In the present day and age, technology has shot forward in leaps and bounds. There are advances made in the field of electronics and computing every single day. With the fluctuations in prices for different gadgets and electronics as they release and die out, you need to be careful what you put your money and your faith in. When trying to find out how to invest in technology smartly, there are a few rules you must follow.

Think for the future

Don’t be fooled into buying some cool new technology just because you are being persuaded to by friends, or because their advertising campaign is great, or even because it is the latest trend. Just because the technology is cool now doesn’t mean it will be in a year or two.

For example, investing in a game console like a PlayStation 4 ($400) is a great choice because the typical lifetime of the PlayStation is 7 years, just like its predecessor, the PS3. Investing in a PS3 right now ($199) is a bad choice indeed, as most manufacturers have already stopped supporting the console.

Think about the future before investing your hard earned money in a cool looking new gadget or product. It may be a choice that you will regret making later.

Consider value for money

The gadgets that are being released nowadays are being marketed as the most amazing inventions in the world. More often than not, you will be persuaded into buying one of these innovative gadgets without having any real use for them.

For example, you do not really need to spend $400 on a fitness oriented smartwatch when the most exercise you get in a day is walking to the refrigerator and back. You most likely will want to, because of the “cool” features offered, but you shouldn’t.

Have a nice hard think about exactly what you are getting for your investment, and see if it is really worth the amount of usefulness you will get out of the gadget over the next few years. If you feel like it will be nothing more than a novelty with an expiration date, you probably should not get it.

Think about fragility

Some electronics and tech are way more fragile than others. If you are someone who spends time in an environment full of risk factors such as falling debris, water and dust, you are going to want to think about this before buying a product.

A lot of tech is not life proof, so make sure you know what you are getting yourself into before you go ahead and make a purchase.

If you are careful, and don’t rush into things, you should be able to make the right decisions when it comes to investing in technology in the modern age.