I have a theory about the link between technology geeks, such as myself, and the coverage of gadget releases called the “Need It” Theory.

Like it or totally indifferent to it, tablet computers, that were first demonstrated by the greasy showmen at CES 2010 in January, have arrived in earnest. Leading the foray, as ever, was Apple’s take on how they think a tablet computer should be and, as ever, the device has been ejaculated on by fanboys and had the piss ripped out of it by everyone else. Other tablet’s are coming up to their release dates, a preview of which can be read at my CES 2010 post. The most vocal competitor to Apple’s iPhone Jumbo at the time of writing is HP with their “Slate”, due for release very soon – this post is not to discuss the various merits of either device, which will come as soon as both are released and sufficientely reliable reviews have been written and/or I somehow manage to get hold of a review model.

I am writing to consider one major aspect of technology, having been interesting in consumer electronics for so long, and having only recentely turned that interest into a creative outlet, such as this blog, I found myself ferventely reviewing every minor detail, every review and everything possible about the iPad and the Slate to decide which one I would buy. I found myself going through the normal motions that one does before a significant purchase, including considering the price and even checking my own bank account to see how it would fair £500ish lighter. It wasn’t until I had thoroughly considered it that I remembered that I have absolutely no intention of buying a tablet computer either way, indeed I had absolutely no clear use for a tablet computer whatsoever. So why was I so meticulous in my scrounge for every last detail………journalistic thoroughness? Perhaps, if I am going to advise people on the best gadgets I better know my friggin facts – but I couldn’t shake the idea that it went deeper than that, hence the inception of my ‘Need It’ Theory.

I am not, despite how it may sound, awarding myself some sort of intelligent credence for voicing something so painfully obvious, but as far as I know there’s no eloquentely put description of this tendency. Newton’s Laws were, however, known in every long-lived human in a practical sense, everyone took care when disembarking a boat lest the opposite push of the boat leave them falling in the drink. However, Newton’s Third Law, and all his other laws for that matter, took what was noticed in humans and explained them using the science – which has been tremendous in the advancement of the human species. On a mediocre, nobody really gives a fuck, level this is what I am doing – taking something noticable and known and doing my level-best, albeit probably failing, to explain this articulately.

The ‘Need It’ Theory is simply that people who are technology enthusiasts, writers or magpies (like shiny things) spend so much time following the releases of new products onto the gadget market, observing their competitors and in some way expressing opinions, at least for the writers, tend to make the assumption that they need this product. Founded, perhaps, on the idea that if one was to advise somebody on the best product in a certain field, for the sake of arguement let’s say tablet computers, they should put themselves in their shoes. However, the effect, subconciously, overreaches itself and the subjects come to believe that they need to buy these products. The effect is horribly visible, a lot of tech shows I watch have had their (apparentely well-paid) presenters asking one another which tablet computer they’re going to buy, forgoing the normal procedure of deciding if you need a type of product before deciding which specific product to buy.

Of course, for companies selling these products, that’s the entire point. Apple, in a show of balls-out ‘Need It’-ness, have developed their entire following around the central idea that theirs are products you need to have, that somehow this is the product you never knew you wanted, until you buy it and, having dropped anywhere between five-hundred to several thousand pounds, realise that you don’t need it. It’s easy for Apple, they have such a cult following and fanboys who, before I quote the Kevin Rose survey for the billionth time, would buy this product regardless of….well….anything. For Apple, it is quite literally a case of, to paraphrase ‘Field of Dreams’, “if you build it, they will come”.

Going back to Newton’s Third Law of Motion, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, and that’s certainly observable here as well. As loud and obsessive as the Apple fanboy crowd are, there’s an equally as vehement, though significantly smaller, anti-Apple crowd who will do literally anything to avoid buying an Apple product and, for no discernible reason, omit the half-eaten fruit logo option of anything in their search when looking for a type of gadget. These people would buy something that isn’t Apple simply as an act of defiant AT Apple, something which their competitors know all to well – they leave Apple to get people talking about a type of product and leisurely bring out their rivals, *insert Apple product name*-killers, to stand as the “Apple-alternative” which people will also buy in droves, believing that this is a product they need, but not wanting to buy into an Apple product.

I have written, often, about the long-standing rumours of Apple’s tablet computer and, as an outside observer, it hinders on conspiracy. Collectively, every tech company with tablet aspirations, noticed these frequent rumours and began developing, in full public view, i.e. CES, their own tablets, Apple – possibly fearing someone was going to get their first – sent out their press invitations, at rather short notice I might add, and unveiled the iPad. Now that Apple had people sufficientely talking about the iPad, they can finish up their competitors and release them to market; safe in the knowledge that, though a match for Apple they may not be, they at least have a chance to claim those buyers who would rather do squats on a pinecone than buy Apple, all of whom believe that this type of product is a type of product that they NEED to buy.

Make of that what you will.