Introductory Post

In my blog this semester, I will be focusing on consumer electronics. I am, and always have been, a huge fan of gadgets. Whether it was the Gameboy I received for my birthday in first grade, or the Android smartphone I purchased a few months ago, there has been something fascinating to me about these ever smaller and more-powerful devices we use every day. Even my choice of major in college (Computer Science) is related to my appreciation of these little things. I actually check several popular gadget blogs (including engadget and gizmodo) several times a day, every day, to stay up to date on the latest and greatest innovations in the field. As far as I can tell, I am not alone in how much I like consumer electronics, and I want to write a blog this semester that can maybe shed some light on why that is.

I am planning on taking this blog in a few different directions this semester. First and foremost, I definitely want to introduce some of the (in my opinion) coolest and latest personal electronics. This may be anything from a simple announcement of an upcoming product, to a quick review if I am able to get my hands on anything new and interesting. Beyond that though, I want to explore some of the other facets of the consumer electronics space. One feature may be looking back over the past few decades and examining gadgets that were real “game-changers” of their time, and maybe making parallels to more recent events. An example of that may be that the original Sony Walkman was an iconic standout of the beginning of the portable audio market, while the Apple iPod may be a similar device for the mp3 player market more recently.

Another aspect of the electronics industry to examine would be its effects on society. Examples include studying the impact of all the landfill waste generated by thrown away gadgets. Many devices thrown away likely are in perfectly good working order, but have been rendered obsolete by newer items. That part of the industry, the speed at which gadgets become obsolete, and the fact that so many people want to be “early-adopters” (myself honestly included), is worth looking at too.

So that is how I want to approach this. Like I said, I definitely want to do much, much more than just repost some of the cool gadgets I find on other gadget blog sites. I want to explore how this industry works and the consequences, both good and bad, it has on the world’s population.