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'Good Enough Technology' Means Cheap and Easy Always Wins

by Leila Brillson on September 7, 2009 at 09:07 AM



America, home of the faster, better, brighter, louder. Or it once was. Now, two factors -- the tight economy and the increased reliance on mobile everything -- mean that some shoppers favor cheap, simple, and easy gadgets. Wired.com calls this "The Good Enough Revolution," meaning that consumers want a product to get the job done, not be exceedingly cutting edge, turbo fast, or needlessly high end. Wired writer Robert Capps gives a great example of the Flip video recorder, a cheap, easy, and fairly low-quality hand-held that now has 17-percent of the video market share. He writes, "We now favor flexibility over high fidelity, convenience over features, quick and dirty over slow and polished." Another example he gives is the compressed sound of the MP3, which is nowhere as rich as the tunes played using CD (or as warm as vinyl). Bottom line: Average users don't notice, or particularly care about megapixels or RAM, but they do want ease of use.

With tuned-in generations getting younger and younger, the amount of gadgets the average individual owns increases, but not the amount they pay to obtain them. Parents, or twenty-somethings striking out on their own, don't want to reach deep for must-have tech. Now, we need cell phones, MP3 players, clear TVs, quick cameras, lightweight entertainment, fast Internet. Paying for the high end version of all of these devices and services would render the average consumer broke, so something low-end that "gets the job done" suffices. The market, initially reticent (for instance, the record industry laughing off MP3s), is now embracing the fact that buyers will cut corners if it means a lower price.

Of course, this isn't new: the cheaper, easier VHS video tape format beat out the better-quality (and more compact) Beta back in the '70s. But more and more technology means more instances of consumers to choose the 'Good Enough' option. Here are some good examples of 'good enough' meat-and-potatoes devices that are winning the popularity contest with consumers. Whether they mark a fleeting trend, or are mainstays, still remains to be seen.
  • Netbooks: Small, lightweight, and inexpensive, these 'mini' laptops don't pack the punch of a proper PC, but allow users to surf and word process, which is what the majority of folks do, anyway.
  • LCD Screens: Plasma might offer better colors, richer blacks and smoother action scenes, but the LCDs are easy on the wallet and are currently flooding the market.
  • Camera phones and point-and-shoots: Digital SLRs (single lens reflex) cameras are for prosumers and photo snobs, but most people want to capture their pals having a good time, regardless of megapixels. Also, easy use and seamless uploading make cell phone cameras ideal for Twitterers and people on the go.
  • iPhone: While the iPhone is on the higher end of the smart phone price scale, the handset has become the go-to mobile device for nearly everything: music player, GPS, e-mail services, directions, Internet search, and video watching. Also, it still can't do real multimedai messaging (MMS), but nevertheless is outselling higher-end phones by a long shot.
  • YouTube: While the switch to digital has made TV clearer, plenty of folks are perfectly content with watching their shows on low-def, blown out streaming video, which is instant and easy to find.
So being totally linked in doesn't mean shelling out tons on tech... as long as consumers are satisfied with their gadgets being just good enough.

Tags: budget, economy, goodenough, iphone, LCD tv, LcdTv, netbooks, pointandshoot, top, youtube

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