Study: Half of all returned gadgets work after all

Wanting something that’s technically advanced doesn’t always mean that you have the expertise needed to operate that gadget, a recent study has found.

Findings released by a Dutch woman have confirmed that fully half of all electronics products returned to stores are not, in fact, malfunctioning, as their owners claim; rather, the skills necessary to operate those devices are beyond the people doing the trying. You might want all the latest bling for your smartphone/portable movie machine/etc. but you probably don’t have the patience or knowledge to operate such machines. The Dutch study found that Americans will try for just 20 minutes to make something work before trying to return it and demanding money back.

It’s yet another example of technology advancing further and faster than its users’ ability to keep up.