The case for saying no to new gadgets

This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools , a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps. I love new gadgets and gizmos, and I’m constantly trying new sites and apps. So I was intrigued by the title of Eric Athas ’s upcoming book, Saying No to New . Athas is an editor at The New York Times , where he helps journalists make the most of new tools. He’s also a lifelong early adopter. He told me he used to wait in line for new iPhones. But his upcoming book argues for thinking twice about acquiring new stuff. 1. The Vanishing Gap Between Wanting and Getting When Athas and I were growing up, if you wanted to buy something cool you saw on TV, you’d have to drive to a store. You or your parents would have to spend cash. If you ordered something by mail, you’d wait weeks for delivery. Today, you can tap on a phone and the thing that caught your eye appears at your door the next day. You can even buy now, pay later, so you don’t need cash. Coming next? AI agents that shop for you proactively. They anticipate what you want so you don’t have to make any decision at all. Athas calls this the collapse of the “new-thing gap.” The time, distance, and cost between seeing something new and acquiring it has shrunk. That gap used to protect us from buying on impulse. One-click ordering eliminated distance. Free shipping removed the physical effort of the pickup errand. Deferred payments eliminated financial friction. You don’t even need the money. Athas suggests we reintroduce friction by pausing long enough to ask whether the new thing will actually matter a month from now. 2. Show and Tell: Our Gadget Graveyards Athas and I compared old odd gadgets in our offices. From my desk: Multiple VR headsets. I have at least three, including one with the plastic still on it. You slot your phone in, close it up, and get an immersive view. Remember when The New York Times announced in 2015 it would ship a million Google Cardboard VR headsets? Athas con