Gadgets, gadgets!

Sometimes, it is a trying experience to handle gadgets. They behave in a funny way when we least expect them to. As per my friend's advice, I was browsing through some product reviews before I make some purchases. When I started visiting sites where users themselves share details about products, I feel more confused. What I infer from the comments is that there isn't any brand (as far as I can remember the brand in existence in the local Delhi/Noida market) of refrigerators that offer a tolerable after-sales service. It causes panic for a semi-active customer and a sales person such as me. I can bear with a bad working product, but never with a bad after-sales service.

All these thoughts prompted me to take a look at the products I've already used. Meanwhile I'd like to reiterate that I am that kind of customer every marketer dreams to have. The one that goes more by the heart, buys things I like (not necessarily what others also like), and not regret. Maybe it's all in the family. My father who was (yes, he's less so now a days) quite brand conscious even during the days when we weren't swept away by a consumerist culture, has the habit of taking good care of all domestic appliances, irrespective of where it is used. Therefore it is quite normal that the domestic iron we use to press clothes and a wonderful table-fan we have is a little older than I myself am!

In my case, I've inherited this very same habit from him. It was a little surprising to see that the products which the media promotes as "un-responsive" and "bulky" are the ones that fascinated me, and the ones I bought served me well. My first touch-screen mobile, Nokia 7710 is still my favourite though the battery went bad, and it doesn't work anymore because the manufacturer called off the product due to lukewarm product response. It is a little slow to respond, and is quite bulky (I named it "The Brick") but it served its life, since I took good care of it.

So when I hear comments like "it catches dust very soon" or "it doesn't work if you spill water over it" seems a little odd to me. Touch-screen phones need to be covered from dust, especially if you live in a dry, dusty city like Delhi. It is also natural that if your body sweat gets into the phone's interiors (I don't want to get into the chemical reaction parts here :P) or any liquid material for that matter, it suffers some damage. Having said that, I should also say that my gadgets give me irate moments and lots of suffocation when I can't express my instant disappointment in public. Little Lappy (my baby notebook) starts believing that she doesn't have a keyboard of her own, and that she needs an external keyboard to function. Thank God, I was in the airport lounge trying to read an e-book to get rid of the boring extension caused by a delayed flight; and not in a meeting room with a value-added customer. But when I went into the details in peace later, I found the reasons.

Well, I'm keeping fingers crossed about some recent purchases I want to make. Shall update more on this, possibly followed by reviews at time intervals.