Greedy gadgeteers- why do people always want more?

I know I'm not one to talk. At a launch of a brand spanking new phone I recently asked how many megapixels the camera and, and went 'phsaw!' when I discovered it owned up to a measly 3.1 megapixels. But why is that so bad? Considering it has a Carl Zeiss lens, I was probably being a little harsh, but that's how tech is nowadays. People always want bigger, better, faster and more furious, and it doesn't matter how good something is at doing what it does, it's what it DOESN'T do that stands out.

Playing with my recent gadget, the BeBook, I had people oohing and ahing over it, till some nitwit asked the question, 'Does it have Wi-Fi'. No, it doesn't (though one that does may be in the pipeline). But why do you want Wi-Fi on a book? Yes, it would be great to read RSS feeds, check emails etc, but aren't we then getting into computer/Smartphone territory?

There's such a thing as going back to basics, and shouldn't you be thrilled enough that you can store your library on one device rather than having boxes in storage? I'm happy that I can now keep all my favourite Piers Anthony books and Pratchett novels together, as I can now read them whenever I please and delve in for quotes whenever I like.

But then the issue is if one e-book doesn't have Wi-Fi, another will (the Kindle for example) and as people start wisely investing their money they're always going to opt for something which seems to give the best value possible for their pennies.

We've seen this trend in the phone market as 8 megapixels is currently the word to watch out for on phone cameras, and anything under five doesn't impress. But then we now have compact cameras' with 15 megapixels so it all becomes a bit superfluous. We're still a long way from having ONE gadget that does everything we desire, so why can't we just settle for individual products which are great at what they do, instead of mish mashing functions together.

The technology industry doesn't work that way though, as they're aware that customers will turn to other brands if they're not producing the latest and greatest, whether it's adding a megapixel to a camera phone or bringing out a laptop that's the new 'lightest' product on the market. Till the day comes where people are content with what they have, I'll keep trying new products and criticizing /praising away.

Considering this is what I do for a living maybe it's a good thing that people are always greedy for more...

Zara Rabinowicz writes for Shiny Shiny and Kiss and Makeup and is OK with not multi-tasking with her gadgets.