Do you guys get addicted to buying new tech?

[@liamod]

Okay, let me just say that I have an excuse to want a new smartwatch.

I bought a samsung smart watch (gear fit 2) with my grandmother in Melbourne, when I thought I was gonna get a new samsung phone. However, i got an iPhone instead, and I found that a better watch (plus it has games and apps) is the Apple watch, which is actually supported by Apple. Unfortunately, my mum hates buying me stuff (no problem with buying my sister stuff) and very rarely pays me my pocketmoney and therefore I have very limited options and time when i can actually buy something.

I just love learning about tech and therefore can't help wanting to get new things.

Basically, I wanted to ask a few things:

1. Do you have this problem?

2. Any ideas about smart watches or mom problems or money?

3. Any jobs in Australia I could work at (14 years, almost 15)

I am an experienced web designer in multiple platforms (wordpress, drupal, wix, weebly - my trade secret is that it is actually too easy to build a website) so if anyone needs a website I would be happy to oblige (if i pay for the hosting, i charge a 10% interest fee over 1 year for the inconvenience, however I can do month-by-month payments if you want continuous maintennance or an upfront payment).

Please help! Help me Asperger's Forum, you're my only hope.

Limo

 

[Pariah Dog]

I am oddly the opposite way. I resist new tech at first but eventually get used to it. It's ironic because I very much like computers. All the multitude of portable gadgets... not so much. The same thing with smart phones. People get very passionate about the latest and the greatest. To me it is just a tool. Does it make phone calls and browse net? Good. Above all else is it reliable?

I think this attitude may come because I like to fix everything myself.

 

[Judge]

It's very rare that I'll buy brand-new technology of any kind. I prefer to let others do the beta-testing and get the major bugs out of things first.

After all, "new" isn't always synonymous with "better".

More often than not new products are released into the marketplace on a quarterly basis whether truly ready or not. For shareholders. Not the consumers. Something I learned firsthand working in Silicon Valley in the late 90s.

 

[Jet Weiss]

I'm addicted to buying new "stuff," not limited to technology. Usually clothes and shoes.
As for my watches, they still have numbers or Roman numerals on them.

 

[Streetwise]

newspaper/magazine delivery job!
not now but 20 years ago never actually bought anything apart from very early pacman sort of handset ,got a walkman years after it came out and a sony tapeplayer

 

[Streetwise]

mine is handbags, now memory foam soled shoes ,cotton clothing ,love to stroke polar fleece blankets, want noise cancelling headphones but they're not a fiver .

I'm addicted to buying new "stuff," not limited to technology. Usually clothes and shoes.
As for my watches, they still have numbers or Roman numerals on them.

 

[Jet Weiss]

mine is handbags, now memory foam soled shoes ,cotton clothing ,love to stroke polar fleece blankets, want noise cancelling headphones but they're not a fiver .

I secretly love handbags though I think people would look at me strange if I had one.

 

[OlLiE]

YES, headphone hifi and watches.

Fashion watches (with a bit of fitness monitoring)
- android platform phone gives you the widest range of choice of watches: style, price, watch faces, etc, google fit is crap and looks like a cheap child's toy, generally feel that the interrface of the android platform apps is made for children, it feels really cheap compared to iOS
- apple platform phone and watch is superior in every way re overall finish, functionality and app integration, but is no way near as goods android watch re selection of watch faces where the offer is limited and quite dull, apple health apps are mainly focused on data reporting and give no insight, apple watch is not really a good looking watch, does the above justify its much higher price?

Sportswatch:
- garmin:ultimate functional sports watches, have their own os, good 'scientific' app, limited smartwatch abilities, os updates are sometimes rushed and had major flaws
- fitbit: great fitness watch, excellent app and app interface, good os
- misfit: more tracker than watch, more fashion than fitness, nice app, little info

 

[OlLiE]

'want noise cancelling headphones but they're not a fiver'

the trick with noise cancelling headphones is to be able to listen to music at lower volumes without hearing exterior noise, rather than drowning out exterior noise with excessive volume

these expensive headphones are good at blocking out consistent, relatively low sounds: jet engines, the din of a group of people, train noise
they are however not good at drowning out fluctuating and higher pitched single noise sources: voices

I've tried the following and it works quite well as an alternative to expensive headphones and is relatively cheap:
- you can buy small in ear headphones, these already block out some noise
- and: comply sells form fitting foam earbuds (depending on what in ears you've bought), these are like ear plugs and block out a lot of noise while generally making your headphones sound better due to the perfect seal with your ear
- and: you can buy relatively thin and cheap industrial ear muffs, put in extra foam padding behind what's in there, i think they cost about 25eur and a few dollars for the foam, i bought small foam shoulder pads and cut them to size before inserting them - for almost perfect silence put in earplugs rather than headphones and then put the earmuffs over that

it looks a bit 'industrial', with the wires of your earphones coming out of them they look like over ear headphones, they're great for at home, if you are comfortable wearing this setup, then they are good outside too

if you are looking for discrete and very good noise attenuation you can wear during the day and for sleep, then you can get form fitted, made to measure, transparent silicone earplugs, they are pricey at about 150 euro, i love them and they last for years

 

[OlLiE]

I secretly love handbags though I think people would look at me strange if I had one.

why not transition through messenger bags

 

[Jet Weiss]

why not transition through messenger bags

That's a good idea At the moment I have a very colourful backpack

 

[xudo]

1. Do you have this problem?

Yes, to a point with general tech stuff. I always want the latest thing, but I know it's a waste of money taht I don't have. However, when it comes to games consoles....

2. Any ideas about smart watches or mom problems or money?

I have a friend who was 100% Apple til he dies. He had an iPhone and an Apple watch. He's a web developer, and had been having to test apps and the like on both iPhone and then on Android. He started to see more positives to Android phones. My brother in law is also a web developer and they're friends. BIL has a rooted Samsung Note 3 and kept showing the friend all of this stuff he could do that he couldn't on an iPhone. Long story short, 100% Apple friend just bought a Huawei (not sure which one). He also ditched the Apple watch for a Fitbit Charge 2 HR, as both myself and my BIL have one and he realised it was perfect for what he wanted and has a far better battery than his Apple watch.

As for problems with money and parents, I can't really offer any advice. We used to get pocket money from our Dad every week, but I'm 31 now so pocket money is ancient history

3. Any jobs in Australia I could work at (14 years, almost 15)

Could you look online if there's people looking for others to do web development/coding/computer nerd stuff for them? I have no idea if that's a thing.

 

[@liamod]

Thanks everyone. I understand about samsung being better (I actually wanted to stay with Samsung, I defo prefer the customizability), however my friend just offered me a new phone and I jumped at the chance. But if offered a choice I would choose samsung over apple

 

[Mr Allen]

Google is your friend for looking for work, although even in Australia I doubt there'd be many places legally allowed to take on a 14 year old, got to be at least 18.

 

[Keigan]

I kind of have this obsessive behavior also, I have to remind d myself to not act unless my action is aligned with my core passions.

When in doubt, taking no action and not spending money is a much better decision.

From this:
- I stopped building personal computers as there was always something better after a few months
- I found really good HAM radio gear that does not change with every new technology
- I have hard rules for iPhone upgrades that prevent me from even looking at the latest iPhone or iPad
- my MacBook Pro is old and it works, no need for new when something works perfectly

 

[vangelis]

Games consoles definitely - have a Switch, PS4, XBox One and 3DS [plus Xbox 360 rigged up to telly in my bedroom plus Gamecube, Dreamcast, Original Xbox, PS3, PS1, Saturn, Mega Drive and SNES in loft]. Also love some of the music software - have Maschine, Komplete and Arturia stuff.

Plus many, many, many hoodies, baseball caps, shoes, watches, skinny jeans in all colours.....

Off to USA in a few weeks to stock up on more so look out Florida Mall here I come [hurricane permitting]

 

[@liamod]

Wow. That's a lot of stuff

 

[Judge]

I'm just grateful I had the patience to refrain from purchasing most products the second they hit the market. At least the Internet can be of great help. Learning the good, the bad and the ugly of new products.

DVD players with terrible firmware issues. Digital SLRs that shot only about 25 pictures before recharging the batteries was needed. Endless new and "improved" video formats requiring brand new forms of media. New car models in their first generation. Those first widescreen televisions. And perhaps above all, new computer operating systems. Small wonder Microsoft wants to abandon the concept of marketing a "new" OS rather than simply announcing an "upgrade".

I never tried the new Coke formula. I just waited long enough for Coca Cola to abandon it altogether.

And I'm still using Adobe Photoshop 5.5 on Windows 7 Pro. Eventually I'll be forced into abandoning both.

- Eventually.

 

[Mr Allen]

I used to have a thing for buying fancy dress stuff from local shops, even going as far as Barnsley to one place called Jackie's in Hoyland, which is now closed down.

 

[Jorg]

Not tech perse but I really like to buy electronic components like Arduinos, Raspberry, sensors, RGB leds, dc motors, servos, etc. I have to buy this things for college but I always try to set a budget and only buy the parts I need for an specific project. If money wasn't the problem I could surrender to this lol.

And thanks of the low money budget as a student I can't waste it on pc parts and games, pheeeww! XD