I am going to wait until the next release/version/device is available

I wouldn't mind a £/$ every time I have heard this comment. Of course if you follow this approach to its extreme you never buy anything. Right now I am seriously thinking of buying an iPad2 but it now looks like an iPad3 will be released early next year. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

I don't know of any research that proves this statement but I think older people are more likely to catch the "I will wait for the next version" habit.

Maybe it is because they have been around a lot longer and have been caught out more times than their kids in buying a product that immediately halve in prices and gets twice the functionality.

Well now there is a way to improve your decision making. An organisation called Decide.com, that is reviewed in Technology Review, helps you make better decisions about when to buy.

Unfortunately, Decide has not yet launched predictions for the tablet category, but it currently makes recommendations for other consumer products, such as digital cameras.

Prior to starting Decide, the found started Farecast—acquired by Microsoft in 2008—which predicted the optimal time to buy airline tickets.

I reckon this outfit is onto a winner and don't be surprised if many of its users are the 50-plus. Dick Stroud