Undoubtedly one of the major factors of enhancements in products is actually not technical advancements but design and style. Although people can argue that technology and design improvements go in conjunction, it is also quick to see how design characterizes buyer behavior. However, this is not anything new since mass-production enabled producers to create cheap products where the onus was on design rather than functionality. E.g., the paper dresses of the Sixties were inexpensive and of a bad finish yet for many fashionable consumers they were must have wardrobe items.
This continues to this present day. Cell phone producers continually play with the dichotomy of functionality vs design. A lot of designers choose understated designs and rely instead on features. Lots of others choose to offer less features but instead focus on design, at times even collaborating with famous people.
With this attention given to design instead of functionality, it is easy to regard products solely as aesthetic yet it’s also good to not forget that such devices are supposed to have helpful benefits. When choosing a product there is always three factors that you have to weigh up – features, design and cost. At times you might wish to spend more for design or features. At other times they get incorporated. Apple’s design ethos is a great example of design meeting technology.
If you always go for the design aspect when buying new products then you should really start to think about the functional aspect as well. While it may be tempting to buy the trendiest designed product, it may not be the smartest. You ought to always check the functionality of the product and how you will be using it. There is little point of buying a high-tech computer if all you will be doing is sending emails with it or surfing the net.
Thus, when purchasing a new product, you should always think about how you will use it or why you need it. An example of this is e-book readers (such as the Amazon Kindle). They have practical uses in real life. For example, lots of airlines are now limiting passengers to a single piece of hand luggage. An e-book reader is a lot smaller than your average book and you are able to take more books with you on holiday.
Cell phones have also greatly improved their technology features. You can take your cell phone for all of your multi-media needs. Many now feature large amounts of memory letting you save videos, pictures and music. cell phones now have digital cameras too, meaning you won’t have to splash out on a separate, expensive camera. The net is not any different. Many sites have been designed with usability and functionality as the focus. You are now able to use websites that have been created to allow you to organize web time better. They vary from a social bookmarking service, password safes and personalized homepage.
A bookmarks manager can really save time and alter the way you work. Sadly, a lot of them have a basic style. It will be intriguing to see how they will evolve as more and more of us expect functionality that is presented in a well designed and aesthetic product.