ORIGINAL: Plum70Rag
Maybe it's the way I was raised. We didn't have a microwave until about 1984. My parents still have a CRT television. My dad's first camcorder was used (one that took full size VHS tapes). My cell phone doesn't have a camera. I don't own an ipod. I just don't understand this "First on the Block" mentality.
PS2, Wii, iphone -- people standing in line a week before the things are on sale... Putting down a couple grand on a car you've never seen, than isn't even in production yet... I don't get it.
When there are 15 birds sitting on a wire, how do you know which one landed first? When there are 15 Challengers lined up on the curb, who's going to remember in six months which one was first? I guess for the guys who want the low production number for the 2047 Barret Jackson auction, then maybe. But for a driver?
Funny, my parent's got their first microwave in the same year. Nobody in my family has anything besides a conventional tube television. Our first movie recorder was one for a movie projector which had no sound capabilities, our first actual camcorder we got in 1993 that was a microsized camcorder, the one we replaced that with around 2002 still uses the same sized film and we have not updated since. We didn't get a cellphone until 2002. We didn't get a family cellphone plan until 2005. My cell phone does not have a camera either.
My newest game system is a PS1 and I got that in about 1998. We didn't get a color television or VCR until 1991, and didn't get a properly working VCR until 1993. We didn't get a DVD player until 2004. My parents have never owned a car with leather interior. They still consider power windows and locks to be an option. My parents have never had either cable or satellite. We didn't have the internet until 2001. My parent's stereo system does not have a CD player but still has a record player, which they bought in 1993, yet they still also have an 8-track player.
My parents live in the exact same house that my father purchased before he was married in 1977. Our garage door is completely manual and has never been automatic. About the only luxury we have ever had was we used to own half of a single engine base engine 1959 Piper Comanche.
I'm actually content with not being the first at anything. The people who are the first have to pay a whole bunch more, tend to have more problems, miss out on better options offered later, and other issues. I also find that people who have to have the latest and greatest are never content as they always have to have the lastest things.