What the Tech: Don’t be blue this Black Friday

Amidst a storm of snobbery and pessimism from all sides, say no to the naysayers and beat the blues on this Black Friday sales event.

You’d think that it would be a hard job for people to find fault with a sales event that sees huge reductions on popular products. And yet, here we are at another Black Friday, and that’s all that people seem to be capable of doing.

Wherever you look, there are doubters who criticise the event for not being good enough value, for being harmful to the environment, or worse of all, for being an American import. While there is some merit to these points, they simply aren’t enough to dampen my enthusiasm for the year’s biggest sales event, and here’s why.

Firstly, there are plenty of excellent deals available if you know where to look. Yes, some products have been marked up in the weeks leading up to the big day only to be slashed in price to garner attention, but among the fool’s gold there are some real gems too. Just take a look at the round-up page from our sister site, Trusted Reviews. With savings to the tune of hundreds of pounds on new products, there’s nothing to sniff at here.

As for the environment, it’s certainly true that buying heaps of unnecessary tech is no good thing for sustainability. Yet this is more of an argument for the customer to choose more wisely and ick products that have a longer lifespan or are manufactured in a more environmentally friendly way, rather than to condemn the sales period altogether.

Finally, we land on the most contentious of these issues; the fact that this strange festival of commercialism is an American invention that frankly makes no sense here in the UK where we don’t even celebrate Thanksgiving in the first place. Well that’s all true… but I’d simply advise you never to complain about a good thing. If we can get our hands on great tech that’s been knocked down in price — without having to endure a turkey dinner and the company of distant relatives — then I’d say we’ve got the best of both worlds.

This Black Friday, ignore the negativity of all and sundry; just take your time and consider carefully before you buy, and Black Friday could be a very good Friday indeed.