Why I hate buying computers

(I recently had cause to share an entry I first posted on 18 September 2007, about buying computers. I thought it was worth posting again)

An article by Kevin Roberts in the NZ Herald online got me thinking. He wrote about women shopping for technology. Now, much as I love wandering the stores there are three things I loathe buying: Cars, and Computers, and Mobile Phones.

Don’t get me wrong, I love driving (especially a car with a manual gear box). At times in my life I’ve become so attached to my computer that losing access has been like losing a limb.

So what’s going on? I love using technology, why do I hate the buying process?

Well, there's the nagging sense of self-doubt. You see, although I consider myself a bit of a technophile, I'm nowhere near an expert. I know just enough to be sure of my own relative ignorance.

The mechanic servicing the car knows heaps more than me. If he (and it usually is a he) says the brake pads need replacing, who am I to query? I’m vulnerable to being up-sold, having stuff done which may not be strictly necessary.

There's an information asymmetry.

Add to that, the mechanic may, correctly, assume that he can get away with pushing the boundaries (see Malcolm Gladwell’s book Blink for information on the study in which women and non-white buyers were offered worse deals on car purchases).

Then, with computers, it gets worse. It’s impossible to stay up to date. There are too many different variables. Even the sales staff at major retailers are taught just to scan the box for details in an attempt to sound knowledgeable. Most PC based computers can be put together with a variety of bits and pieces, some of which matter, others don’t. You can end up buying the electronic equivalent of diamond buttons on denim jeans to wear to work – too fancy and not smart enough at the same time.

If you’re an expert (my friend Simon who is an electronics engineer), you can sort the wheat from the chaff, filter out what really matters.

For the rest of us, it’s information overload.

And then there is the sad truth. Unless you pay a premium, you don’t get the best, most up to date features. My protestant upbringing protests about wasting money on top-of-the-line, when value for money is much better for technology that’s been round for a while. Prices always come down after a year or two, whether it’s for a car, mobile or computer.

This means, that you can never get the best value for money and have the best features at the same time.

If that wasn’t enough, the existence of cut-price providers of individual components means that there’s usually a cheaper way to get what you want (mobile phone plan, car repair or computer) Even if it’s buying in the supermarket. I feel, if only I had a bit more knowledge I could get a better deal.

There’s always likely to be a cheaper deal out there for the same stuff.

Add information overload to the asymmetry in knowledge, my own discomfort with haggling, and buying fun stuff just isn’t fun any more.

And that’s before you start dealing with salespeople who are skimming the box for some impressive stats that mean nothing, and who are more interested in commission, up-selling and adding on meaningless warranties than in getting a computer that meets your needs.

So what’s a girl to do? Well, apart from finding a technically minded friend, or calling in a petrol-head to do your negotiating for you, or gritting teeth and was in through masses of technical detail, the thing to do is to give up.

Give up on expecting to know everything, give up on the quest for the best deal in favour of a good-enough deal. Limit comparison shopping, or leave it to the people, like my friend’s hubsand Tony, who hangs out in electronic stores for the sheer joy of it (it takes all sorts!) For car buying, I plan to call on my Dad – not so much because he’s male, as because he reads car ads for fun.

I solved my computer problems by deciding to buy an Apple iBook. I truly, truly hated buying my previous laptop – even buying the magazines for research in advance made me feel worse rather than better, and the sales staff in the major UK chains were dire to deal with.

Three friends loved theirs, and talked about how clever and simple they were at the same time. The Giant Apple Stores have knowledgable staff and a limited product range. There are a few variants, and each of them is well designed so that all the bits work well together (you don’t pay for diamond buttons on denim jeans). Yes, I know I pay a premium, I could probably get a PC which does the same stuff cheaper, but at least with the premium I get a cool product. I don’t have to angst about whether to have a different amount of RAM or Hard Drive, or a different graphics card. The choices are limited enough to be meaningful.

So, where does this leave us?

Well, my suggestion is to start by surrendering to the knowledge that there is no perfect purchase when it comes to cars, computers, or mobile phones. Give up on that ideal from the outset. Unless you really enjoy shopping for computers or technical stuff limit your options to give you a range of meaningful choices. Do a bit of research, but don’t try and compare everything.

And once you’ve bought it, just enjoy the product itself.