Is there some dopamine releasing addictive chemical aroma sprayed into the air when peeling back the protective plastic?
Is there some “puzzle solving” rush that comes from defeating the configuration challenges?
Is it just knowing you have the latest, greatest thing in YOUR hand?
Is it the ability to be the first to be able to hold forth and pontificate thereby to the less fortunate?
Is it the thrill of taking the risk of dropping and breaking it while it is uninsured?
Is it just some debilitating form of millennial FOMO infecting us boomers?
It cannot be the hassle of spending untold hours to back up and move your data.
It cannot be the frustration of finding that log in combination for that app you haven’t used in 6 months.
It cannot be knowing that the reason you returned the last one of those things is a problem that remains unfixed.
It cannot be pleasure in the knowledge you converted hard earned cash into a chunk of glass and plastic that will be relegated to a drawer in 6 weeks (or less).
It cannot be the sheer aggravation of hunting for repackaging materials and standing in line to return (or ship back) the blasted thing before time runs out.
It cannot be the resulting cloud of detrius and clutter of peripherals and accessories that some how are never returned but gravitate toward the same ever more cramped drawer.
Why do I write all this you ask?
In the last 3 days I have talked myself into and (at the last minute) out of
re-buying the Duo Deux (none of the Android issues in OS or apps are resolved, to the point of pushing buy on the Best Buy cart, car keys in hand to drive and hour each way through the worst 20 miles of local traffic, passing 4 Best Buys to get to the only one in the state that has it in stock)
an iPhone 13 Pro Max (what am I missing without that great camera, and do I have a use case for when I need half the screen of an iPad Mini 6?)
the new gen 5 iPad Air (to get the M1 chip even though my current iPad Pro 11 sits untouched for weeks at a time)
Can I make money selling a 12-step program to other tech-aholics (yes, I mean you)?
Well, I mean it’d have to be $$$ close to a new iPhone, sold as a service …
And NO it ISN’T available on Ebay, Swappa, ITSavvy, refurbed or open box - you know who you are I’m speaking to… (and yes, I know I ended a sentence fragment with a preposition)
Just a FYI in case it’s in the cart again: for the first time, Apple put the exact same cameras in both the Max and regular iPhone 13 Pro. No need to go large unless you want to. I’d prefer a Mini with the Pro cameras but since that’s never happening I can live with the regular Pro. @dstrauss did the same.
I walked through my closest Best Buy a few days ago, comparing the physical heft of the 13 Pro and mini. Gotta tell you, I’ve gotten used to the 12 mini. I’m not sure I want to pocket even the regular 13 Pro - and honestly it’ll take a whole lot of yet-to-be-written AI to make my photography noticeably better.
Decades ago I saw a documentary on dolphins where they were blowing similar ring bubbles themselves, and then keeping them under water by squirting water from above. Dolphins are a clever and playful bunch!
