Introduction 

• We live in a culture where everyone is constantly looking for the latest version of what they already own and what already works perfectly, the next upgrade, and this isn’t just restricted to the technology industry.
• The aim of this piece is three-fold, (1) highlight that this upgrade culture is a fairly new phenomenon, then theorise why and how its come into being  (2) show why it is having a detrimental effect on wider society and (3) explain what you can do to try and break out of the upgrade rat race.
• I won’t argue that you should never upgrade anything, there are always times when you’ll need to or really want to, that is fine, and something I do (see my post about finally buying a new laptop here: http://jablifestyle.net/2016/04/30/choosing-a-new-laptop/) but I argue you shouldn’t get caught up the in constant upgrade mentality.

 

Upgrade Culture is New 

• Nowadays everyone brags about getting the latest iPhone, and everyone wants it even through their ‘old’ iPhone was still functioning perfectly. A survey by an online retailer this year found that under-25s felt smartphones needed replacing after just 11 months. It is very rare to find an individual who has a phone without 3G and has no desire to change – unless it’s someone who regularly loses their mobile and has found replacing newer models very costly!
• Things haven’t always been like this. Going back even one generation people were proud of how long something lasted. Furniture was passed down from parents to children and clothes were repaired. I remember my parents had a dining room table and chairs for 15-20 years and did everything they could to fix it, varnish it, put cardboard underneath to keep it going for as long as possible. My grandmother is an excellent seamstress and was always patching up our clothes, nowadays if people get a slight tear in their top then it goes straight in the bin with no second thoughts.
• Why has this change occurred? I personally see 6 things that explain this:

1. Products are comparatively cheaper and more readily available
   • Globalisation has led to many products being produced and shipped more cheaply, meaning they’re less expensive for us to purchase. This combined with the fact that we are comparatively better off than generations before helps re-enforce this new culture. If I can get a new hoodie for £10 in Primark which is located 3 minutes down the road why should I learn to stitch a hole back up myself?
2. Lack of time
   • We think we have so much less time that previous generations. I work a 10hr day and don’t want to be spending my ‘free’ time having to fix broken or damages possessions, I’d much rather spend that time with friends and family. There is a separate point here regarding imagined time, perhaps something I can pick up in a separate post, however this perception of limited time is a considerable reason why we, as a society, are so quick to upgrade and replace.
3. Marketing and promotion by big companies
   • Big companies spend a vast amount of time and effort, through marketing and promotion to explain why we need to upgrade. Companies do all they can to tie us into their brand and then ply us with upgrades. There are now more mobile phones than people in the UK, so phone companies have to persuade us that we need a newer version of what we already possess, otherwise they’d quickly have no industry. Creating the concept of ‘needing’ to upgrade every 12 to 18 months is just a license for companies to print money by significantly increasing demand. Society is constantly bombarded by this type of marketing, it’s on our TV screens, on our buses, being re-enforced by celebrities and so-called experts alike.
4. Social media
   • All social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc.), are places  that have turned individuals ‘real’ or ‘physical’ lives into a lifelong fashion show. People want to show themselves off and show everyone how great their life is, showing off their clothes, shoes, laptop etc. is an easy way of doing this. An individual’s worth seems to have become more intertwined with their social media accounts. They feel the need to post more and more regularly to stay at the top of their friends feeds and keep their followers. This can cost a lot of money and involves constant upgrading.
5. Using stuff as a way to achieve happiness
   • This relates to both big business marketing and social media. When we look at these Instagram profiles individuals lives look perfect and so does all the stuff they have. Judging the quality of other people’s lives by one picture a week is unrealistic – anyone can have a perfect life for 5 seconds a week. By linking the goods individuals have with their happiness, we often think that if we buy these things, or upgrade to the latest version, we’ll also be happy.
6. Using stuff as a way to upgrade ourselves
   • Society, especially millennials, have a habit of attaching our ability to our objects, this is subtly – but importantly – different to using objects as a source of happiness. Society believes that by upgrading our technology, gadgets and we feel in some sense that we’re upgrading ourselves, and improving our abilities.
   • Here is just one example of this, and a genuine rational I’ve heard. By buying a brand new and upgraded electric toothbrush I’ll be better at brushing my teeth more regularly and thus have healthier teeth. This is absolute rubbish. Buying an upgraded toothbrush might improve things  for a week or two, but the key driver to healthy teeth is committing to regular brushing and turning it into a habit! While buying a new toothbrush might create a short term spike in your motivation levels, you’ll need to make this a regular habit for it to have a longer term impact. (If you’re interest in reading more about habit formation, check out my post on the topic here: http://jablifestyle.net/2016/05/22/forming_habits_routines/

 

What are the problems?

• Personally, I think there are five key negative outcomes as a result of societies ‘upgrade culture’:

1. It costs a fortune
   • Getting the new iPhone every 6-12 months costs a fortune. We are already living in a debt society (per adult in the UK that’s an average debt of £28,891 in December – around 111.9% of average earnings – The Money Charity). If you didn’t upgrade anything unless it broke or could not be fixed for 18 months, you could save enough money for a holiday, to make home improvements or invest to help pay off your debts. What makes this problem worse is that many of the people most caught up in the ‘upgrade culture’ are those who can’t afford to be.
2. You don’t need it
   • Upgrading your laptop because it takes 1 minute to load up and weighs 0.5kg more than the latest model is not going to have a significant impact on your life. This saved time and weight is not going to turn you from an average blogger to an excellent blogger, just like upgrading to a new suit isn’t going to get you a better job. The important factors are your personal ability, drive and confidence.
3. It doesn’t cure unhappiness
   • Everyone loves that moment of excitement when you have a new toy, but that feeling is only temporary. The upgrade culture of modern society leaves us in – indeed encourages – a semi-permanent state of dissatisfaction. There always is and always will be something newer and cooler than whatever you’ve just purchased, be it available now, in a week or a month.
   • We’ve all had that feeling and yet our minds don’t like to remember it. We seem to remember the very short moment of excitement and fulfilment when we first got our new toy and forget the long term feeling of frustration and dissatisfaction that followed almost immediately after.
4. Environmental impact
   • There is a significant environmental impact of this unnecessary upgrade culture. Our hunter-gatherer ancestors didn’t let any part of an animal go to waste, from the meat to the coat to the stomach lining it was all used. Nowadays we are happy to throw everything in the bin without a second thought. According to the ’Electronics Takeback Coalition’, 152 million mobile devices were scrapped in 2010 (USA only) and only 11% of these were recycled.
5. Cascading upgrades
   • The final of the five key problems with today’s upgrade culture is that it often creates a knock-on or cascading desire for more upgrades. For example, if you decide that you require a new TV you might quite quickly realise to get the best from the TV you also need to upgrade your DVD player because the picture quality isn’t very good when playing DVDs, or even need to upgrade to Blu-Ray to optimise picture quality.

 

What to do about it?

• Above I have articulated how this upgrade culture has come into existence and why it is such a problem, a rather pessimistic post so far, however now I’d like to focus on the good news, what you can do you remove yourself from this never-ending circle.

1. Acknowledge the problem
   • As with Alcoholic Anonymous, acknowledging and understanding the issue exists in the first step to stopping. It isn’t a revolutionary idea, but it works. If every time you think about upgrading something in your life, you take a step back and remember the above, you’ll be much more likely to only go through with the upgrade if it’s something you really want or need. As I said at the start, the aim of this piece is not to stop you upgrading full stop, just to highlight the problems with it and how best to reduce the amount you do it.
2. Understand the downstream and upstream cost
   • Similarly, understanding the full impact of your upgrade is critical to breaking the cycle and reducing frequency. For example if you are looking to upgrade your laptop, you shouldn’t just be looking at the cost (and environmental impact) of just the laptop. You to need factor in the cost for a new laptop cover, cyber security and latest version of office. Understanding the downstream and upstream cost will ensure you have the full picture before jumping into yet another upgrade.
3. Improve your spirituality
   • The key to reducing frequency and dependency on upgrades is to separate your happiness and motivation from your objects. Increasing your spirituality and self-awareness will increase your self-worth by providing you with the tools and methodology to take time to appreciate what you have and the important things in life. I am definitely not an expert on spirituality, but there are some very easily accessible sources out there, my favourite three are; (1) Buddhify App (2) HeadSpace (3) Tara Brach.
4. Limit social media time
   • Getting away from social media, especially Instagram, and spending time with real people face to face is an excellent remedy and way to help you put the important things in perspective. Spending a large amount of time on social media can highlight all the these amazing toys, gadgets, clothes etc. As above, the danger of this is that it can lead you to believing if you had those things you’d be happy/more successful/better looking, and it’s not true. Again, I’m not suggesting to give up Instagram or other social media platforms completely, but using them intermittently, for short periods, will make you much less likely to be absorbed by the upgrade and materialistic culture prevalent today.

 

Conclusion

• Through this piece I wanted to explain why the upgrade culture is a fairly new phenomenon, and provide theories as to why and how it has come into being. I have then argued why this new culture is having  a detrimental effect on wider society and finally highlighted a few key ways you can break out of the upgrade rat race.
• Breaking out of this will do a number of things for you: it’ll save you money, it’ll help increase yourself self-worth by breaking the connection between happiness and material possessions, and if enough people do it it’ll even have a positive impact on our society. Now it’s over to you to turn my words into actions, little by little we can tackle the needless upgrade culture.

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