People constantly say we're living in a consumerist society but I never realised the full truth of that statement till I bought my netbook last month. See, with my PC, I bought the various parts and had them assembled, so I could get the specs I want. But with the netbook, I simply wanted something functional that I could use for word processing.
I walked into the store and was instantly bombarded with prices and specs lists: For RM800 you get this, but if you add another RM100 you can get something with a slightly faster processor perhaps, and if you add RM200 to that you can get something with a slightly bigger screen that would be easier to see, and so on so forth. It never ends! First you think: "Oh, what's RM100? That's little enough, I might as well get the better model" and then you think, "If I'm going to add RM100, I might as well add RM200; after all, I want this thing to last me for at least 2 or 3 years" and then before you know it, your RM800 purchase has turned into an RM1,500 purchase (and you get a full laptop instead of a little netbook!). The temptation to "upsize" simply never goes away.
The hell of it is that it's so easy to get sucked in. We all want bigger, better, faster, stronger. Why not, right? We are taught "you get what you pay for" (or, as Malaysians say, "Good thing no cheap, cheap thing no good"). And if all you have to do is add RM1 for a large value meal, or RM100 for a netbook with a slightly faster processor... well, why not?
My parents would be truly delighted to know all their years of
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