If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you have an impressive collection of Apple devices.
And there’s a good chance you’ve got at least some redundancy: more than one iPad, two Macs, and so forth.
(I never cease to be surprised and consoled hearing about other people’s indulgences on this front. My goodness, you have an Air and a Pro? You’re so naughty! i.e., maybe I shouldn’t feel so guilty...)
So much time is spent in reviews, podcasts, and Youtube videos attempting to rationalize why you should buy a new device when you’ve already got one that does the job just as well. And most of these attempts to rationalize are just that.
The elephant in the room that stalks Apple’s walled garden (to mix metaphors) is the perennial question: do I have too many devices? How many is too many?
We can’t begin to settle this until we weigh the pros and cons individually.
Why having lots of (expensive) Apple gear can be helpful
Periodically, I buy a shiny new Apple toy that drains my wallet and I feel overwhelmed with guilt. In an effort to repress this, I go on a frenzy of posting several other recent and perfectly good devices on craigslist — in the hope of generating cash but also making myself feel less indulgent and more like a semi-responsible adult.
After dropping a boatload of cash on the new 14” or the 12.9 (with Magic Keyboard), any redundancy (another Mac, iPad), no matter how seemingly sensible it may be in the abstract, feels like a horrendously sinful indulgence.
Enter Dr Schwartz
Psychologist Barry Schwartz points to a good reason why having a collection of devices — and maybe even some redundancy (2 Macs, etc.) — could be a good thing.
In Paradox of Choice, Schwartz describes the phenomenon of ‘adaptation.’ Soon after we bring home a shiny new Apple toy, the novelty and initial excitement begins to fade. Through frequent use, we adapt to the device; its novel or unique qualities — the ones we were drawn to when first unveiled — become invisible to us.
To counter adaptation, Schwartz counsels trying to see the new item or situation with fresh eyes. Ask yourself whether you’re better off with the device than you were before acquiring it. Ultimately, you’ll never recover that initial feeling, and you should factor this in when deciding whether to buy it.
But I think having more than one device for a similar purpose can help you mitigate this ‘hedonic adaptation.’ When you have an Air and a Pro and you divide your time between them, you make the other device seem foreign and somewhat new every time you shift back to it.
Having a small collection can help you derive more enjoyment from what you’ve got; it helps keep things seeming fresh and new.
Why having a collection of devices can be a bad thing
Yet sometimes switching isn’t so simple. Here again, Schwartz’s work is instructive. Sometimes having too many choices, or tough choices, induces more anxiety than pleasure.
I’m in a phase at the moment where I have at least 3 compelling writing tools constantly at hand. Which do I use? No, it’s not a life or death issue, but it is a point of friction.
Am I making enough use of X device? Do I really need to keep A when B is better for the purpose? Wouldn’t my life be easier if I had just one tablet, one Mac?
First world problems
Of course, having more than one device in a category like tablet or Mac can be a source of pleasure and fun. It’s nice to have a 12.9 for work and a mini for play. And many people make great use of an iMac for some things and a Macbook for others.
Why should the bar for having more than one device of a similar kind be so high? Who decides what is necessary and what is pure indulgence?
And what’s wrong with being purely indulgent? Does every tech purchase need to be justified in purely practical terms? That’s a question for another day.