Touching something is a way of making it real. Running your fingers across a new gadget creates a visceral feeling that is difficult to explain. It can be good, or it can be bad, or somewhere in between. Either way, the feeling you receive from your fingers on that first encounter is very important in shaping your overall opinion of the device.
Apple knows this, and has used it aggressively by not only creating devices that feel good, but also devices that integrate touch into the very core of their functionality. Even the MacBooks do this with their massive multi-touch trackpads. Likewise, companies like Nokia and Blackberry have had trouble in the gadget market despite being technically competitive because they’re unable to provide a device that feels as nice.
Buying what you feel is nice is natural. There is just one problem with it, however – it can be a damn lie.
The perfect tech example is the Lenovo Thinkpad line of laptops. These business-oriented products are considered to be among the most durable laptops in the world. When you pick one up it feels solid, as if the laptop is not filled with delicate electronics but rather bricks, steel girders and battle tanks. That’s great. The problem, however, is that this has led to an assumption of reliability that simply is not backed up by the facts. All indications are that Lenovo laptops are not particularly reliable, as I stated in my review of laptop reliability.
The issue is the difference between quality and long-term reliability. Both of these seem to be very similar, but they’re actually entirely different things.
Quality is defined by how well designed and built a product is coming off the factory floor. In a gadget, high build quality leads to small gaps between materials, minimal flex in the chassis, and a luxurious look and feel. If you compare the typical ASUS laptop to the typical Lenovo Thinkpad (and even, for the most part, Ideapad) there is no comparison. ASUS laptops tend to have keyboards that feel mushy and weak. The materials don’t seem as tightly put together. The texture of the materials is cheaper.
Reliability is defined by the likelihood of a product suffering a major failure within a set period of time. As a gadget ages there are many points of possible failure. User interface items might wear out. The display backlight might not last as long as it is supposed to. The GPU or CPU might not be properly cooled, resulting in errors and eventually failure. Here, the last appealing ASUS creams the Lenovo – overall, you’re about 35% more likely to have a laptop failure within three years if you buy a Lenovo laptop rather than an ASUS laptop.
The moral of the story is simple: don’t let your fingertips make your purchases for you. There are a large number of buyers who flock towards gadgets with almost religious fervor, buying recently revised devices with no apparent thought about the possibility that the device may not be as great as their fingertips tell them.
Don’t let yourself get caught in that trap. When a new device comes out, always wait. Sometimes the initial quality of a device turns out to be a good indicator of its reliability. Often times, it doesn’t. Buying early can cost you money – waiting only costs you the ability to brag to your friends.
And let’s face it; no one likes a friend who is constantly bragging about the latest gadget they’ve bought anyway.
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