For consoles and phones, I’ve stopped caring about screen resolution past 1080p. I have an eye disability that makes it hard to tell the difference anyway. It’s why I haven’t been sold on a Switch 2, I just see it as a paygate

Products are actually getting worse, more locked down, more enshittified.

Longevity > cutting edge technology

I don’t plan to buy a car built after 2022 ever.

I built my previous computer in 2012 and used it until 2024. Building a new rig in 2024 was like watching the bridge collapse behind me. I don’t think I’m going to meaningfully upgrade my computer for two decades at this rate.

And for phones, all I look for are SD card slots and headphone jacks, so I’m already not getting the best out there. Good, I ain’t paying for that shit anyway.

The older I got the more politics began to matter to me, culminating in:

1. Is it available second hand? If yes, buy. If no:
2. Is it available new and made in the EU? If yes or no and looking outside the EU:
3. Can I live with myself giving money to the producer in question, considering ecological and ethical aspects? If yes, buy. If no:
4. Do I, regardless of 3, need* it? If yes, buy. If no, abandon purchase.

Note that 4 is a filter that 1, 2 and 3 are always and continuously weighed against.

If the item passes 1 through 4, I tend to buy the best** that I can afford, in order to get the fullest experience, because YOLO.

*my needs are subject to change based on peer pressure, mental health, laziness, resolve, season and other things. In my society, with my skin color and assigned gender, I am privileged enough so that my needs rarely - if ever - pertain to survival.

**the definition of best depends on the item in question, on its function and my use case. If I’m looking for a lightbulb because I want to increase the perceived coziness in a room, I go for the dimmest and warmest light, while if I’m looking for a lightbulb because I need to see better when working, I go for the brightest and coolest light.

The only thing I tend to go for the higher end when it comes to electronics is cameras.

But even so, I usually end up in the lower wnd of the higher end segment of cameras.

Today I have a Lumix S5, brilliant camera 80% of the time, but the AF is too slow.

I have a Lumix S 24-105 f/4 lens which is brilliant for 95% of my photos

I also have a Sigma Contemporary 100-400mm supertelezoom lens, brilliant lens, but also slow.

I am currently looking to upgrade, and as it stands now I think this will possibly be my forever camera (combined with my S5, and probably a smaller Fujifilm X-M5) and I am thinking of going Nikon Z this time…

A friend of mine recently got a Z6III, and it is brilliant, though I am interesting in finding out more about if they will launch a Z7III…

Sort of, but my peak is different.

TL;DR: I don’t care much about performance, but I love unconventional features.

For a laptop, I absolutely want a touchscreen convertible ThinkPad with a built-in stylus (and Linux support, of course).
And new ones are really expensive, seems to be starting at EUR 2k with L13.

For a phone, I’d want something that runs GrapheneOS, so that would also be high in price.
On the other hand, I want a headphone jack, dual SIM (physical) and SD card slot. Excluding less trustworthy Chinese brands, this only leaves me with Moto G06 as the only viable option, priced at less than EUR 120. Ironically, the only phone matching my hardware requirements, regardless of price, is also one of the cheapest ones.

And lastly there’s special devices, something that can only be fulfilled by smaller less trustworthy Chinese manufacturers, such as Ulefone or Unihertz. No one else seems interested in manufacturing phones with truly giant batteries, and features like a built-in projector or physical keyboards.

If the economy was good I would buy good but it’s bad so I buy as good as I can.

It’s diminishing returns.

At a certain point there’s just no point in jamming in more hardware or making a device smaller.

Back in the day every year brought huge advancements and new features, but we really need to just chill on annual models by now. Let refreshes happen when there’s enough advancement to justify it. Especially for more expensive stuff like cars.

Currently there’s a shit ton of “last year(s) models” all over the country that were built and never sold. But every year a “new model” that’s slightly changed rolls out to justify a higher price.

They’d save a shit ton of money switching to a five year refresh, and all those “new old model” cars would still just be “new” and sell at the same price as one that just came off an assembly line.

But then automakers would lose that dwindling customerbase who buy new every year to have “newest”.

Anyways, the point of all that is I don’t stay up to date on changes. When I need something, I jump back in and virtually always end up picking something that already has a new model out. The premium for best/newest is just never a good idea.

We’re at the point we’re very few people ever get close to utilizing it anyways.