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  • In a Recession, Who Still Needs Tech? [View article]
    A buddy of mine has an iPhone with an app that makes a mug of beer appear on the screen and tilt back as you pretend to drink it. He paid good money for that "capability". His girlfriend used to buy a new ringtone for $1 every week. If those aren't discretionary purchases, I don't know what is.

    Sorry, but most unemployed people, and people worried about their jobs, won't be buying a $400 iPhone or $300 iPod to relieve themselves of the inconveniences of phone buttons or having -only- 500 songs on their mp3 player. Similarly, almost everyone has a computer now and thanks to Windows Vista 2-3 year old computers function about as fast as new ones. I work at a Fortune 500 company and we use Office 2000 without complaint. It works just as well at an age of 8 years. 3 million auto industry workers are really reconsidering whether they should devote resources towards upgrading their home theatre or TV. In an environment where businesses are going out of business or laying off employees, I suspect SQL server upgrades and PeopleSoft will be tougher to sell.

    The utility companies will do fine. Consumer discretionaries and business tech spending on the other hand will decline.
    Dec 12 15:20 pm |Rating: +1 0 |Link to Comment
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