I Want It All.....And I Want It Now
I have recently come to a startling revelation. I’m sitting in a class to learn how to better manage my finances and I see this comparison showing the difference financially between buying a car and financing it for 5 years, and saving money for 5 years then getting the car. It’s a fairly significant difference, but the very thought of it seems completely alien to me.
I started to think, “Who would actually do that, save money for 5 years to get a car??” We can’t wait that long and I think I know why. The world we live in today moves faster than ever before. Every technological marvel of the last 50 years has centered on making things more efficient. You don’t have to wait to get home to call someone, you have a cell phone. You don’t have to spend hours cooking on the stove, there’s the microwave. You don’t have to drive to the library and spend time looking for information, there’s the internet. You don’t have to go into a store, interact with a clerk, and exchange money, there’s pay at the pump and self-checkout. You don’t have to wait all week to see your favorite TV show, there’s the DVR, digital cable with 200 channels and streaming video online. Technology has brought us to a world where we have to have it when we want it, and we have to have it all simultaneously.
Now, let me clarify that I love technology. I am a tech junkie and my spare room at home looks like a Radio Shack exploded in it, but there is a cost. The revelation I came to is that patience is the casualty of technology. In the same way that we don’t have to wait for things or put out much effort to get them, we don’t want to do the things that take patience. I think this is why people (myself included) have the debt that they have. It’s also why so many people today (again, myself included) are overweight and can’t seem to shake it. Things like saving money to pay for what you want and losing weight take time and patience. You can’t just swipe a card, punch a button, or click a mouse and accomplish those things. Ironically, those people who are successful at convincing you that you can are making tons of money (mostly charged on credit cards, no doubt).
Back in the old days, I think it would have been easier to do the things that take patience since everything that was done required it. I figure if I had to spend two hours milking a cow to have a glass of milk then I could probably find the patience to save a few dollars. In fact, I see a huge marketing opportunity here. As this problem increases in volume, I think we are going to start seeing places pop up for treatment of “technology addiction”. Probably a ranch out in Wyoming somewhere that doesn’t even have electricity. You sit out there for some period of time and get reintroduced to the simple life. Not a bad idea actually. Maybe I should start one up. Of course, I would have to save the money to buy one, and then take the time to go out and get it setup. Forget it. Maybe I can setup an online ranch where you can relax in a virtual environment free from the modern woes and worries of the real world. I’ll work on that.
I started to think, “Who would actually do that, save money for 5 years to get a car??” We can’t wait that long and I think I know why. The world we live in today moves faster than ever before. Every technological marvel of the last 50 years has centered on making things more efficient. You don’t have to wait to get home to call someone, you have a cell phone. You don’t have to spend hours cooking on the stove, there’s the microwave. You don’t have to drive to the library and spend time looking for information, there’s the internet. You don’t have to go into a store, interact with a clerk, and exchange money, there’s pay at the pump and self-checkout. You don’t have to wait all week to see your favorite TV show, there’s the DVR, digital cable with 200 channels and streaming video online. Technology has brought us to a world where we have to have it when we want it, and we have to have it all simultaneously.
Now, let me clarify that I love technology. I am a tech junkie and my spare room at home looks like a Radio Shack exploded in it, but there is a cost. The revelation I came to is that patience is the casualty of technology. In the same way that we don’t have to wait for things or put out much effort to get them, we don’t want to do the things that take patience. I think this is why people (myself included) have the debt that they have. It’s also why so many people today (again, myself included) are overweight and can’t seem to shake it. Things like saving money to pay for what you want and losing weight take time and patience. You can’t just swipe a card, punch a button, or click a mouse and accomplish those things. Ironically, those people who are successful at convincing you that you can are making tons of money (mostly charged on credit cards, no doubt).
Back in the old days, I think it would have been easier to do the things that take patience since everything that was done required it. I figure if I had to spend two hours milking a cow to have a glass of milk then I could probably find the patience to save a few dollars. In fact, I see a huge marketing opportunity here. As this problem increases in volume, I think we are going to start seeing places pop up for treatment of “technology addiction”. Probably a ranch out in Wyoming somewhere that doesn’t even have electricity. You sit out there for some period of time and get reintroduced to the simple life. Not a bad idea actually. Maybe I should start one up. Of course, I would have to save the money to buy one, and then take the time to go out and get it setup. Forget it. Maybe I can setup an online ranch where you can relax in a virtual environment free from the modern woes and worries of the real world. I’ll work on that.
posted by chadsta at 7:53 AM
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