Believe me when I say that I have become a self-proclaimed tech snob. It didn’t used to be this way but it is what I have become. I’m not recovering, I’m not a former tech snob, I am a tech snob. How do I know this?
There used to be a time when I would buy older technology, because the price was more affordable, not concerned that I wasn’t on the bleeding edge. Things are different now. I probably know too much about what’s available and I’m very particular about what I “need”.
I’m still very price conscious because I don’t have someone else footing the bill, whatever I spend on tech comes out of my pocket. The problem is that my demands are higher than they used to be.
For example, I nearly left Sprint last fall because they didn’t offer the phone I had to have. (razr) They offered their equivalent (the Samsung Blade) but wanted me to pay for it. After holding out long enough, they called and offered the blade for free, so I locked in for 2 more years.
Another example, last year I “needed” a laptop. Really, I did. More and more things I’m doing require me to be mobile. So, I shopped around and focused in on a Dell, but the problem was that the Dell I wanted cost more than others that were similar. At one point, Mary asked me why I wanted a Dell and of course, I had plenty of valid reasons. Every well thought out point I made, her response was, so does this other one that’s cheaper. It was clear to me that she did not understand, but the more I processed it, she made a good point. I finally admitted that I wanted a Dell for the name. So, I lowered my expectations and bought a Gateway. I put up with it for nearly a year, but in my mind, it was a temporary fix until I could buy the laptop I truly “needed”.
Recently, I decided I “needed” a new laptop and surprisingly, the questions started flying just like before. This time, I admitted to myself and to my wife that I want a new laptop for the name. That old Gateway is no longer useful to me.
At this very moment, I am typing this post on my fairly new Dell Inspiron E1505 laptop. It’s sweet! duo-core processor, 1gb of memory (not enough), 120gb hard drive. I’m a tech snob and I admit it.
Just to clarify things, I know I piled on Dell recently for their inadequate support and was pretty relentless, but the fact is, Dell computers are fairly reliable and I still like Dell. That situation did not make me happy but I was able to make contact with a person at Dell that did his best to get us through.
There are other stories like this but the bottom line is that I am a self-proclaimed tech snob.
The whole point of this story is to announce that I bought techsnob.info and at the moment, it’s pointed here. I have no plans to do anything more with it but we’ll see. It’s just fun to have.
Are you a tech snob?
Me too! Me too! Like you, not a recovering one either. This is not being posted from my 2-week old Inspiron 1505 (it’s at home on the charger). We have to stick together, you know, because we’re so misunderstood!
- Wayne
I don’t think of myself as a tech snob, but if I do need to make a purchase, I make sure it’s done right. I’ll usually spend a month researching possibilities for a big purchase (or longer, as with our HDTV we bought last year). I like to have nice things, but I always put need vs. cost first.
Good luck with your new laptop. I’ve never had any luck with Dell laptops (or the Dell brand in general…in my experience their build quality is as good as their tech support and I’ll likely never buy a Dell), but to each their own. After all, there are even those who prefer Macs. My wife and I have had better luck with Sony VAIOs and the new HP line, but again, that’s just our experience.
Yes, you got me! But dont tell my wife, she believes me when I say I need something. In return, I only buy 30% of what I feel I need, to keep from breaking the family budget.
that’s a great domain name! For the most part, I’m a techsnob, too, but right now the budget speaks louder than the snob…
Yes, I’m afraid I am. I have this incurable thought always niggling in the back of my mind that people who use Windows are ignorant, and if they’re not ignorant then they’re even worse, dumb. I’ve never been able to get past that.
