CONSUMERISM IN SMARTPHONE TECHNOLOGYBy William White

BIOGRAPHY

• 18 Years old• From Smithfield, VA• Mechanical Engineering major• Ultimately work in Automobile Engineering or Computer Chip

Engineering• Enjoy building computers

CLAIM

• Consumers and developers do not do their part to ensure the development and implementation of newer and better devices

and software.• Consumerism: “a modern movement for the protection of the

consumer against useless, inferior, or dangerous products, misleading advertising, unfair pricing, etc.” –Dictionary.com

SUPPORTING IDEAS

Consumers don’t research• Smartphones and other devices

have become status symbols

• Latest and greatest technology

• Don’t use devices for their useable lifespan

• Consumers are forced to settle for the features they think they want

Companies don’t provide the best products• Companies are able to use small

tweaks to keep consumers happy rather than developing new technologies

• Experimental technologies that have been put by the wayside can be developed further

People think there isn’t an alternative• Emerging companies are snuffed

out by the monopolies of bigger entities

• Companies cant produce a new software or hardware system if the people don’t know about or support it

• App developers don’t want to switch, and their apps help create the ecosystem for an operating system

CONSUMERS DON’T PUT FORTH EFFORT

• People who buy the newest devices often have no idea what makes them different from the last model.

• Android and Apple hold the 95% of the global market share of phones

• Without the support of consumers, companies wont change their hardware of software

COMPANIES ARE DRIVEN BY PROFIT

• Companies don’t innovate because they don’t have to; consumers buy the newest phones even when they aren’t much different from their predecessors

• Marketing departments exaggerate the capabilities of their products

• Market for benchmark test values such as processor speed, ram, and screen resolution that, to an extent, don’t matter.

CONSUMERS DON’T HAVE ENOUGH CHOICES

• Android and Apple hold 95% of the global market share of phones

• Up-and-coming operating systems like Tizen offer new alternatives, but are unsuccessful compared to the monopoly of android.

• Some devices are incompatible with non-native systems

SOLUTIONS

Consumers• Stop settling: demand more out

of devices

• Don’t feel the “need to own”

Companies• Provide better devices and

services to consumers.

• Conduct more consumer testing.

• Don’t rush to create product

Availability• Many devices are accessible to

just about everyone if you look

• Amozon and other online marketplaces make other solutions available

WORKS CITED

Edwards, Jim. “The iPhone 6 Had Better Be Amazing And Cheap, Because Apple Is Losing The War To Android.” Businessinsider.com. Business Insider Inc. 31 March, 2014. Web. 19 November, 2014. <http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-v-android-market-share-2014-5>

Duane, Rachel. ”Consumerism fuels technology sales.” Worldoncampus.com. God’s World Publications. 25 October, 2012. Web. 18 November, 2014. <http://www.worldoncampus.com/2012/10/consumerism_fuels_technology_sales>

Shankland, Steven. “IBM chips: Let there be light signals.” Cnet.com. CBS Interactive Inc. 1 December, 2010. Web. 11 November, 2014.

<http://www.cnet.com/news/ibm-chips-let-there-be-light-signals/>

WORKS CITED

Spence, Ewan. “How Every App Developer Helps Defend Android And iOS Against A Smartphone revolution.” Forbes.com. Forbes.com LLC. 8 September, 2014. Web. 19 November, 2014. <http://

www.forbes.com/sites/ewanspence/2014/07/08/smartphone- app-revenue-dominated-by-a-handful-of-games-and-developers/>