Inspector Gadget was a bumbling, cyborg detective and the main character of the animated TV series “Inspector Gadget” that premiered in 1983. He was a clumsy, well-meaning but incompetent detective with a body full of gadgets (hence the name). He worked for a law enforcement agency that constantly battled the evil organization M.A.D. (Mean And Dirty). He was completely oblivious to danger (in the Maxwell Smart tradition), and he accidentally and regularly solved crimes while his unassuming niece did the real detective work. You may remember that he activated his various gadgets by saying “Go Go Gadget”, but they often malfunctioned or deployed in inappropriate ways for the situation. He wore a gray trench coat and hat (Inspector Clouseau style), had a mustache (also Clouseau-esque) and generally had a befuddled expression and way about him. His niece Penny always had much better and more useful gadgets that did a decent job of mimicking the real technology on our horizon…like computer tablets and smart watches. And then there was Brain (his dog), who was also more competent than the Inspector and frequently rescued Gadget from danger, often disguising himself to help without undercutting Gadget’s sense of his own importance. His boss, Chief Quimby delivered assignments to Gadget via self-destructing messages that always exploded in his face. His arch-enemy was Dr. Claw, the leader of M.A.D., who could always be heard uttering his catchphrase: “I’ll get you next time, Gadget! Next time!”
So why did this minor mid-80s cartoon have such an impact on me and others? To begin with, there is great humor in incompetence. It had all the necessary elements of any good story, a sympathetic protagonist, a kindly set of helpers who recognize the failings of the great man, but love him dearly, and memorable yet bumbling bosses and villains that jive with almost everyone’s view of their work life. And, finally, gadgets also appeal to almost everyone. In some ways, this little cartoon paved the way for much more impactful shows like The Simpsons and Family Guy, which have become big franchises even to this day.
There’s something deeply embedded in American culture that makes gadgets particularly appealing. I suspect that its part of the American character and value system. We worship innovation and progress as a rule. American exceptionalism through technology is a longstanding tradition. America sees itself as the land of inventors (Edison, Ford, Wright Brothers, Jobs, Musk). Progress is equated with technological advancement and the mindset is that “The future is always better”. Technology has become the proof of American superiority, whether in the Space Race of my youth or the Silicon Valley of today. Our national pride is tied to innovation. We believe that technology can solve all of our problems. It is said that technological optimism runs deep in Americans and we fell that “There’s an app for that” to solve our every need. Think of it as American can-do spirit through invention. Gadgets are also an expression of our individualism and strong sense of self-reliance, which is very deeply imbedded in the American psyche. Gadgets are a form of personal empowerment. We have always believed that our power tools are our salvation. Tools make us independent and allow us to control our your environment. And gadgets are, technically, a subset of our tools, a subset that might be considered our bleeding edge of independence. Even more than our every-day tools, gadgets reflect individual identity, because we discover them in the back of comic books or now on Instagram feeds that we are unclear about how they find us, but which always seem totally personalized to us individually. This is our way of expressing ourselves through our tech choices…ones that we alone might have discovered from some remote workshop in the deepest western corner of China (note that there is nothing un-American about buying gadgets from China…in fact, in our minds, we are the very drivers of Chinese technology through our consistent need for these gadgets that a rational Chinese person might consider silly or frivolous)
Gadgets play nicely into the American obsession with productivity. Gadgets promise to save time, which is helpful in our new multitasking culture. Anything that might be a labor-saving device must be a good thing, right? From washing machines to Roombas, automation appeals deeply to us because we see convenience as the ultimate form of value. It doesn’t hurt that it fits neatly into our instant gratification culture as well thanks to Amazon Prime same-day delivery. Maybe its a also a result of our planned obsolescence mindset. Planned obsolescence has been a deliberate business strategy and cultural mindset, despite its cynical origins, since the 1920s. It all started with the Light Bulb Cartel in 1924. There was an international conspiracy of light bulb manufacturers who forged an agreement to limit bulb lifespan. After Edison came up with the tungsten filament, early bulbs lasted 2,500+ hours, which struck the cartel as way too long. They mandated to their members a maximum 1,000-hour lifespan. This lasted until WWII broke it up. This set a precedent for limiting product lifespan for the sake of profitability, contrary to the interests of the consumer. As an interesting example, there is a bulb in a Livermore, California fire station that was installed in 1901, and its still burning today (124 years later). The focus then shifted to cars, which suffered from the same longevity problem. Creating style and fashion elements in cars was Alfred Sloan’s (of GM) approach to obsolescence. During the Great Depression, even the government thought planned obsolescence was a necessary feature for a strong economy. Enter the replacement economy, which has proven far more profitable than the repair economy. Planned obsolescence’s first cousin is technological obsolescence and that is where the gadget economy resides. It was in the late 60s that the Consumer Electronics Business Model turned into the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), now one of the biggest annual conventions in the world, dominating Las Vegas during January.
I have always been prone to gadgets and given my general belief in the value of technological change, I am a natural buyer of gadgets. They say that we Americans (more the Europeans, for sure, and perhaps even more than Asians) love gadgets because they align with our desire for innovation, progress, individualism and efficiency. I’m not as clear whether I like them for their status and identity, but I’m certain I value their entertainment aspect. The paradox is that we Americans love gadgets that promise to save time and increase efficiency, yet we spend enormous time researching, buying, setting up, and playing with those same gadgets…thereby decreasing their efficiency. The journey is clearly more important than the destination with regard to gadgets and while I doubt I would ever agree to broader psychosocial drivers in my purchasing moment, there is something going on that makes me a gadget guy.
I’ve decided that big gadgets like the Apple Vision Pro (a “spatial” computer) that has augmented reality elements, are really most often a waste. I have one and rarely use it after a year in my possession. But I just ordered an electronic compressed air duster for the price of three cans of compressed air that I used to use for dusting my keyboards. This seems like real value to me and from the vast number of alternative products I found on Amazon (all manufactured somewhere in Asia), others must feel the same. For every Vision Pro mistake, I suspect I make five Zarimi air compressor wins. So, I guess for all the reasons cited above, I will continue for a while longer being an Inspector Gadget of my generation.