Rasmussen College School of Technology & Design Director Hap Aziz discusses the new launch of the iPad 2, and upgrading your tech gadgets. Video also available on the Rasmussen College - YouTube channel here.
You can also view this video on our YouTube channel.
Transcript
Amy Kaufeldt: All right, Ryan, thanks. The iPad 2 already back ordered and it just came out just a few days ago. The product isn't even that different than the original. It's just a little faster and it has a camera now. So, is it like many new tech gadgets really worth you spending all of that money? Joining us now live this morning is Hap Aziz from Rasmussen College. He is a technology expert who has joined us before. Thank you so much for coming in.
Hap Aziz: Thanks, Amy.
Amy Kaufeldt: All right. So we see this all the time. People wait in lines for these products. They cost hundreds of dollars. They're really not even that different from the ones that just came out. Why do we do this to ourselves?
Hap Aziz: Well, I think Americans are much more used to the pace of change of technology, and even small incremental changes are exciting. A lot of it has to do with functionality convergence. For example, a cell phone does many things today that a phone didn't do a few years ago. It's your MP3 player. It's your GPS. So people like that additional functionality. But also it's a way of upgrading to the latest and greatest of something without having the expense of something like a car. So even though somebody would like to get a new car every two years, every 18 months, that's maybe not economically feasible. But something like the iPad, the first one came out last year, a year ago. The second one is out now. People feel like they can upgrade.
Amy Kaufeldt: All right. So people feel like maybe, hey, I can't afford the new car, but I can afford $500 for an iPad. I may as well just buy that. But we don't really need it, do we?
Hap Aziz: Well, you know, need is a subjective thing. I can rationalize that I need it for my work. So I like that sort of thing. But the feature upgrade, yes, isn't all that much. But we're not necessarily seeing that everybody that had the first iPad is getting the second iPad. I looked at some statistics just yesterday, and I think that it was between 60% and 70% are new purchases. So we don't have to feel bad that everybody is charging up their credit cards getting something they just got last year.
Amy Kaufeldt: Obviously, technology is changing rapidly. But do we look at technology really as more of it's something disposable when we shouldn't be? I mean the phones we have now, the computers we have now, they're really not so bad are they? They can pretty much do everything that the new stuff can do.
Hap Aziz: Well, there is something to that, and part of it is our culture these days that we're trying to buy new things and we're being told that we need the latest and greatest. When the color television came out in 1954, it was 20 years before half of the American population had color TVs. Yet today, we're upgrading flat screen TVs on the average of four to six years. So, yeah, people do have that sort of I need to keep up with my neighbors, I need to get the latest and greatest, and maybe that's not necessarily wise in all circumstances.
Amy Kaufeldt: All right. Hap Aziz from Rasmussen College. So good to see you. Thank you so much.
Hap Aziz: Thank you.
Amy Kaufeldt: Hopefully, people will calm down a little bit and not just run out to the store now every time they see something new.
Hap Aziz: Yeah, I'm not going to say that for myself.
Amy Kaufeldt: I know. You're addicted to it. Right?
Hap Aziz: Yeah.
Amy Kaufeldt: All right. Thanks so much. Good to see you.
Hap Aziz: Thank you.
Amy Kaufeldt: Mike.
About the Author: This article was transcribed by the Rasmussen College Blog team. Are you ready to take the plunge into a new, successful future? If so, learn more about our degree programs today.
Comments (3)
iPad Cases in an acaemic setting.. - Ronny
It's great when universities are doing these iPad Pilot programs and I think many of them will find that they are more effective learning tools and much more easier to maintain than Laptops or Netbooks. That is, if they have the right case.
I came to the conclusion that something like the Zaggmate with a built-in bluetooh keyboard would probably have the most use within an academic setting. Thus providing both functionality and protection at the very same time.
Subject - Best Televisions
I think that we do need to be very careful that we do not treat new hardware as disposable. Surely, we should make sure that we make the most of what we have and only upgrade when we really need to.
Kind regards,
John
Tablets are great for students - Ian McCormack
Tablets are so portable and stable, especially the iPad, that they are the perfect companion for any student I feel. Great learning tools and so many useful apps that they cannot be overlooked.
