Are people suffering from gadget ( 小器具 ) overload? Are they exhausted by the consumer equivalent of the brain fatigue—information overload—that is caused by constant updates of devices and online media?Underwriters Laboratories issued a report last week that found 48% of consumers “feel high - tech manufacturers bring new products to market faster than people need them.” There are two possible explanations. The first, obvious one is that the pace of innovation ( 创新 ) is too fast for consumers. The second, less obvious one is that, in fact, innovation is too slow. That is, the new offerings companies are pushing out the door every six months or so are me - too products or ones with just a couple of new features. Marketing schedules, not product innovation, are driving the corporate ( 公司的 ) train. Manufacturers in America valued “speed to market” more than in other countries, the report found.Sara Greenstein, Underwriters Laboratories ' chief strategy officer, offered her interpretation of the survey results, “Innovation is too fast only if corners are cut.”For the high - tech sector, there are a few other interesting findings. Consumers are less concerned about safety in high - tech products than categories like fresh and processed food. But their top safety concerns are emissions and wireless radio waves. Many people, it seems, are uneasy living in a thickening cloud of radio waves from mobile phone towers and the gadgets they communicate with.A finding that was a bit surprising is that to consumers, the inner parts of high - tech devices do apparently matter. Some 55% of consumers, according to the report, said they are “more concerned about where high - tech components come from than where the product was assembled.”The report doesn ' t really say how that information would affect consumer buying decisions. It could be complicated. Manufacturing companies on average rely on more than 35 contract suppliers around the world to create a single product. That number would be higher for a smartphone or laptop.But maybe some sort of supply - chain labeling showing where parts come from in a product? “We ' re working on it,” Ms. Greenstein said.