Don’t be seduced by the latest technology when the
‘streetseller’ comes calling, advises John Tate.

This summer the technology press has been full of coverage of the major industry battles. Apple versus Samsung for the smartphone; Microsoft versus Google versus Apple for the desktop; and Amazon versus Microsoft versus pretty well everyone else for the cloud.

Meanwhile IT suppliers look for new ways of getting us to part with our money.

People have been buying technology for a long time and there are some old case studies still in print. Take Aladdin, for example. He discovered a magic lamp which, when rubbed, produced a genie. The resultant genie delivered Aladdin huge riches.

That lamp was old-fashioned technology that worked reliably and delivered a great return on the initial investment.

It’s a shame that was not the end of the tale, because then a technology buyer stepped in. Aladdin’s wife was offered a new lamp for her old one. Not realising the power of the old lamp (poor internal communication) she accepted the swap-out and ended up with a hugely inferior product.

Reliable older technology

Step forward now into the 21st century and I acquired a Sony Ericsson C510 mobile phone around five years ago.

I chose this model because it was fairly basic and had a decent battery life. By decent life I mean decent – it will last for a week or two with a low level of use before it needs recharging, or a good few days with several hours of phone calls. It also delivers a very reliable Bluetooth connection to the internet which I use to link my laptop to the web when out and about.

A year after getting the phone I heard a familiar cry from the street (in fact a salesperson calling me on my phone): “New lamps for old”. Upgrade to a new phone, I was told, and you’ll get lots of wonderful improved features.

These included a higher-powered camera (I rarely use my camera), more storage (I don’t use what I have got), a better music player (I don’t use my phone to play music), and so on.

Unlike Aladdin’s wife, I resisted – boring I know. But here I am in 2013 and I am still using this phone. I have acquired an Apple iPhone as well so I can check emails and browse the web more easily when on the move, but I have kept the Sony.

The signal quality is generally better than on my Apple and it is a great backup when my Apple battery runs down. I do have the expense of two contracts, but despite the extra cost I feel it is a good investment.

There is an important lesson to note here: cheaper is not necessarily better with IT.

The Sony has proved a very reliable piece of equipment. As one example, I inadvertently gave it a thorough watering on my allotment a couple of weeks ago but it is still ok.

I positioned the hose on the end of a garden fork, pointed it at my potatoes and turned on the water. As the ground under the fork got wet the fork lost its grip and fell over – redirecting the hose at my poor Sony.

By the time I noticed this, the screen on the phone was half full of water. I immediately took out the battery and left it in the sun. A couple of hours later I took it home and put it in a bag of rice (apparently this dries out the phone).

Next morning the aquarium-like look had gone, I put the battery back in and all was well.

Promise of greater riches

By comparison, a relative of mine recently decided to change phone and broadband provider. The old provider was reliable but the new one offered a range of wonderful features and my relative succumbed to the ‘new-lamps-for-old’ cry.

The switch has been an extraordinary mess. As just one example, the new provider promised that the old number would be reused, but several weeks after the changeover the old number is still not set up despite countless hours of chasing the new supplier and endless promises made, but not delivered.

So what should we conclude from all of this?

Well, much like Aladdin’s lamp, IT that works can be a wonderful thing. There needs to be a very good reason to change when what you have already is doing a good job for you.