Choices

Sometime in the middle of 2017 a company called SaReGaMa launched a music player, Carvaan, in India. When I heard about the product I was extremely sceptical about it. I mean who would want to buy a comparatively large music player, with pre-recorded songs, in an age when YouTube and other similar sites had brought the music of your choice right to the palm of your hands. Even though Carvaan came with an inbuilt radio and supported USB as well as Bluetooth, I had my doubts about the product’s success.

I was wrong.

Soon, the Carvaan began to show up in various houses I visited, and recently one was gifted to me. I checked it up on the Internet and found out that the product had not only become a success but had also helped revive SaReGaMa’s dwindling fortunes.

How did that happen?

Well, there could be many reasons for the product’s success, but the one I am going to talk about here is choice.

We as human beings believe that to be happy we need to have choices. The more choices we have, the better decisions we will be able to make and, as a result, the happier we will become. Sounds logical, doesn’t it?

But the paradox is that as the number of choices increase, we become prone to a “decision paralysis” and are not able to come to a decision. We, thus, end up choosing what we eventually feel is not the best option. If you have bought a mobile or a car (two products with a large number of available choices) recently, I am sure, you would know the feeling.

The success of Carvaan could lie in the fact that it gives you a collection of pre-recorded 5000 songs (admittedly good, evergreen songs), simply categorized into moods like Happy, Sad, Romantic, etc. You just have to switch on the player, choose a mood and let the player do the rest. In today’s day and time, when even humble household equipment like the electric bulb is aiming for smart and providing a variety of options, such simplicity and lack of choice can be refreshing indeed.

What do you think?

(P.S.: Here is a list of TED talks on Choices, Decisions and Happiness. Browse them at your leisure.)