we were at a large newly opened electronics store last week, and looking at the wares on display, it’s amazing at how many new products are now available that were virtually non-existent, say, just 5 years ago. digital slr cameras, plasma tvs, dvd camcorders, ultra portable pc’s, new gaming consoles. it’s awesome to witness this exponential development in the technology, but at the same time, as a consumer, it’s a bit sad, too.

take for example our mini-dv camcorder. it was one of the latest models available when we bought it about 5 years ago. nowadays, i think nobody would buy such a camcorder at all. a dvd video recorder, which automatically saves your videos on digital format is naturally more convenient, because then you would no longer need to lug spare tapes with you and you can easily transfer files to your computer without the need for tape drives. but if we get one of those ultra modern video recorders, what the heck are we going to do with the old one? will we be more likely to take videos during important events then? will the quality of our videos really be better? will we ever find the time to edit them? and what if, 2 years from now, an even more advanced gadgets come up? how can one keep up?

on second thoughts, should one keep up?

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