Line #50 Main/AppealToNovelty


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4	->'''Leonard:''' I guess it couldn't kill us to meet some new people.\
5	'''Sheldon:''' Actually, it could kill us. They could be murderers or the carriers of unusual pathogens.
6	-->-- ''Series/TheBigBangTheory''
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8	[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_novelty Appeal to Novelty]] is a logical fallacy where someone claims that a proposal, idea, work, or trend is better or more accurate than what came before, ''solely'' because it is newer or more recent.
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10	This argument is often made with regard to technology, where it is often supposed that anything "high tech" is automatically better than anything "low tech." However, technology is all about fulfiling requirements, not just improvement for the sake of improvement -- while a modern tank is faster and has a much more powerful gun than a UsefulNotes/WorldWarI tank, it has inferior obstacle crossing abilities because its design represents a trade-off between visibility and obstacle crossing, and therefore claiming the modern tank is "better" is subject to conditions.
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12	This fallacy is the polar opposite of AppealToTradition; Creator/CSLewis called this fallacy chronological snobbery. [[GoodIsOldFashioned Calling goodness "old-fashioned"]] is an insult because of this trope. It is also known as "Appeal to Youth."
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14	In some forms of media, Appeal to Novelty occurs when a new work includes an original feature [[DancingBear solely in an attempt to attract an audience by appealing to their curiosity]]. Note that in this use, appealing to novelty is ''not'' inherently "right" or "wrong;" the novelty might end up actually attracting an audience, [[FollowTheLeader drawing lots of imitators]] in the process, eventually resulting in the original being VindicatedByHistory.
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16	Also see NewAndImproved and OnceOriginalNowCommon.
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18	----
19	!!Examples:
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22	[[folder:Advertising]]
23	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GXskZFXbNY One ad]] for a home pregnancy test uses this fallacy when it says "[=ClearBlue Easy=] is the most advanced piece of technology you'll ever ... pee on." The whole ad makes it rather clear that it's being done at least somewhat tongue-in-cheek, though.
24	* Multi-blade razors also rely on this fallacy. If two blades are good, three blades must be better, and five plus a moisturizing strip [[http://www.theonion.com/content/node/33930 better yet]]. See also ShavingIsScience.
25	* A car ad that mentioned that the vehicle in question gathered a lot of data about the road surface. And then said ''absolutely nothing'' about what it uses the data for.
26	* An ad for a cell phone company that depicted Creator/JamesEarlJones asking, "Talk talk talk pay, or pay talk talk talk?" He never explained why you would prefer the latter.
27	* [[{{Infomercial}} Infomercials]] rely on this fallacy. "The old way" of cleaning/exercising/brushing your teeth (which is usually a [[TheWarOnStraw Strawman]] to begin with) is represented by black and white footage of people TooIncompetentToOperateABlanket, while the new way is backed by dubious science, claims of cutting-edge technology, and being in color.
28	* Whenever a new iteration of an electronic device comes out, be it cell phone, media player, gaming console, TV or whatever, you're guaranteed at least one company or line talking about the "new technical innovations" of their product; they of course conveniently don't point out that either those "innovations" have been standard for everyone ''but'' them for several years, or that the changes have little or nothing to do with the effectiveness of the product (for instance, a "new and improved grip" for a product that has to be set down to be used.)
29	[[/folder]]
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31	[[folder:Comic Books]]
32	* In ''ComicBook/Aquaman1991'', when the corrupt King Firtf's reliance on tradition proves to be a hollow attempt to retain power and attack peaceful neighbors, the people of Tritonis overthrow him and accept new ways of thinking.
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35	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
36	* When a {{Documentary}} wants to portray a position as outdated, it's common to show old StockFootage of that position being promoted. This may be anything from a newsreel to a 1950s educational film and it may be in black and white or washed-out color, but the important thing is that the footage is clearly old enough to be wrong now!
37	* ''Film/TheJerk'' parodies this in one scene. The [[TheDitz ditzy]] NouveauRiche Navin Johnson thinks the posh French restaurant is holding out when they serve him vintage wine. He demands they take the old wine away and bring him the newest wine in the house. The server is aghast, but complies.
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40	[[folder:Literature]]
41	* In the ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' books, there is an ongoing debate between two strategic and technological schools of thought, one of which is the ''[[EverythingSoundsSexierInFrench Jeune Ecole]]'', the other being the Historical School. The ''jeune ecole'' believe that tactics and strategy have stagnated over time, so new military technologies need to be developed in order to break the stalemate. The historical school believe that any new technology should fit within established paradigms in order to be effective, and criticize the ''jeune ecole'' for supporting new ideas simple because they '''are''' new. Series protagonist Honor Harrington is a self-professed member of the historical school and regards the ''jeune ecole'''s ideas as AwesomeButImpractical at best, but in the later books their ideas begin to bear fruit after the two schools reached across the ideological aisle.
42	* Deconstructed in "Literature/{{Oracle}}" by Creator/GregEgan. Jack Hamilton is a very old-fashioned Christian apologist in the year 1958, who was humiliated in a debate years earlier by a fellow Christian who, due to her commitment to intellectual honesty, demonstrated the flaws in all of his apologetics arguments, in the hope that Christians could hold their beliefs for legitimate reasons. All this did was convince Hamilton that [[IRejectYourReality Christianity is incompatible with reason, but is still objectively true]], and nowadays, whenever he sees his colleagues at the university, he silently mocks them for their "fashionable" belief in materialism, as if they ''only'' did so because it was new and exciting. Of course, he gets completely proven wrong by the hero of the story, on national television this time. In other words, liking the new thing is not a fallacy if there is actually evidence that the new way is better.
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45	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
46	* British Television Quiz ''Series/{{QI}}'' is extremely guilty of this trope. The entire premise of the show is turning "popular" knowledge on its head or proving old preconceptions wrong. As a result, lots of people believe the alternative, not for the inherent value of the statement, but because it's different..
47	* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'': Barney believes that new things are always better. Ted then buys ten year old scotch and makes Barney buy the newest scotch in the bar.
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50	[[folder:Music]]
51	* The album ''[[Music/PacmanFever1982 Pac-Man Fever (1982)]]'' was released on this principle. After Buckner & Garcia's "Pac-Man Fever" single became a hit, they signed a record deal with Columbia/CBS Records, who insisted on a full album of video-game songs.
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54	[[folder:Pinball]]
55	* Creator/{{Atari}}'s ''Pinball/{{Hercules}}'' was sold on the basis of being the largest [[PhysicalPinballTable pinball machine]] ever made. However, the game itself was uninteresting to players -- a bigger ball turned out to be a much slower ball, not helped by the field's simple layout -- and a constant maintenance hassle for owners, and it is now remembered only for its novelty.
56	* ''Pinball/BanzaiRun'' was mainly sold through its vertical playfield.
57	* ''Pinball/JamesBond007Gottlieb'' was marketed through its [[TimedMission time-based gameplay]], though this is ''also'' what led to its downfall.
58	** Williams' ''Pinball/SafeCracker'' uses a similar time-based gameplay motif.
59	* ''Pinball/FlipperFootball'' attempted to realistically portray soccer in a pinball game. Unfortunately, this simply proved too dull for most players.
60	* This was also the case for ''Pinball/{{Apollo 13}}'' and its '''13-ball''' multiball.
61	* ''Pinball/{{Viper}}''[='=]s remembered for two things: its rotating Roto-Shooter and the naked {{Fembot}} on the backglass.
62	* ''Pinball/{{Xenon}}'' was originally intended as a single-ball game centered on the plastic transport tube. Bally management decided to add a female voice after Williams' ''Pinball/{{Gorgar}}'' and Stern's ''Pinball/{{Flight 2000}}'' arrived with simple MachineMonotone voices.
63	** The two-ball multiball was added in a day after management later heard that another pinball was about to be released with multiball play.
64	* ''Pinball/MrAndMrsPacManPinball'' got this with its "Vid-Grid" maze game.
65	* ''Pinball/{{Orbitor 1}}'' was designed entirely around its warped transparent table, which gave the effect of pinballs orbiting playfield obstacles superimposed on a lunar landscape. Unfortunately, the novelty of trying to aim shots on an uneven surface didn't entice players as hoped...
66	* ''Pinball/{{Varkon}}'', Creator/WilliamsElectronics' attempt to disguise a pinball machine as an arcade video game.
67	* ''Pinball/{{Contact}}'' was centered on its ball-kicking solenoids, which rewarded good players by sending balls to higher-value scoring holes.
68	* Creator/{{Bally}}'s ''Pinball/{{Spectrum}}'' is {{Pinball}} + ''TabletopGame/{{Mastermind}}''.
69	* ''Pinball/FlashDragon'' is remembered for its embedded Polaroid camera that dispensed instant pictures of players.
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72	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
73	* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'': Averted with Dwarfs, who are very long-lived and view anything new with suspicion (despite many of their traditions resulting in more dead dwarfs). Despite being the first to come up with gunpowder weapons, there are ''still'' some dwarfs who complain that they were perfectly happy with crossbows.
74	* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': Averted by the Adeptus Mechanicus, who believe that humanity once knew everything there is to know about technology, and that any deviation from the known and accepted Standard Template Constructs (computer blueprints that let the Imperium use standardized gear across the galaxy) is heresy. It doesn't help that the people innovating in terms of mechanical warfare either fell to Chaos or are the Tau, further reinforcing the Admech's point.
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77	[[folder:Western Animation]]
78	* A constant point of contention between the steamies and diesels of ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends''. Diesels like [[ADogNamedDog Diesel]], 'Arry & Bert view themselves as modern and more efficient engines than steam engines, who they think should be scrapped to make way for them. [[LaserGuidedKarma Though more often than not put their proverbial feet in their mouths whenever they brag about their supposed superiority.]]
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81	[[folder:Real Life]]
82	* The dot-com bubble was caused by many investors believing this fallacy; the new technology often blinded them to the unfeasability of many dotcom startups' business plans. Similar market bubbles have been associated with other new technology industries, including railroads, automobiles, radios and transistors.
83	** And [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania tulips,]] yes, ''tulips.'' When tulips were first imported to the Dutch during the Dutch Golden Age, there was a massive craze for the new flowers. Prices for rare bulbs rose to (relative) heights that would make any dot.com millionaire seem like a pauper. The ensuing financial havoc after the bubble popped was devastating.
84	* Creator/CSLewis's formulation of this fallacy -- the aforementioned "chronological snobbery" -- dealt primarily with ValuesDissonance, culture, and science. It goes like this: ''1)'' It is argued that A. ''2)'' A is an old argument, dating back to the times when people also believed B. ''3)'' B is clearly false. ''4)'' Therefore, A is false. Lewis notes how this leads to the names of time periods being used as negative slurs (e.g. "medieval" as an adjective referring to superstition and savagery) and to ArtisticLicenseHistory for the sake of propping up the supposed inherent superiority of the modern day (e.g. claiming that all the "good" things and ideas of the present did not exist in any way, shape, or form until the past 100 years or less).
85	* The UNIX operating system tends to be a target of this fallacy; in that it is derided on the basis of its age. Not so much Linux, but the [=BSDs=] will have this fallacy thrown at them, from time to time.
86	* The Internet meme [[CaptainObvious "IT'S THE CURRENT YEAR"]] mocks a variation of this fallacy in which the year is cited as an argument in favor of a newer position, e.g. "we must support X because it's [current year]". Obviously, if X is a good position, it should be supported because of its merit, not because a certain year has been arrived at. This variation was parodied as long ago as the 1959 Disney film ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty'', in which "after all, this ''is'' the 14th century" was used as an argument for being more open-minded.
87	* In socio-political terms, this is sometimes called ''presentism'', and is defined as "uncritical adherence to present-day attitudes, especially the tendency to interpret past events in terms of modern values and concepts." Critics of presentist theory say that you have to consider historical works and events in the historical and cultural context in which they occurred. Proponents of presentism say that since culture changes over time, works can ONLY be examined through a modern lens and by contemporary standards.
88	* A few sports fans will claim their current idols are better than old legends, not only because of actual skill, but deeming their feats are diminished by how things were when they played (semi-professional athletes, shorter championships, etc.).
89	* This was the case during the Dieselisation of British Railways during the 50s. BR wanted an efficient and modern fleet of new diesel engines, viewing steam locomotives as obsolete. However, while seeing some successes, many diesel classes suffered numerous technical issues to the point that railway staff wished to keep the steam engines BR intended to replace.
90	* The [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools Tropes Are Tools]] and [[JustForFun/TheTropelessTale The Tropeless Tale]] pages exist as counters because this fallacy is so prevalent - the belief that a work has to be wholly innovative to be any good.
91	[[/folder]]

Context Main / AppealToNovelty