電子產品更新換代之煩惱 Why are we addicted to upgrades?

Although his 1-year-old smartphone still works perfectly, Li Jijia already feels the need to replace it.

儘管用了一年的智能手機完好無損，李繼嘉（音譯）已經動了想換新手機的念頭。

“It has been a year. There are many better ones available now,” said the 21-year-old education major at Central China Normal University. “It’s time to upgrade my phone.”

“已經用了一年了，市面上出了很多更強大的手機。”就讀於華中師範大學教育學專業、21歲的李繼嘉説：“是時候換新手機了”。

Li’s impatience is shared by many. Shortly after the season when new gadgets are released, many consumers feel the urge to upgrade their electronic devices, even though the ones they have still work just fine.

很多人都像李繼嘉一樣急切。新品發佈季剛過，很多顧客便迫不及待地要更新他們的電子設備，即便舊的仍能正常使用。

As consumers obsess over Apple’s newly released products and debate whether the Google tablet is better than the new Amazon Kindle, it might be time to take a step back and ask: “Do we really need the latest upgrades?”

當顧客們正痴迷於蘋果的新產品，熱議着谷歌平板電腦和亞馬遜Kindle閲讀器哪個更好時，或許我們是時候該退一步好好想想了：“我們真的需要這些最新的電子產品嗎？”

New psychology

新一輪的心理戰

According to Donald Norman, American author of the book The Design of Everyday Things, “planned obsolescence” is the trick behind the upgrading culture of today’s consumer electronics industry.

《設計每天的生活》一書的作者、美國作家唐納德•諾曼認為，隱藏在當今電子行業不斷更新換代文化背後的是“計劃性報廢”的把戲。

The New York Times cited Norman last month, saying that electronics manufactures strategically release new upgrades periodically, both for hardware and software, so that customers on every level feel the need to buy the newest version.

上個月《紐約時報》引用諾曼的話説，電子廠商們有計劃地定期發佈最新的軟硬件升級產品，這樣一來每個層次的顧客都覺得有必要去購買最新版本。

“This is an old-time trick– they’re not inventing anything new,” he said.

諾曼表示：“這還是過去的舊把戲——沒什麼新點子。”

Thomas Wensma, a Dutch designer, despises the “planned obsolescence” of companies, as recently reported by UK-based The Guardian.

最近英國《衞報》有報道稱，來自荷蘭的設計師托馬斯•文斯瑪十分鄙視許多公司採取的“計劃性淘汰”策略。

Wensma said this is a wasteful system through which companies – many of them producing personal electronics – release shoddy products simply because “they know that, in six months or a year, they’ll put out a new one”.

文斯瑪説這是一種相當浪費資源的機制。在這樣的機制中，包括許多個人電子產品生產商在內的企業們之所以推出劣質貨，是因為“他們清楚，一年半載之後，會有新品推出。”

But the new psychology of consumers is part of this system, as Wensma conceded to the newspaper: “We now want something new, something pretty, the next shiny thing.”

而如今消費者心理的改變也成為該機制的一部分，文斯瑪向英國《衞報》透露説：“現在我們都喜歡新奇炫的東西。”

Huge profits

暴利

“It’s to the detriment of the consumer and the environment,” as the New York Times quoted Norman. “But perhaps to the betterment of the stockholder.”

“這對消費者和環境來説是種傷害”《紐約時報》援引諾曼的話説：“但對股東們而言卻是好事一件。”

In its most recent fiscal year, Apple’s profit margin was more than 21 percent, reported the Los Angeles Times. At Hewlett-Packard, the world’s biggest PC manufacturer, it was only 7 percent.

據《洛杉磯時報》報道稱，蘋果公司最新年度財務報告顯示，其利潤率超過21%。而作為全球最大的個人電腦製造商，惠普公司的利潤率僅為7%。

“Steven Jobs pushed the principle of ‘planned obsolescence’ to new heights,” the newspaper commented on the company’s profits and marketing strategy. “Apple’s annual upgrades of its products generate sales of millions of units as owners of one year’s MacBook or iPhone line up to buy the newest version, even when the changes are incremental.”

“史蒂夫•喬布斯將‘計劃性淘汰’推向了一個新高度。”《洛杉磯時報》在評論蘋果公司的利潤與營銷戰略時如是説道：“用户們放棄了剛購入一年的蘋果筆記本電腦Macbook或iPhone，再次排起長龍去購買最新產品，這樣一來蘋果公司每年的產品升級都帶來了數百萬的銷量，儘管這些產品升級有時只是量變而非質變。”

Peer pressure

朋友圈的壓力

As to Li Jijia, the need for upgrading his smartphone comes mainly from friends and classmates. When the majority of friends are switching to the latest devices, he worries about feeling left out.

對於李繼嘉來説，換手機的需求主要來源於朋友和同學的壓力。因為大部分朋友都換了新的，他擔心自己落伍。

“Some apps and games require better hardware to run,” said Li. “If you don’t join in, you lose part of the connection to your friends.”

“有些應用和遊戲需要更好的硬件才能運行，”李繼嘉説：“如果你脱離組織，就會跟朋友們格格不入。”