Question

It is not necessarily true that all new products benefit consumers or society. What are some new products that have made our lives better? What are some new products that have actually been harmful to consumers or to society? Should there be a way to monitor or “police” new products that are introduced to the marketplace?

Answer 1

Answer: There are a number of new products that have made our lives better. Some of these are GPS enabled devices that help us to keep track of number of things like our cars and so on, Smart devices that help us to keep track of things like wrist watches that tells us about how much do we walk or smart phones can help us not only to communicate but also to watch videos and so on. Hence there are a number of smart products that have helped us to make our lives easier. But at the same time there are many new technology based products that have also made our lives worse and have proven to harmful. Interestingly many of these products also fall in the category of the products that have made our lives better. For example smart phones are such a distraction that both adults and children are becoming addicts of smart phones and facing many health related issues. Similarly all the new technology based products like escalators, online shopping and so on, has made our lives sedentary and is causing health related issues. Thus it can be seen that any new product that enters the marketplace has both pros and cons. Therefore I feel that it is not practically possible to monitor or police the new products that enter the market as their benefits depend on their use or misuse. This cannot be controlled externally but only by the consumers themselves.