Terri Ramsey Beavers Today, we have so many gadgets of such great value, yet we take their value for granted both in economic and social terms. A decade ago, the idea that most people would carry with them a device worth in the region of $1,000 everywhere they went would have been hard to believe, as people simply wouldn’t consider walking around with such a high-value asset that was so easy to drop or have stolen from them.
Mobile phones have become are so prominent in our daily lives that they are almost an extension of who we are; they have gone from being a mere phone to something akin to a personal assistant, bank card, computer, camera, video camera, and organizer. Indeed, your smartphone is the modern equivalent of a swiss army knife whether you choose to download and play Final Fantasy XV or manage your stock market portfolio, they are with us everywhere we go.
Our gadgets play a huge role in our lives and even more so if you manage a business, yet we take for granted and naively assume they are somewhat indestructible when in truth they are incredibly fragile and very precious items.
We have become accustomed to carrying around these precious items to such an extent that we have lost connection with how valuable they actually are, and this is just talking about the monetary value. When you consider the emotional, practical, and business value these devices have – it makes for an even stronger case to protect your gadgets; be that from accidental drops on a hard surface or theft.
You hear horror stories of people losing all their work, their contacts, and even more, heart-wrenching is when they lose precious memories. This is particularly the case if they are memories of someone that is no longer with us or of a once-in-a-lifetime experience such as a honeymoon, or significant moments in your baby’s life. The best way to protect against this type of loss is to regularly backup to the cloud.
Yet, just like how we carry around these expensive devices in a somewhat nonchalant way we have a similar approach when it comes to backing up our data. We seem to naively think that it will never happen to us, and so coast along, presuming everything will be fine and canceling the pop-up stating your device hasn’t been backed up for 127 weeks… treating it as something you’ll get around to doing; but imagine if you lost your device.
Another thing to consider, if you don’t have it already, is to take out gadget insurance. This type of insurance is becoming increasingly popular as we collect more and more gadgets.
The majority of gadget insurance policies cover against the majority of risks yet it’s important to read through the small print as there can be some sneaky exclusions that are good to be mindful of, particularly in the event of having to make a claim.
In summary, it’s important to protect your assets in the sense of security, insurance, and backing up data regularly.