A few weeks ago I asked the Question "What will a recession do to your gadget lust?" I can tell you what it will or more so, has done to mine. Kept it at just that, lust.
The coming of the MacBook Air has had me thinking of this since it was announced. At $1799 it's going to be a hard sell right now. Things are tight and getting tighter everywhere you turn. I find it hard to believe that a "luxury" item like the Air is going to have much Stateside success right now, in particular when you factor in the fear of a recession. And I'm not alone:
---"Tech will crumble with the recession," says Paul Kedrosky, a venture capitalist and blogger. "Many tech companies -- like Apple, Google and Amazon -- are the most consumer dependent technology companies in the history of technology. Unlike prior recessions, consumer spending is going to heavily damage those companies. That's why you're seeing so much nervousness about Google and so much nervousness about Apple. It's not a good place to be."---
Of course if you're in the UK or any other market economy that is currently laughing at the US dollar at the moment, your lust can still turn into a lover affair. But for how long?
Credit happy buy stuff Americans are the driving fuel of big ticket technology. We live five strong in crappy two bedroom apartments, drive overworked 1994 Geo's but go to Wal-Mart and get 50" flat screen TV's. But with the current market direction, that too shall pass. So what then?
If Google, Amazon and Apple, three strong market indicators, announce profit decreases like RIM and Motorola's recent announcements, what's to come of companies like Palm who are already seeing age curtail their once lusted after body of work?
From where I sit, with the MacBook Air, AppleTV and the handset happy Android from Google, It's hard to imagine anything other than disappointing sales reports. These things quickly become less important when a recession hits, or is even being feared of hitting. Being that much of our economy runs on the Tech sector now, the "lusting" after new gadgets, or a piece of software could be completely unrequited, and 2008 could turn into a rough year that will without a doubt trickle down to every aspect of the modern world economy.
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