my desk.

I think what led me on this disdainful, anti-new stuff path is when I found out that my still relatively new first generation iPad had become obsolete, albeit subtly, when I saw the announcement that iOS 6 was unavailable for it. I reacted badly. I swore off all Apple products, although I had previously vowed to embrace them after purchasing an iPad and new iPhone 4. Note here that the iPhone 4 is now

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