I have the yearning for a new technology toy!  I am not sure what triggers it, but about every six months I find a way to justify buying some new shiny piece of tech.  So, I find myself in the market, but unable to pick something good because every single thing that I am unexplainably lusting for has some serious flaw that I blame on the marketing department and NOT the designers.

What I mean is that the toys that I am considering all seem, to me, to be intentionally crippled in some critical way by their business people.  In each case, there is no technological, cost, size, weight, or power limitation that is to blame.  The issues could all easily be overcome by a good systems engineering team, and therefore must be intentionally inserted.  I really don’t understand why companies in the information age continue to think that it is a good idea to attempt to gain market share by intentionally limiting their products.  It drives me nuts.  I want tech to do everything that it could not just what you let it.  Free the tech!

Here are the shortcoming that are stopping my from purchasing the associated toys:

  • iPhone.  Where is the obvious external, physical Bluetooth keyboard?  I understand all the reasons why it has a virtual keyboard instead of a physical one on phone, but why can’t I have a small, foldable Bluetooth one like Palm, Dell, and HP had over five years ago, too?  It could even be an expensive accessory!
  • XBox 360.  Why in the world don’t you have a blu-ray drive?  I can sort of see why there is no internal one, but you had an external HD-DVD Drive before that tech tanked.  Microsoft even joined the Blu-Ray Consortium since then… why no HD movies?
  • iMac.  I have a perfectly serviceable 24 inch LCD monitor on my desk today hooked to an aging, never-gunna-be-a-snow-leopard PowerMac G4.  I do not want to pay a premium for a MacPro with more power than I can use.  The Mac Mini is under expandable.  Why oh why is there not a “headless” iMac yet?  Apple is the only computer company that does not produce a consumer tower today.  Huh?  Are you trying to convince me to just hook my MacBook to my monitor and skip replacing the desktop?
  • Cellular Netbook.  Why are there no netbooks available to consumers that have user swappable GSM Sim cards with an internal cellular antenna? I don’t want a six inch long dongle USB thingy that will get lost, broken, and bumped. I don’t want one tied to specific vendor and carrier.  I want one with a Sim card slot – just like every GSM phone on the planet already has.
  • Pre-Paid Cellular Data Services.  Going along with the one above, why are there no pre-paid GSM cellular data plans out there?  Why can’t I buy a Sim card, refill it with money as needed online, and plug the thing into any host of consumer devices like laptops, netbooks, cell phones, eBook readers, MP3 players, portable media players, etc. as needed?  I don’t want a monthly plan and contract, I just want to pay for the data that I actually use.
  • Sony PS3.  I get that there is a brand new slim box that is sexy.  Where is the NetFlix streaming? This is available on XBox, PCs, Samsung Blu-Ray players, Macs, Roku, and just about every other data box that plugs into a TV, but mysteriously not here.  Ahh! There are only so many HDMI inputs on my TV and Receiver.  I need each box to do more than one trick.
  • iPod Touch.  I want to be able to control my iPod in my pocket without looking at it.  Can I please have a remote – Bluetooth, wired, anything – that would allow this?  Why should I have to choose between a small capacity nano that I can control and a large capacity Touch that I can’t?

Well, that was a rant, but maybe… just maybe it will help some poor system engineer who is trying to convince their boss to do the right thing.  None of my complaints are risky, expensive, hard, or would require the slightest redesign.  They are all just examples of marketing departments sticking their noses into product development and hurting tech heads (otherwise known as consumers) in the process! I have money, I want un-crippled tech. Is that so wrong? Thanks for listening. Free the tech!

What consumer tech issues drive you crazy?  Do you think that I am being too naive about these issues?  Am I off base?  Please let me know what you think about this.

That is my Information Technology Thought of the Day (ITTOD) for August 27, 2009.