Using Apps to mitigate disappointment

There's an interesting post here about consumer disappointment, that argues that disappointment is built-in to our consumer culture. It's linked to my previous posts on time. In order for us to be happy with a product purchase, there needs to be some sense of disappointment or dissatisfaction to use as a foil. Gadgets are a perfect case-in-point and I find reviews that are conducted over a period of time engaging with a device to be far more informative than 'first impressions' because the review includes the disappointing aspects of the device vs. just the happy stuff. 

Part of the solution for dissatisfaction is customization – the idea that by shaping a device to our own needs, we theoretically increase our satisfaction. I quote from the post:

"A similar paradox adheres to our efforts to customize consumer goods. These efforts seem to make the product more durable and less prone to dissatisfy in that it is reshaped to express and suit our needs, and in that we remain actively engaged with it, remaking it afresh. But the customization process may in fact reflect a dissatisfaction with the good’s durable usefulness—we want to distract ourselves from its humdrum utility and render it more exciting, though this excitement can only be short-lived, more so than its utility in most cases."

By all indications, Apple's App store has been a raging success [stats to follow] and the last sentence can explain why. It's easy to get bored of a device; I was bored of the original iPhone after a few months. The App store renews one's connection to the iPhone by constantly offering different ways to make the device fun and interesting. Of course they created the perfect case study in the iTunes/iPod connection. Music then video sold devices. Now applications sell Touches and iPhones, as illustrated perfectly by the latest campaign. 

Brilliant

Hat tip [Pop Matters]