I have witnessed many organizations buying and renewing their licensing agreements from international vendors, without gaining any value from it. This always led me to question why they would continue to do so, despite suffering a loss.
When I was younger, my favorite holiday was Christmas. I loved waiting to open my presents, frequently playing guessing games to guess what I had gotten this year. As I got older, some of the excitement ebbed away. I felt the familiar flicker of that excitement recently when I saw the ad for the new iPad Pro. It left its mark on me, and I had been impressed with the iPad Pro for quite some time, waiting anxiously for months to receive it. You can imagine my disappointment when I discovered that despite all its cutting edge technology, it was of no use to me when it came to the job I required of it.
On one such occasion, I had been expressing my frustration to a friend. Explaining how the device I had purchased was not able to perform the tasks I needed. During this conversation, she recommended a new method from the start up. Granted, it wasn’t as expensive as the iPad Pro; but the question remained, why should I invest in another device when I already have an iPad equipped with the latest technology today has to offer?
As the days passed, my task remained uncompleted. The responsibility lay before me, a persistent taunt to all the money I had spent and the inconveniences I had to deal with after. A part of me knew I was stuck, but a more significant part of me refused to accept it. I had already invested too much.
One day, I incidentally paid a visit to a shop that exchanged devices. I happened to see the device my friend had mentioned to me before, the device being offered by a start-up. I asked to test the device first, and much to my delight, it was exactly what I had been looking for! The price was reasonable too; so generous in fact, that I thought about exchanging it with my iPad. However, there would still be a price gap, which would put me in a loss. It was more expensive to buy the iPad than to exchange it, which stopped me from proceeding. I had already paid an excessive amount of money for the iPad. Now, I would be spending more money, for a device that didn’t have the quality insurance backing of an iPad. But then I remembered the age-old saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. If it could complete the tasks I needed, then it would only be benefitting me. Making up my mind, I decided to exchange my iPad for the start-up device.
Was exchanging the iPad the right decision? Yes, I believe it was the best decision for me. For the future, I learned that before making an expensive purchase, make sure you know what you want and need. For me, the iPad was unable to complete the task I had needed it for, which made me aim for purchasing it in vain. If I had known before, I would have bought the device from the start-up company, cutting down on my financial and time losses. I took the initiative and found a solution to my problem, ending my woes of a substantial investment with no result.
We are all scared of change and how it impacts our carefully constructed lives, even if we are at a standstill. I have witnessed many organizations buying and renewing their licensing agreements from international vendors, without gaining any value from it. This always led me to question why they would continue to do so, despite suffering a loss. Although this is happening at a larger scale compared to mine, I understand that they too are scared to exchange their iPad. It is far more comfortable and safe to stay in the known than to take a risk and venture out into the unknown.