Consumerism, Efficiency, and Pleasure

Photo courtesy of Daily Mobile. 

This is Nidhi

Do you ever notice the way a Verizon store is planned out? All of the brand new popular cell phones are nicely displayed in the glass windows or near the front of the store, while the less popular, reject cell phones are shoved into the corner?

Last month, I decided to invest in a new cell phone after my old one decided to give up on me. I rarely change cell phones, even though Verizon likes to send me friendly reminders in the mail that every two years I am allowed a free upgrade to replace a perfectly good cell phone. Stores like Verizon, encourage Americans to indulge and consume items that they do not necessarily need. In the old days, items like shoes were made to last a long time. Now, it seems that more people are willing to throw away brand new items because they are simply, “out dated.”

I made two trips to Verizon last month. While I showed the salesman my old cell phone, he tried to convince me that I needed a smartphone. Personally, I did not feel the need to get a smartphone because I just use my phone to make phone calls and for text messaging. I asked him to please show me the best cell phones that did not need Internet. The middle-aged man looked rather confused and asked me why I wanted to get such a simple phone. I told him that I prefer not having Internet and fancy applications like an MP3 player or any other unnecessary tools on my phone. I wanted to have a phone for two purposes only: calling and texting. He said that I needed to keep up with technology and people my age need this kind of phone. He even tried to connect with me and said that professors constantly send emails about assignments at the last minute and it would be so more useful to buy a phone with Internet. After showing me dozens of smartphones, I would not budge. I told him I needed some time to decide whether I wanted a smartphone and would return at a later date.

After a few weeks, I actually caved and thought a smartphone was not a bad idea. I’m always getting bombarded with emails everyday. Professors constantly send updates about assignments and classes, and I always get tons of emails concerning Wagner’s yearbook. Additionally, I was beginning to schedule senior portraits for the yearbook last month and last year I remembered I would come home and get literally 50 emails a day about portraits. I thought it might be more efficient to schedule portraits right through my cell phone, especially in between my breaks.

When I returned to the store, the salesman said he knew I would be back to buy the new Motorola Droid 2 phone. It is funny to think about the way he lured me into thinking that the smartphone is something I really needed and could not live without. Until a few weeks ago, I was perfectly fine with just making calls and sending messages through my phone and did not need any additional applications on my phone. I never used to carry my phone around with me all the time, and many times I left it at home and attended to calls hours later. Now, I am wired and jump to my phone every time I get an email alert. The new smartphone is like a toy and when I first bought the phone, I was reminded of my childhood. When I got a new toy from the story, it seemed so exciting and fascinating for the first few days. The toy was so wonderful; I was definitely pleased at that moment.

Lastly, it is funny to think about how consumerism plays such a significant role in our lives. The salesman acted as if I would be “falling behind” the other individuals in my generation by reverting to a simpler phone. He convinced me that “too simple was not better,” and I really needed, not wanted the smartphone. Additionally, I noted how the Protestant Ethic still plays a major role in our lives today, especially when dealing with work and efficiency. In the Droid 2 commercial, the narrator says, “The new Droid is integrated to do more, it integrates your work emails.” Not only can you do more work, but also you can be efficient with the new keyboard and can finish faster with the 1 GHz speed that the phone uses. In the commercial, the Droid user is at a meeting at work and he is using his phone to send work emails. As consumers, we are convinced that we cannot spare a second of our time and every minute needs to be used precisely to complete some kind of task. I admit I was convinced that I needed this phone to be efficient and make better use of the little time that I already have in the day. I hate to say it, but now I am “an instrument of efficiency” thanks to my new toy.