Comparisons & Reviews

Why are so many ‘reviews’ in the technology world a comparison of X vs. Y? Other than driving page views on blogs for ad revenue, the majority feel unnecessary when applied to how we interact with our device family. From a consumer’s point of view, it is more useful to have independent overviews of each item from both a subjective and objective viewpoint to validate its existence in our life. For better or worse, the majority of tech falls into certain larger systems of overall compatibility. For example, Apple, Google, and Microsoft.

Comparing specs of something like an iPad Pro to a Surface Book is irrelevant. If the Surface Book has a “faster processor,” it in no way means a user is going to disrupt their entire tech world to gain that spec bump. It is very similar to comparing game consoles, like the PS4 and Wii U. It doesn’t matter from a specs perspective, because the overall game library is what really matters.

Our tech world is no longer "single device", but rather interconnected as a larger overall system. It doesn’t make sense looking at tech from strictly a component level anymore.

Perhaps the even larger problem with reviews is the perspective from which they arrive. All too often a product is reviewed from a very specific and unique viewpoint that in no way represents the larger consumer base the product is targeted at. There are different tools for different jobs, and no product is ever all things to all people, yet many reviewers somehow think every product was specifically designed to fit their exact need and want.

“This tablet sucks because I can’t edit 6 streams of 4K video on it.”
“This computer is garbage, it has 1 USB port and I need at least 4 at all times.”
“This thing is the worst because I like this other thing!”
“No one should buy this, it doesn’t work with my niche peripheral”

Perhaps slightly exaggerated, but you get the idea.