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Tech Trek
el rear camera, while the 2012 model had no rear
camera. For all that, the price went up $30. Darn! If
I had only waited a year….
To give you a sense of how much expectations can
change in technology from year to year, consider this
statement by the product reviewer (in 2013), when President's Corner
he was discussing RAM memory: “While 1GB (in the Part 1 - Planning and Booking
2012 Nexus 7) is probably sufficient for most people,
power users (emphasis mine) are going to love the Author: Greg Skalka, President, Under the Com-
extra speed that the additional 1 GB found in the puter Hood UG, CA
2013 Nexus 7 offers.” (Now, it is not unusual to find November 2020 issue, Drive Light
3 GB of RAM in modestly priced tablets and 4GB in
higher-end models.) www.uchug.org
Interestingly, Consumer Reports has recommended president (at) uchug.org
the same new product waiting game – except in the
case of automobiles. As they point out, it may take a
year or two for manufacturers to work out the bugs in We all use a lot of technology in our everyday
new models of an existing product line. Based on lives - various devices and services that make
their experience cars produced in the third or fourth our lives better. They help us communicate, keep
years of a model run are more reliable and minor us safe and well, inform us, get us where we
annoyances have been corrected. want to go, get us the things we need and enter-
The moral? Don’t be in a hurry to embrace new tain us. When we travel, we usually want to take
technology. Wait a year or two, until all the reviews all those benefits along with us.
are in and manufacturers have had time to fix bugs
and/or hardware issues. Even if the initial model
turns out to be excellent, you may be able to buy it at There are many travel-related capabilities in the
a significant discount if you wait a few years. (This technology currently available to us. The travel
has certainly worked out well for me in buying golf industry, from transportation and lodging to hos-
clubs!) pitality and entertainment, has embraced the in-
Think spring! (After all, Punxsutawney Phil didn’t ternet and mobile devices to make the traveler’s
see his shadow, so we are supposed to have an ear- life easier. There are lots of new ways to protect
ly spring….) ourselves while traveling and protect the home
Phil and stuff we left behind. There are a lot of devic-
es we can take with us to enhance our traveling
experience and even save us money. All these
added capabilities carry a price, however, in add-
ed equipment to take, costs to buy and use, ad-
ditional restrictions to follow and additional risks
in loss.
Technology has become important in all aspects
of travel, occurring before, during and after the
trip. Selecting a destination, planning a trip, com-
paring costs and bookings components of the trip
March 2020 4
