Technology hype is overrated

I am a consumer.  Odds are if you are reading this you are also a consumer.  Something that has recently occurred to me is how heavily influenced we all are by print media and digital media.  Actually, take anything and throw media behind it and we are probably influenced by it. 

On a recent trip to a local big box electronics store I began to realize something.  Hype is overrated.  The brand new "Microsoft Surface Pro" came out on February 09.  I did not know too much about what it really was until a day or two before its release, and that is only because I scoured every blog trying to read up on its capabilities.  The commercials did a good job showing the Surface Pro, but not such a good job showing what it really did.  I take that back, according to the commercial it makes a clicking noise when the keyboard is connected and it will enable me to dance with all of my cool friends while also trading keyboards like Baseball cards.

While at the store, I realized that the whole idea of a tablet that can morph into a laptop is silly.  In fact, the whole tablet market is silly right now.  Now, I know that millions of people own tablets and swear by how great they are.  There are programs that are out there that are beneficial to select groups, such as teachers and video design folks.  But at the end of the day, the majority of people can't use a five hundred dollar plus "computer" tablet as more than anything but a glorified Smartphone.

As a consumer I am choosing to wait for the tablet market to establish itself better.  I want to wear a nice suit and show up to work with a tablet in hand that will actually serve a purpose.  The Surface Pro is cool; I will no doubt tell you that.  But for what it is, and the price that it is at I am better off buying myself a laptop.  With the money I would be saving I could afford to buy the full edition of Office, and take my fiancé out to dinner.

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