Getting to a million: The madness of pre-ordering
There is no denying that the age of tablets is upon us. Once the domain of laptops and then netbooks, media consumption has migrated towards these small, portable devices with closed ecosystems. And yet with the entry of any new technology on the market there has to be a deal of skepticism. Sales always start slow, then pick up momentum as the public is acquainted with the technology and then finally lose steam until the next best things comes around. However things have chaged drastically in the past few years due to a brand new concept called pre-ordering. People pre-order popular electronics/games in the millions before something is released, reviewed or even touched. Case in point is the apple iPad and more recently the Kindle Fire. Pre-ordering creates an environment of self-perpetuating shortage. It has something to do with our need to stay updated an connected in a fast-paced world. It is a form of information cascade where word of mouth spreads across the internet in a matter of minuted. It becomes a matter of prestige to have the latest and greatest, and so we push ourselves to have the same edge as anyone else on getting the product on release date.
The other reason has to to with brand loyalty and the prestige of being associated with certain ecosystems (however closed and locked down such as the app store). The article below goes into more detail on the issue of prestige, but the pre-order mania is not an isolated incident. it applies to everything from sales of modern warfare 3 to the new Harry Potter book. Indeed a clever ploy by marketers to induce panic buying!
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