Newfangledness Versus the Coming Thing

So I was thinking about newfangledness, mostly because I really like the word. I also think a lot of things are newfangled, but that is not always such a terrible thing. However, I don't think every departure from old ways and tech is newfangled. Sometimes it's the Coming Thing.

I think the difference is why the thing is new. If it is new just for the sake of having something new, I think it's newfangled. Sometimes I like it though, and I think newfangledness is somewhat subjective. Take Mountain Dew flavors. Every year they have a contest where you can vote on which of their new flavors they will keep, although most of these seem to be a flash in the pan. Some of them are very gross, but some are good, like "Game Fuel". All of them are newfangled. Things like dark chocolate KitKats and Reeses Cups are, I think, a worse kind of newfangled, because the normal variety used milk chocolate to go better with peanut butter. Dark chocolate actually makes these things worse. Consider why Mounds bars have dark chocolate and Almond Joy have milk chocolate. These classic candy bars were painstakingly designed, and the newfangled versions with some swapped ingredients just mess it up.

I think the Coming Thing is new because there was a need to fill, or a real chance of doing something either better, or perhaps for the first time. Automobiles, computers, and the like are good examples, but they make it seem like the difference is one of scale or importance. It's not. The Take 5 bar is a good example of a candy bar that was a new type, and was designed with ingredients that match and contrast perfectly. It could become a new classic.

Another way to think of it is like the 1920s, one of my favorite time periods. We think of the twenties as a free-for-all, full of crazy kids doing crazy things. Flagpole sitting, bobbed hair, the Charleston - all these things were fads, and were newfangled (but occasionally awesome). Also in that decade, however, with the increase in real wages and record low unemployment, middle class families could finally get their hands on refrigerators, radios, cars, phones, fans, and the electricity to run them. That was the coming thing, and it lasted.

Some things are both. I previously said that I think the 3DS is a coming thing, and I still think so, although they better get some good games soon. It's also a newfangled contraption though. There's not really a need for 3D games (although, done right it could be fantastic), but the technological development of a glasses-free 3D screen is amazing, and it will be used for more than toys.

Anyway, yeah, this was supposed to be an a post about eReaders, some of which are the coming thing.... but I got hungry.