Too Many Choices

I was doing a little research today to see if I can save some money by cutting my cable. It's fairly complicated to get just the right channels. Some are must haves and some are wants. But that's not specifically what this post is about. While sifting through the many TV options, I realized that we seem to have a million choices for just about everything. Let's look at some examples.

For TV viewing, we used to have three or four channels. You bought a TV, connected an antenna and turned it on. When the UHF channels came along, you may have had to get a tuner if the TV was old and maybe a different antenna but it was still basically the same deal. All the channels were free. When cable TV came along, you just disconnected the antenna and connected the cable but you had to pay the cable company. When the number of cable channels exploded plus premium channels like HBO, we needed some kind of set top box but it was still one cable connection for all the channels. The bad part was that most locations had only one cable provider, no competition and no incentive to do a good job. The original satellite dishes usually required an antenna too for local channels, that meant two connections to the TV but still only one paid provider. Now we have content providers that are only available through the internet, some free and some paid. Many people have to have a cable/satellite and an internet connection. To get the content from the internet to the TV, you need some kind of device(s) and/or a newer smart TV. That device may be a Roku, ChromeCast, Apple TV, Amazon Fire, X-box, Android TV, etc. Some content is not available on all these devices so you may need more than one. You will also have to pay multiple content providers directly unless you are extremely lucky and can find one provider that bundles all the channels you want. Highly unlikely. You may also need to attach an antenna again for all the local channels. After all that, you may save a few dollars a month. It's more complicated than that in practice. We now have dozens of choices but it is not as simple as connecting one antenna or one cable provider. 

TVs and other technologies are not the only products that now have a multitude of choices. Look around the grocery store. There used to be one kind of Oreo cookie and one size package, now that website lists 178 products. There are dozens of different flavors, variations, and packaging options. The same with milk. I remember when milk came in quarts either white or chocolate. It was almost all whole milk. Now we have whole, skim, 2%, 1% and non-fat. There are almond, soy, rice, and other milks. There are various flavors and sizes for each of these. Almost any type of food now has some kind of diet or low-cal variety. There may also be an organic option and of course gluten-free and non-GMO. 

All laundry detergent used to come in a box and was loose powder. Now we have liquids, tablets, dissolvable packets, with or without bleach, numerous scents or unscented, for delicate fabrics, hypoallergenic, biodegradable, and many other choices.

Everyone used to pay for things with cash, checks, or store/company specific credit cards. Then general purpose credit cards like VISA, MasterCard, and others came along. Now we have multiple e-pay and money transfer methods, and automatic deposits in conjunction with those credit cards or bank accounts. Some don't require any line of credit or even a checking account.

Pick almost any category of product or service and there will be myriad choices and numerous ways to pay for them. Choice is usually good, but having to spend an inordinate amount of time or effort to pick the right choice is not. Having to have expert knowledge to make what should be a simple choice is troubling too. Some wrong choices can be extremely expensive, some could even be deadly. 

When choices become too complicated in an area, someone will come up with easier solutions. Take the entertainment content delivery. Up until a short time ago, the choices were limited but relatively easy. You hooked up an antenna or called the cable or satellite company. Now that streaming over the internet is available it is fragmented. If you decide to cancel your expensive cable or satellite service, you will almost certainly have to deal individually with numerous providers. New bundle options are emerging both from established delivery companies like Direct-TV and Comcast and new entries into the market like YouTube, Apple, Sling, and others. There will be more. It will remain confusing for awhile, but some providers will fall by the wayside or consolidate. I expect in the not too distant future there will be a service and/or website that you plug in your location and the channels you want and it will figure out the best options. Then we'll have to choose which of those services to pick.

On balance, more choice is usually good but do we really need nine flavors of Triscuits?

Now I'm not sure how to decide which kind of Oreos to get or what milk to dunk them in.

What products or services do you think have gone overboard?

Choices, ain't they great.

wjh