3. XBox Kinect

Video games systems might be one of the best examples of created wants out there — the entire business is predicated on the assumption that technology will improve every few years, and a newer, better video game system will be ready to hit the market, replete with newer and better games. How many video game systems has the average upper-middle class American man owned over a period of 10-15 years? Six? Seven? Ten? Personally, I’ve owned the NES, Super Nintendo, GameBoy, N64, Playstation, and Gameboy Advance. And I was a lightweight.

And sure, the Kinect — and the Xbox console specifically designed to support it — offers a new kind of “gaming experience”. It’s a Wii ripoff that promises new features and better gaming interaction. Here we have a want that was actually created by Nintendo years ago, forcing Microsoft to parry with the promise of a system that offered improvements and refinements. But one that’s any more fun than the last one? Microsoft is currently in the process of convincing us that it will be …

Image Credit: Free X-box Kinect

4. Nerf Stampede

How different is this Nerf gun from the one that I had when I was a kid? Not very. In fact, we can use this Nerf Stampede gun as a pretty good example of how easy it is for marketers to bombard this gleefully susceptible demographic with created wants. There are literally dozens of different Nerf guns on the market, and new models are constantly coming out, older ones being rotated. They all do the same thing: Shoot tiny foam projectiles out of a plastic weapon. Yet the Nerf folks are perpetually devising new ways to get kids to want the latest incarnation. More barrels, more bullets, bigger bullets, flashier colors, sleeker design, etc.

Image Credit: Nerf Guns n Toys

5. MyGrid

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been charging my phone when I’ve thought to myself “Wow, I would pay good money for a device that would let me charge two more additional cellphones.” Oh, that’s right, none. Here is the gist; for only $120, you can get a silvery pad on which you can rest and charge three, count ‘em, three whole cellphones. The idea here is that you have so many electronic devices already plugged in that you need to spend more than $100 to free up a couple of slots for your many cellphones and iPods. It also supposes that if you are short a few outlets, you are too lazy to plug in an extra cellphone charger or two into a $10 power strip.
Useful? It does clear up an outlet or two. Useful enough to justify spending 120 bones? For a glorified power strip? You tell me.

Image Credit: Engadget