They are bought not so much for what they can do for us but for what they say about us. Electronic devices have become so cheap (especially in the case of mobile phone handsets, subsidised by networks) that we do buy them as fashion accessories, to be discarded when the next generation comes along. So, for example, if 80 per cent of users were unable to use 70 per cent of the features in a set time, claims of “friendliness” would look a little hollow.This is all very well, but perhaps we have the consumer electronics we deserve. Most of us are content to make do with telephones and VCRs that do some of what we want some of the time. But as many of us have found to our cost, it is only after we get home that we realise how difficult it is even to set the timer. If an independent body were to develop a test based on real consumers performing real tasks, then products could be objectively graded for their “user friendliness”.

Products proclaim themselves “easy to use” or “user friendly” simply because they have some new feature such as a video with on-screen menus, or a mobile phone with single-key menu navigation. Most consumers do not understand words such as “synchro dub system” which they see written on gadgets; they need to see features presented in some rational and comparable way. Rather than seasonal batches of “fad phrases” , we need to see standard benchmarks against which all equipment could be tested. Each model could then be sold on how well it meets those standards, providing impetus for the manufacturers to worry less about fashion and more about building equipment that is really useful.In particular, the area of “ease of use” needs to be properly tackled. This is the equivalent of a car manufacturer labelling its latest model with the phrase “comes with wheels”.Just as with the car industry, we now need consumer associations to be proactive in the way they treat the electronics manufacturers. But what does this mean? Surely any model needs more than one member of the family to fiddle with it before the thing works One popular CD unit announces it uses “digital sampling”. Many products come adorned with impressive-sounding, techno-centric phrases One new video recorder boasts “multi intelligent control”.

Once they know that a given car will meet their practical requirements, they are free to make fashion- led decisions about such details as body shape and paint colour.When buying consumer electronics, however, there is no standard vocabulary, no way for the customer to discuss a product independently of the technology contained in the device. Having this model-independent “vocabulary” of standards allows ordinary customers to ask pertinent questions about any car they may want to purchase – they can express their needs without becoming bamboozled by technology. This is possible because independent standards have been developed which quantify attributes such as emission levels, fuel efficiency and safety features.Work by external consumer groups has forced the industry to become more accountable and has resulted in the development of cars which are likely to suit the real needs of the consumer. Cars can be successfully marketed on their looks or on their practicability, allowing buyers to make a fashion statement (by buying, say, a cabriolet) as well as to purchase a car that satisfies more practical requirements (having, say, a diesel engine). For some idea of how we might start to change the situation, it is worth taking a look at a more mature technology market, the car industry.Choosing which car to buy is not only a decision about fashion; it also involves decisions about practical requirements. The anoraks are banding together to strike a blow against the fashion gurus.This is one, isolated example of semi-self-regulation, ensuring that the customers receive goods they want, not those they think they want. It would be naive, however, to assume that the rest of the electronics industry will follow suit without a little encouragement.

Serious-looking people in specialist stores usher clients into soundproof rooms, where they are free to make a choice solely on how well the equipment in question can reproduce sound. One specialist hi-fi dealership, Richer Sounds, proudly displays the “Real Hi-Fi” logo in its catalogues. The people behind “Real Hi-Fi” see it as their aim to promote hi-fi made up of “individual components built for their sound performance, rather than the number of flashing lights”. “Let’s make things better,” urge the adverts of one manufacturer. It is not alone in evangelising the techno- Utopia of unlimited potential; or, as Microsoft puts it, “Where do you want to go today?”However, the reality being engineered is rather different. Technology is being undervalued – just another transient throwaway. Instead of being a positive force for change, it fosters greed, envy and a desire for more.

Instead of an understanding of how technology can serve us at home or work, we fall into a kind of idolatry: cyber-idolatry.What can we do, then, to make sure that it is real needs, not the manufactured needs of fashion, that drive the development of consumer electronics? One place to start looking is in the untrendy, fashion-free end of the market.Sold in uniformly matt black boxes, hi-fi separates are marketed solely on how well they do their job. So, what else will you do with your machine today? This may lead to the conclusion that most “innovations” do not make the buyer’s life less complicated or more enjoyable; they simply fuel change, urging consumers to keep up or miss out.By buying into this fashion-centred approach, we are allowing ourselves to be cheated of a brighter future. Last month’s “ultimate deal” is now a slow, unsophisticated dud in need of an upgrade. Personal computers, we are told, have much more processing power than Nasa used to send man to the moon. Constantly, if you believe the full-page adverts, everything gets faster and more powerful. This may not improve your understanding of the device; it need only persuade you to purchase the machine and take it home.As with all fashion commodities, gadgets also come with built-in obsolescence.