Do we need any gadget beyond Telephone , Refrigerator , Microwave oven and TV ?

[SweetPinki]

I am including Cell Phones in Telephones and not including computers as gadget. Electronic shops are flooded with electronic gadgets of all kinds. Do we need any of them at all ? Or we buy them because the companies producing them wants to sell ?

Edit - Serious answers please. My point is about excessive consumerism and draining out of our finances in buying unwanted gadgets. I am not considering screwdriver etc in my question.

[Laurentiu]

nothing is more useful than an electric torch when the power is down ...

[DejaVut]

...do we need the conveniences we have - no...

...such be progress of a civilized economy - and what money can buy...

[bigkahuna]

Yes,that's why people buy lake cabins to find serenity beyond all the junk that clutters up our lives.A warm fireplace says it all.

[WesleyB]

We don't even "need" those. Mankind lived for hundreds of thousands of years or so prior to the invention of the television just fine. And I'm pretty sure the pyramids and Colossus of Rhodes were built without telephone assistance.

Fridges and microwaves improve food safety and quality and while not strictly necessary, I'll give you that they do serve a generally beneficial purpose. But even now I actually know people who voluntarily don't own TVs or phones and would say they get by just fine (perhaps even better) without them.

People buy what they want. There isn't some mythical force of "consumerism" lurking out there waiting to pounce on you and take your money. There is only Personal Responsibility in purchasing decisions.

Do marketers want to sell you things? Yes. Do they try to convince you that you want or need these things? Of course. Do they make things with the express purpose of selling them? Yes. But it is still up to you to decide what you buy, how much you pay, and if you truly want or need that thing after all. And things that don't sell, disappear from the marketplace.

I mean how many ads do you see everyday that you do walk away from? How many products do you not buy despite persuasive ad campaigns? You obviously have the power not to buy things, so it is illogical to blame the things one does choose to buy on anything other than one's self. The whole "the ad made me do it" argument is facetious self-justification for personal desires.

[Derail]

We also need duct tape and sheet rock screws. Hard to imagine life with out those two items for fixing nearly anything.