Psychology behind upgrades of all kinds {VLOG}

Psychology behind upgrades of all kinds {VLOG}

(WARNING: TODAY’S NJROUTE22.COM VLOG IS GEEK TALK ABOUT UPGRADES!)

Our first computer was an “8088” processor. We also had an “8086.”

Then, we got into “286’s, 386’s, and the big leap of 486’s!” It was huge back in the day. Especially when the “Pentium” (586) came out.

If you don’t know what those are – that is okay.

And back then – all we had was ERRORS.

Windows sucked ass. It still does from a holistic point of view – but gone are most of the issues computer tinkerers like us had to deal with.

Then came Pentiums, and all sorts of other crap. We recall buying 500+ page PC magazines as thick as local phone books! Anyone remember those?

And as technology “evolves” (and we use that word loosely), when we look back – it all seems similar.

Upgrades are still the same today

While computers and technology have become “amazing” when you put it into perspective, the mindset behind “wanting more” remains the same.

We recall always wanting better, or even the “best” thing you could get when it came to computers.

The money I and my poor family literally WASTED on “high tech” 25+ years ago bugs me.

While we did NOT know what the future would bring, looking back makes you wonder what would have happened if we took a different approach.

Part of me thinks that it would not have been possible to be frugal and prudent with our choices.

Because that is the nature of the “upgrade,” regardless of time, place, quality, performance, or subject matter.

The same is happening today

We’re in the process of some upgrades ourselves at the moment. Once again, I should say.

We had a perfectly good computer here at home.

AMD Ryzen 7 (bottom of the line first-generation – Ryzen 7 1700 – 8 cores – 16 threads.)

Two years ago, our PC had a shoddy GPU (geek acronym for “video card.”) Not shoddy per se (a GTX 570), but it was starting to show signs.

Then we “upgraded” to a better device. Nowhere near the best at the time – but what we felt was a good value proposition.

An NVIDIA GTX 970. Paid maybe 1/4 of what it cost when new, with tremendous performance upgrades (relatively speaking). We adapted from wanting the newest – and reset our clock back a year or two – in order to feel the same “gains” without the punishing costs.

The video card worked fabulously (and still does) for regular stuff. Such as games at 1080p. Or running windows with 5,000 tabs open. Perfectly sufficient.

Until in my mind, it was not.

One thing that bogged us down was video editing. The card performed fine, but it just took a little while.

No hangups, crashes, or other performance issues necessarily, but we just felt the “need” to upgrade.

So – we went on eBay (before the big NVIDIA GTX 3000 series was released). We knew by reading, that the GTX 2000 series was out of our league (at the time).

I got a GTX 1070 for cheap – about $100.

Yippie! Upgraded performance for pocket change!

Then something crappy happened.

You get hung up in numbers, stats, and reviews!

We got sucked into the hole of looking up good deals on eBay.

Then, as a result – we started looking at specifications and other stats and reviews.

We started seeing “better” cards for nearly what we paid for an “inferior” card.

DAMNIT.

Then we bit the bullet and bought an only slightly better version of a video card GTX 1070ti.

We bought it from a seller who said it worked – but that the “cooling fans” did not work right.

A little “research” (in quotes on purpose), led us to believe that the seller was mistaken.

The product in question was supposed to have a “conditional” cooling system – whereas the fans only turned on when it got “hot.”

I falsely believed this computer kid was just dumb. My belief was that it was fine and that the seller only misunderstood how it worked.

I got the card – and it worked perfectly fine.

But the seller was correct – the fans did not work.

So I bought some replacement fans (being the tinkerer I am) and attempted to repair them.

That did not work.

So we checked the warranty.

Lo behold! It was still under warranty, and I sent it back to the manufacturer (Gigabyte).

All while using the “inferior” card I initially bought.

Months go by with no update. I finally found the time to call the manufacturer – and they gave me the bad news.

No parts! We are waiting to find parts!

Then a few days later – they emailed me to say they were “upgrading” me to a super better RTX 2070 SUPER.

FOR FREE!

(Context – those things are still selling for $1500 on eBay due to market shortages across the board!)

Long story short – I bought a video card that was severely undervalued – and got a major upgrade in the process. A good news story for those that can relate.

The dominoes fall – the upgrade bug has invaded.

The tale of two realities – how the upgrade set off a time bomb

If we would have just had our GTX 1070ti video card repaired – this story would not have been written.

Life would have gone on uninterrupted.

But since we got a MAJOR upgrade for free – this is what happened.

– We received a significant product with new features (called “ray-tracing” for those who want to know). This is an important fact for people that like playing high-end immersive games. It makes computer games as good as they’ve ever been.

– The chain reaction that happened was terrible.

– We then realized that our “chip” (or CPU) was outdated. We wanted and (needed in our own minds) a new one.

– Then we realized that our memory chips were WAY TOO SLOW! The newer tech would be crippled by slow memory!

– And the worst thing was – looking up games that support this new-fangled technology. We haven’t played PC games in a long time. Who has the free time to do that? We now have a few new games to play on the new rig!

– In addition, we also realized, to incorporate all these “upgrades,” we would also need a new power supply (what feeds your computer components the necessary electricity in the proper format).

The bottom line is that that free “upgrade” resulted in a fairly major overhaul of other related PC components.

The slippery slope applies across the board

The example I provided above – is just about the PC industry.

I should add that it’s a crazy industry. Kids and other computer enthusiasts are exactly like I was back in my 286, 386, 486 days. There is NO END to the amount of upgrading and tinkering you want and WILL do.

It is truly a bottomless pit.

We read how hobbyists are just obsessed with tinkering until they feel like they’ve reached some kind of utopia. They tweak their systems as a hobby. Always striving for better, or the best!

Harmless for the most part. Then they get their dopamine hit – and survive for a short while.

And oh my God, it starts up again.

And again, and again, and again.

The cycle does not end.

This mindset applies to almost everything in life

Naturally – with different “parameters,” the need to upgrade and “get the best” has always applied. Computers are just a bit easier to reference – because there are (so-called) REAL “metrics.”

People like having (on paper) what was once called “the best.” It doesn’t even need to be a statistic. It can even just be a simple “feeling” of having something better.

We see this all the time. For example, some kids boasting how their “computer rig” got the “highest score” in some kind of testing program.

A temporary feeling of joy for those kids. Then they do not realize that IMMINENTLY after that moment of joy – they will be knocked off the throne.

This happens with almost everything

Cars. Homes. Furniture. Clothing. Appliances. Even PEOPLE!

Humans cannot stop “upgrading.”

Contentment seems to be a relic of the past.

Why is that?

Why do people always poke around to see what else there is?

Now keep in mind – not ALL people are obsessed with improvements.

But I will say that almost everyone (I’d suggest 99.8%) has walked down this path for SOMETHING similar in their lives.

Human condition.

But how does anyone come to grips with being satisfied with NOW?

The industries WANT you to WANT MORE

Without a doubt – we are certain that almost every single company that SELLS something – has people behind the scenes to create demand.

Even if that perceived demand is false.

Some do it via product disposability (look up the “Gillette Model” for more).

And others do it via “scarcity” (i.e., create a demand, then make it hard to achieve).

Another method is via “model numbers” (incrementally higher and higher). Such as cars – BMW 325i, 330i, 540, 740, 750, etc.

There is no end whatsoever.

If you have the best today – it will not be the best in a very short time in the future.

It’s true – advancements happen

Now just to be fair – it is certainly true that humans advance. And better things come along the pipeline.

It’s perfectly fine if people collectively find better ways to live life.

To us, it is NOT fine when it is done in a calculated, demonic way.

We have theories that many, if not most companies have a major roadmap of their future products already produced. And that they just MILK the customers for as long as they can.

It might not apply to all industries – but you know they’re literally “holding back” most things in order to get their “ROI” on the previous products.

Is it possible to be content across the board?

We personally know many people who are perfectly fine with what they have.

Perhaps it falls into the “ignorance is bliss” category.

Because once you KNOW about anything – it’s a little hard to “UNKNOW” it.

And those images of having something better – doesn’t matter what it is – kind of stick with you.

That is how the human mind works.

And it’s also a good reason to not seek out things like that. It might be nice to be “in the dark” about most things.

In the long run – what do you TRULY receive by upgrading everything to perfection in your life? Especially when you KNOW that the cycle repeats over and over and over?

Where do you draw the line?

We suppose this is why billionaires cannot stop.

The human mind has a tough time with contentment when it knows there is more to have.