Every time a new device is launched people are desperate to own it. A samsung, Iphone or a new computer... Our minds have been manipulated to keep wanting the better. Every time I buy a new phone I do not buy a new one unless the one I am using is not functioning properly or is either broken. On the other hand other kind of people keep buying phones every year, even every months or when they are bored of it or just want a new one even if the one they already have is working perfectly. This kind of way of living I beleive is wrong, however it is also a positive impact to the world because people keep experimenting new technology in their lives even though people begin to be less physically social. People began to be communicating by text and only text which is bad and if this where to keep on going there would be a lot of problems in the world.

well put! we are just getting new and newer iPhones when there are kids who don't even have a home or food. We are just being terrible people, being selfish wanting more and more. We get so much stuff still we want more when we could be giving away stuff to people who don't have stuff. just think how much better the earth would be! I have an IPhone 4 and I am okay with that I don't want the newest phone.

Radwan, I like how you incorporated the positive side of technology, as experimenting with technology has benefitted society in many ways. I also think that you stated it perfectly, as we are influenced by the consumerist society that we live in, which manipulates our minds into wanting the newest fad. For some, I do believe that consumerism is an addiction: I have a neighbor who is constantly buying the newest technology, and who even has 6 computer screens in one room. However, I am not excluded from this consumerist society, because I too have an Iphone and a mac computer. Although I do not buy the newest technology as frequently as some, I still participate in buying products that I do not necessarily need. Hopefully, we can all reduce our purchasing footprint by avoiding unneeded items and technologies after having these discussions.

From personal experience, I understand the thrill of wanting something new, the feeling of following the new trend makes you feel part of society. Yet I will agree that it makes us materialistic to always buy the  "new thing out". Yet if someone has a wealthy lifestyle, i don't see a problem with spending money on the new thing out, if they have money and that is what they want to buy, they are free and i see nothing wrong with it. We should have the freedom to spend money on whatever we want even if it meant the "new Iphone". 

Carma--I see your point, however I have to disagree with you. If we have the power to make a difference by simply allocating some of our extra resources towards causes that would benefit an entire society rather than the individual, why wouldn't we? For me at least, I do live in a capitalist society, and I do agree with the idea of working hard to earn a living. However, for many people, I do not believe they have a fair opportunity in making the same amount of money as many of us do. Therefore, I think it is important to keep in mind that we are the ones with excess money (and sometimes just because of the culture we were born into), thus we should try to help in any way we can in reducing our flow of cash towards consumer goods and rather towards something more significant.

I agree completely with this! With the iPhone 6 already coming out, barely a year since the iPhone 5 was released.. I don't understand why people swarm over these new devices. I have had the same television for nearly all my life(I'm 15 years in age, so my TV is about 13 years old). My family has also been using the same vehicle until recently, where it finally broke down and was ready for the dump. That car lasted for about 11 years before we began having problems with it and finally had to let it go.
My family also has another television which is much younger than my other TV--about 5 years old. Despite being a more modern television, we have a lot of trouble with it not working and may give it up in the near future.

This has led me to believe that more modern devices don't last as long, or work as well, as older ones do. Even if newer things like that have "cool stuff" like fingerprint scans or whatever, those devices are not built to last as long. I believe companies build devices like this to make more of a profit, as when time goes on, people will buy a new one.
T his does not help the world at all, obviously, as more and more of the device will be made and more resources will be lost.

People are always rushing to get the newest iPhone but is that a good thing? I don't think so because if you have a good phone you don't need a new one but people like getting new things. Well put

Carma I understand you're point by if someone has a wealthy life, but that does not mean that they should go and ''waste'' their money on technology that companies make, for example the iPhone 6 has so many similarities to the 5, in fact it is almost the same expect for the shape and length and a few new updates. Companies are supposed to make technology better how is making the same replica of something old beneficial to the buyer. By the end of the day you just bought the same thing twice whiles the one you already have is the same and fully functioning.
Thank you Alyssa and Kaylayla for agreeing with me .
Alyssa I also agree  with you that people can save up their money and save up or buy something more useful.

I happen to take both sides of this argument. Buying new technology is a waste, and the money spent could be used for charity. The technology companies just make the same products over and over and rename them to make more money. The same applies to car companies; they just add in a cooler to the center console, rename the car, and sell it as a “new” product. My family doesn’t buy a new car until they have used it for ten or more years, cars can last for a long time. Society today is too materialistic.

On the flip side...I, too, follow the latest model of the Iphone and fantasize about the new TouchID feature and bigger screen. I have the iPhone 5 right now, and my two year update is here. My phone works perfectly fine, yet I dream of having the slimmer phone with a brand new case. I have spent hours researching the new features. It is easy to fall for Apple’s tricks yet I know how bad it is to buy new devices every time a new one comes out.

Radwan, I really like the point you made here. I've never really paid much attention to how most people are always wanting more, even if what they have works just fine. I think that we should all start paying more attention to this, because by throwing away things that work perfectly well, we're wasting valuable resources. I think that if someone feels the need to buy a newer version of the same product, they should at least attempt to find another use for it. I'll admit, I'm guilty of getting a new phone simply because I wanted to, but I gave my old phone to my younger sister so she could use it. I think that we, as a human race, should really cut back on buying new things when what we have works just as well.

I agree. The mentality these companies try to instill in consumers is that new, means better.  Like you mentioned, cell phones seem to be the main culprit, with new models appear once or even around twice a year, boasting about features that are so futile that one would think today's consumers might as well just burn their money. I have countless schoolmates who flash their shiny new phones about a few months old, and when the ads on TV show the new and improved one, the previous is suddenly deemed unacceptable.

   It's amazing how people can be brainwashed into shelling out over $700 over a cell phone when their "old" phone had only been in use for less than a year. But what draws them in? What can be so compelling for consumers? A screen that's been sized up by a half a centimeter? A millimeter in thickness shaved down? I'm in no way doubting the usefulness of smartphones or their features because some are actually very useful, but buying a new smartphone ever y year isn't very smart. The frequency in which people seem to "need" the newest product is entirely just a scam set up by today's advertisers.