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Low Fidelity: Is a "Good Enough Revolution" Good for Security?

This week's post is short and sweet [for a change]. Duncan hints at a subtle, nuanced, but important question. Should security follow the same patterns we see in other markets like consumer electronics? FUD, too many products, tight budgets, and compliance checklist mindsets are all trending security spending toward a perceived "good enough". Is this a good thing? Hoopes hopes for an interesting discussion, so bring on the comments.

By Duncan Hoopes (@DuncRH)

If we look at the preferences and trends in the consumer electronics market, can we gain insights into IT security development and purchasing patterns? 

I subscribe to Wired magazine, but my teenage sons pilfer it before I have a chance to read it all. As such, it was only when I came across a news snippet about a Wired article in another magazine that I stopped to think about the security implications.

From worldmag.com: 

Robert Capps, writing in Wired, identifies a revolution that began with technology but is changing the way other industries, including law and medicine, are doing business. Capps calls it the 'Good Enough Revolution' and uses the Flip video camera to illustrate his point. Traditional video cameras emphasized image quality and features. A new company, Pure Digital, came along and saw a market for a low-cost video camera that was easy to use and produced video that was easy to share online. It sacrificed image quality for ease of use. The Flip Ultra is now the best-selling video camera and controls 17 percent of the market. Capps writes: 'We now favor flexibility over high fidelity, convenience over features, quick and dirty over slow and polished. Having it here and now is more important than having it perfect.


I recall the days when "hi-fi" was the objective. Sure, the market still recognizes differences in quality, but other factors seem much more important. As Capps points out, despite the availability of excellent medical technology, "good enough" is an emerging theme in healthcare. 


My question:
Does this trend represent dissident behavior on the part of the masses? Or am I the dissident because I believe that security technology should be more secure than what the trend of 'quick and dirty' brings?