# A problem with the economy: there are no more technologically prestigious products **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 26, 2014, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-problem-with-the-economy-there-are-no-more-technologically-prestigious-products/696527 "2014-08-26T02:59:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-problem-with-the-economy-there-are-no-more-technologically-prestigious-products/696527/41 "2014-08-27T01:12:48Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > Yes, many companies are doing well with great profits. But overall this is not an economy that’s making a lot of people happy. We are seeing increases in productivity that benefit companies and not workers. Gap between rich and poor increasing. Wages stagnating. You know the drill. Except, as you yourself point out, all this cool shit that was rare just a few years ago is now at the commodity level. When I went off to college in the early 2000s I scrimped and saved and dropped $1000 on a desktop computer. Nothing fancy, a purely middle of the road Compaq that millions of other people owned. Today, I can buy an entry level laptop for $250 and it would run circles around my Compaq. There’s barely even a middle of the road PC category today because everything can handle everything short of custom gaming rigs. And even those can be had for as low as $500-600. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-problem-with-the-economy-there-are-no-more-technologically-prestigious-products/696527/42 "2014-08-27T01:38:09Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > But Apple cannot and will not be able to create a “game changer” anywhere near as important as the shale revolution, the upcoming solar energy boom, or even the cargo container. The problems you refer to in post 39 are largely political, not economic. When you get down to it, Apple has redefined itself as a consumer electronics product company, which isn’t the sort of company that, in fact, changes the world (at least not on the Standard Oil/East Indies Company/Ford Motor scale). They tend to rise fast, make fat profits, then slide into obscurity. I would be highly surprised if Apple is a top-10 revenue American company 10 years from now, but would be shocked if Exxon-Mobil _isn’t_. I agree. > [@](#): > > And note that in one post you claim that “big companies are hurting right now” and then you agree that “Yes, many companies are doing well with great profits.” Having that cake and eating it too, I see. 😉 It’s part of another thought I have, in which virtually unlimited power is ascribed to the “1%” and big corporations, when in fact this economy has big winners and losers, and high-tech companies are not continuously able to “rig” their future success. There’s a lot wrong, but the narrative we have to identify it is not very much on target. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-problem-with-the-economy-there-are-no-more-technologically-prestigious-products/696527/43 "2014-08-27T02:10:43Z")
Apple doesn’t really innovate, they just create variations of the ipod and have been coasting on that for ten years. The ipod touch, iphone, ipad, ipad mini and now a larger ipad are all just the same product. And they are all 2-3x more expensive than a comparable android version that is just as good and in some ways better (by having a microsd card slots for example). I’d consider Tesla and Elon Musk to be innovative and prestigious. More Musk than Tesla, because of all his innovation (hyperloop, tesla, solar electricity, paypal, bringing yellow pages to the internet, spaceX, whatever else he has done). But I really can’t name a tech company that I associate with cutting edge innovation. I can’t even think of one synonymous with quality anymore. It used to be Sony, Magnavox, Panasonic, etc. were signs of high quality. Now that everything is produced as cheaply as possible in China it all feels like the same easily broken Chinese crap. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-problem-with-the-economy-there-are-no-more-technologically-prestigious-products/696527/44 "2014-08-27T02:34:13Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > But I really can’t name a tech company that I associate with cutting edge innovation. I can’t even think of one synonymous with quality anymore. It used to be Sony, Magnavox, Panasonic, etc. were signs of high quality. Now that everything is produced as cheaply as possible in China it all feels like the same easily broken Chinese crap. Yes, this is what I’m talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-problem-with-the-economy-there-are-no-more-technologically-prestigious-products/696527/45 "2014-08-27T11:21:03Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I can’t even think of one synonymous with quality anymore. It used to be Sony, Magnavox, Panasonic, etc. were signs of high quality. Now that everything is produced as cheaply as possible in China it all feels like the same easily broken Chinese crap. Just because you think doesn’t mean everyone does. Apple, Samsung, LG, and yes, Sony are all synonymous with quality in the eyes of many consumers. Whenever Consumer Reports reviews some piece of technology, they include a subsection that basically boils down to “These brands are associated with quality products” so the experts think so too. ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-problem-with-the-economy-there-are-no-more-technologically-prestigious-products/696527/46 "2014-08-27T11:25:12Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > Anyway, it’s not just about Apple. Sony has had flops too. Remember the MiniDisc? It was hailed as revolutionary, game-changing, etc., only to be forgotten by history. I disagree. Portable MiniDisc players were amazing at the time. You could fit 4 or 8 CDs in a single MD and the player was compact and would drain the batteries at a much slower rate than a portable CD player. The players were expensive though and this is the reason they didn’t get much traction on the market. Then solid state storage players came along and the MD market died completely. But the MD technology was far from failed. Apart from the price it was superior to all other technologies of the time. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-problem-with-the-economy-there-are-no-more-technologically-prestigious-products/696527/47 "2014-08-27T12:22:23Z")
Perhaps the current technology is meeting our basic needs so well that we are becoming less consumeristic in general? I’ve always thought that a consumer based economy was ultimately unsustainable and maybe not even very desirable. The post-consumer society could be an interesting thread but, alas, I need to save that one for another day. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-problem-with-the-economy-there-are-no-more-technologically-prestigious-products/696527/48 "2014-08-27T15:21:49Z")
I have been a serious electronics-computer person from an early age. Even was a Computer Science prof. But I was never an early adopter. I would upgrade stuff much later than most. So take that into consideration of the following: I’m pretty set for home electronics and computer stuff. I have gift cards and such for computer stores, etc. just sitting around and will likely get more. Plus I have the dough to just get whatever I want anyway. I have little interest in getting a new toy or upgrading. I’ve been stalling on getting a solid state HD for a while. It would be nice but it’s also a hassle to install and copy stuff. I’ve got the TV/DVR setup I want. Happy with my tablet, (very old) iPod, car stereo, etc. Haven’t seen anything that would make me drool in an ad for some time. (I don’t even scour ads to see what toy has come down in price to make me think about getting one.) Not sure about the “prestige” thing, but I’m good for now and don’t see much happening for a while to make be rethink it. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-problem-with-the-economy-there-are-no-more-technologically-prestigious-products/696527/49 "2014-08-27T16:26:14Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > A big problem with our economy (No. 2 after people just being plain ol’ broke) is a lack of demand for products. There are (virtually) no more technologically prestigious products; rather, everything has been commoditized and cheapened. It’s not clear to me how that is a “economic” problem as opposed to, maybe a marketing or stylistic problem for nerds. There is plenty of demand for products and manufacturing technology has rendered most products so cheap that most people can afford them. It’s not really clear to me what how you are separating “technologically prestigious products” from “luxury goods”. Apple straddles the line between “cool luxury product” and “mass produced crap”. They make neat products, but the overall design of the iPod or iPhone hasn’t really changed in a decade. They just surround it with their stupid branding consisting of bullshit iStores where you have to schedule a half hour meeting with some smug prick just to do an exchange. And the workmanship is flimsy as shit. I don’t know anyone with an iPhone whose screen isn’t a shattered mess. Anyhow, I digress. It sounds like your issue is that there isn’t some hot “G.I. Joe with the kung fu grip” product that’s flying off the shelves. > [@Red Wiggler](#): > > Perhaps the current technology is meeting our basic needs so well that we are becoming less consumeristic in general? I’ve always thought that a consumer based economy was ultimately unsustainable and maybe not even very desirable. A consumer based economy is generally undesirable as it uses a lot of resources to purchase a lot of products that people don’t use all that long. By some accounts, there is an emotional cost as well for a society where value or worth is determined by the ownership of stuff. We live in a society that is very efficient at making “stuff”. Ergo, accumulating more of it doesn’t really mean anything. And yet people spend a lot of effort “keeping up with the Jones” working “jobs they hate for shit they don’t need”. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-problem-with-the-economy-there-are-no-more-technologically-prestigious-products/696527/50 "2014-08-28T03:13:35Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > It’s not clear to me how that is a “economic” problem as opposed to, maybe a marketing or stylistic problem for nerds. Totally. It’s a problem under the current paradigm, but the current paradigm sucks, as you point out. I should have made that clearer in the OP, but I probably would have doubled the length doing so. > [@](#): > > There is plenty of demand for products and manufacturing technology has rendered most products so cheap that most people can afford them. True in general. > [@](#): > > It’s not really clear to me what how you are separating “technologically prestigious products” from “luxury goods”. Apple straddles the line between “cool luxury product” and “mass produced crap”. As someone pointed out earlier, yeah. I am distinguishing between the two types of goods because I think luxury goods will always be with us no matter how bad the economy is, since there will always be rich people looking to show it off. Whereas “cool tech” is something that the masses can hope to afford and buy. > [@](#): > > They make neat products, but the overall design of the iPod or iPhone hasn’t really changed in a decade. They just surround it with their stupid branding consisting of bullshit iStores where you have to schedule a half hour meeting with some smug prick just to do an exchange. And the workmanship is flimsy as shit. I don’t know anyone with an iPhone whose screen isn’t a shattered mess. Anyhow, I digress. I am happy with my Mac laptop, but I agree about iPhones. One reason I switched to the Windows Phone was hardware problems. > [@](#): > > It sounds like your issue is that there isn’t some hot “G.I. Joe with the kung fu grip” product that’s flying off the shelves. Haha, yeah. > [@](#): > > A consumer based economy is generally undesirable as it uses a lot of resources to purchase a lot of products that people don’t use all that long. By some accounts, there is an emotional cost as well for a society where value or worth is determined by the ownership of stuff. We live in a society that is very efficient at making “stuff”. Ergo, accumulating more of it doesn’t really mean anything. And yet people spend a lot of effort “keeping up with the Jones” working “jobs they hate for shit they don’t need”. Wise words, thanks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-problem-with-the-economy-there-are-no-more-technologically-prestigious-products/696527.md?page=2)