iPhone 5 = i Can't Afford to Stop W&*rking?

[kevink]

http://mashable.com/2012/10/01/iphone-5-true-cost/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29

 

[NW-Bound]

A few months ago, there was a story of a guy in China who sold one of his kidneys to get money to buy an iPhone.

Is that guy regretting not waiting until now to get the new iPhone? Or is he going to sell another body part to do an iPhone upgrade?

What people would do for an electronic toy is mind boggling.

 

[audreyh1]

Thank goodness the iPad was offered with a monthly no-contract plan. What a revolution! I did keep my grandfathered AT&T unlimited $30 plan - it wasn't offered for very long!

DH informs me that AAPL's profit on their iPhone line exceeds GE's total annual profit! And analysts say the release of iPhone 5 will add 1/4 to 1/2 a point to the US Q4 annualized GDP growth. This is all pretty mind blowing.

 

[veremchuka]

What's an iphone? .... things you just don't need, just too numerous to mention

 

[Gumby]

I don't have an iPhone and never will. I do have a prepaid cell phone, which is virtually always turned off (it's for my convenience not someone else's) and is often lost or with a dead battery. It just makes phone calls -- no pictures, no texting, no tweeting or twittering or whatever, no internet, no gps -- just phone calls. And I almost never even make a call. I load $25 on it every 3 months, just so the balance doesn't expire.

If I want a picture, I have a very nice SLR. If I want the internet, I use this computer. If I want to listen to music, I turn on the stereo. And if I want to know where I'm going, I know how to read a map.

 

[NW-Bound]

I am sure that these electronic gadgets are very handy and probably can replace multiple devices. It's just that I am not sufficiently interested to invest the time to learn to use it. It's not just the money, as I do not even know what it costs, although if it were really cheap, I may try it.

As I said, I am not much into electronic gadgets anymore, although an iPhone may simplify my life (I still need to invest some time though).

By the way, I searched the Web to follow up on the Chinese kidney seller, and the following link was what I found. Turned out that this teenager even got an iPad along with an iPhone for his kidney, but he now suffers renal failure. Good grief!

9 on trial in China over teenager's sale of kidney for iPad and iPhone - CNN

 

[kevink]

This article in the WSJ really puts what people are spending on phones in perspective:

Cellphones Are Eating the Family Budget - WSJ.com

I've seen how useful these things can be for travel but you have to be really smart and disciplined. Buying a basic unlocked phone and doing pay-as-you-go makes sense, but you have to use wireless as much as possible and really watch your data usage. Personally I go with a $25 basic basic Tracfone and an iPod touch for travel. Our total monthly utility bills are less than what some friends spend on their cell phones alone.

 

[audreyh1]

If I want a picture, I have a very nice SLR. If I want the internet, I use this computer. If I want to listen to music, I turn on the stereo. And if I want to know where I'm going, I know how to read a map.

Read a map?!?!? Who reads a map anymore (unless it's an electronic one)? And paper maps can't route you, can't speak directions to you while you are following the route, or even tell you where you actually are!

My latest electronic map even understands my spoken English, which is very nice.

 

[audreyh1]

It's just that I am not sufficiently interested to invest the time to learn to use it.

Um, a couple of hours at most maybe? At least for the iPad.

I now use it for a huge number of things every day. I know it's tough to understand for folks who don't have one, but it's extraordinarily useful.

 

[photoguy]

Although computers keep getting faster and cheaper, it seems like cell phones (smartphones) keep getting more expensive. AT&T's voice + data is actually more expensive now then when I got my first smartphone (treo) years ago and it's no longer unlimited.

 

[Major Tom]

Gosh, I don't have a cellphone of any description. I'm a single land-line household.

 

[NW-Bound]

Um, a couple of hours at most maybe? At least for the iPad.

I now use it for a huge number of things every day. I know it's tough to understand for folks who don't have one, but it's extraordinarily useful.

My relatives all have iPhones and iPads. I have tried the iPad, and thought it was good. I more likely get an iPad before an iPhone.

I have a cell phone, which, like Gumby's, is usually not turned on, and only my wife would call me on that phone, if there is a need for me to know to turn it on beforehand. I cannot even recall its number right now.

I have not had a single Apple product, although I have heard and believe that they are easy to use. However, I am not yet at a stage where I want to simplify down to just one or two things.

When I use a computer, I like my fast and big quad-core desktop with a few terabytes of HD storage, and linked to a server of a few more TBs. And when I want to surf reclining in bed, I have my laptop. When I do RV'ing and use GPS, I want to see the map on a netbook which has a much larger screen than little portable GPS's (I do have a pocket and waterproof GPS for hiking).

I was never a multi-tasking person, therefore my [-]toys[/-] tools reflect that. I like single-use tools.

PS. Another reason I am more interested in the iPad than I used to be was that I have stopped working, and will be strictly a "media consumer". As I no longer need to lug a laptop for work travel (to run both software bought and self-written), an iPad looks more attractive.

 

[audreyh1]

I have a cell phone, which, like Gumby's, is usually not turned on, and only my wife would call me on that phone, if there is a need for me to know to turn it on beforehand. I cannot even recall its number right now.

When I use a computer, I like my fast and big quad-core desktop with a few terabytes of HD storage, and linked to a server of a few more TBs. And when I want to surf reclining in bed, I have my laptop. When I do RV'ing and use GPS, I want to see the map on a netbook which has a much larger screen than little portable GPS's (I do have a pocket and waterproof GPS for hiking).

I was never a multi-tasking person, therefore my [-]toys[/-] tools reflect that. I like single-use tools.

On the phone - we have an "old technology" [i.e. not smart] cell phones too, which we prefer to keep simple. They stay on, because we don't have a land line.

What's a desktop? LOL!

Reading in bed is a LOT easier with an iPad than a laptop.

I confess to owning multiple GPS units too. We have a larger screen one for the RV. Our much maligned car GPS unit finally died, so we got the new voice recognition GPS from Garmin which works amazingly well. DH uses our old hiking GPS for carrying with his camera gear. And my new camera body will have GPS built in - yay!!!!

 

[audreyh1]

Although computers keep getting faster and cheaper, it seems like cell phones (smartphones) keep getting more expensive. AT&T's voice + data is actually more expensive now then when I got my first smartphone (treo) years ago and it's no longer unlimited.

This does seem to be getting outrageous. I'm hoping this is a "last gasp". Doesn't seem like they can keep charging that much for data plans because there are lots of alternatives. I guess a lot of people like to use their phone for data. Fortunately, I have never felt the need. [I don't text on my old-tech cellphone either]

 

[NW-Bound]

Don't know about easier reading in bed with iPad than laptop. Laptop clamshell allows screen to stay up for reading, while main unit/keyboard rests on tummy. Very nice position!

I was involved with GPS technology in the early 80s, not since Day 1 but perhaps Day 2 or 3. It took a 50-lb rack-mount box to have a rudimentary GPS receiver. Now, it's just a chip; the rest is all for display, keypad, antenna, battery, etc... The more one knows about a specific technology, the more impressed he is with the progress there.

 

[audreyh1]

PS. Another reason I am more interested in the iPad than I used to be was that I have stopped working, and will be strictly a "media consumer". As I no longer need to lug a laptop for work travel (to run both software bought and self-written), an iPad looks more attractive.

Oh, congrats!

The iPad is great for web surfing and email. I prefer reading eBooks as well. It's nice not having to deal with a stack of bound paper. We use appleTV heavily in our house as well, so all our TVs and stereos are integrated with our devices (whether laptop or handheld), and it's really great listening to music, watching movies and TV programs, showing photos, showing video, playing clips off the internet on the TV. I could go on and on.... [obviously I already did!]

PS - the iPad is just very easy to "prop up". I never hold it up. I always has a cover that could help act as a bit of a stand as well as offer major protection and keep if from being slippery.

 

[Gumby]

. . . paper maps can't route you, can't speak directions to you while you are following the route, or even tell you where you actually are!

Don't need any of that. I usually memorize the map before I start out. I know what roads I'll need to go on, how they generally trend, the approximate distance between junctions, what towns I'll pass through in what order and whether I'll cross any rivers. I could generally tell you within a mile or two where I am at any moment.

And when the EMP comes, I'll still have my paper map.


I'll also still have my telephones at home -- 4 incredibly rugged and simple rotary dial phones, one touch tone.

 

[REWahoo]

I'll also still have my telephones at home -- 4 incredibly rugged and simple rotary dial phones, one touch tone.

You failed to mention your two cans and string back-up communication system...

 

[Gumby]

You failed to mention your two cans and string back-up communication system...

Semaphore flags, actually.

 

[REWahoo]

Semaphore flags, actually.

Oops, I forgot. You Navy guys went stringless long ago...

 

[audreyh1]

LOL!

 

[NW-Bound]

This article in the WSJ really puts what people are spending on phones in perspective:

Cellphones Are Eating the Family Budget - WSJ.com

I just looked at the linked article. An excerpt follows.

Heidi Steffen and her husband used to treat themselves most weeks to steak... Then they each got an iPhone, and the rib-eyes started making fewer appearances.​

My brother told me that he read somewhere that despite Spain's economic woes, Spaniards have the highest smart-phone ownership or usage in the EU. I don't think the phone expenses cause their economic troubles, but rather perhaps they are looking for an escape from their trouble while playing with their phones. Sad!

And then, I still remember a statistics back in 2003, the time before any smart phone. I read that phone companies were raking in $1 billion/year in selling ring tones then. Wow! All the phones I have had always come with several ring tones, and I usually just leave it at the default tone, let alone paying for more tones.

Am I stuck in the 20th century or what? Of course I am. I am still listening to music of the 50s to the 70s, and still want to read literary works from the 18th and 19th centuries.

 

[audreyh1]

In the mid-late 90s I noticed Italy had WAY more cell phones than the US. It was the first time I had really experienced people constantly on their cellphones at a trade show.

I was informed that Italy had more cell phones because their landlines were so bad/unreliable. Maybe it was the same case in Spain?

 

[explanade]

It's always musing to see people declare on the Internet that they don't need fancy electronic gizmos.

Well, can these people do without the computers and the Internet connection service they use to post these neo-Luddite declarations?

How many of them can even go without being online for a couple of weeks?

Smart phones now are basically extensions of the computers we're all using to exchange these opinions. For decades, computer scientists have been predicting this process, as we went from mainframes to eventually personal computers for all, to "wearable computers."

The idea is that computing devices become more ubiquitous and weave themselves into the fabric of contemporary life. About 10-15 years ago, there were people saying computers and Internet are not for them. Companies tried to sell email boxes, so that the technophobic older generation could still be in contact with their friends and relatives.

But the sense is that a lot of people who were reticent to use technology have come to see the benefits of going online. Really not that different from when telephones were first widely adopted.

So this pooh-poohing of mobile devices by people who are already using technology seems a repeat of history. Now, if you want to say you can't justify the expense (and even then, there are growing options for people who don't want to sign onto another expensive monthly bill), especially on ER where people aggressively manage their living costs, that would be more understandable.

Regarding DSLRs, yes a cell phone camera will never be as good as a DSLR. But I don't carry my DSLR with me all the time. And to do the HDR and panorama photos which is now supported on iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S, I would also need to carry around a tripod.

The often-repeated adage is that the best camera there is is the one you have with you to capture shots that are unanticipated. That's probably why iPhone is probably the most widely-used camera in the world.

 

[explanade]

In the mid-late 90s I noticed Italy had WAY more cell phones than the US. It was the first time I had really experienced people constantly on their cellphones at a trade show.

I was informed that Italy had more cell phones because their landlines were so bad/unreliable. Maybe it was the same case in Spain?

Italy has real good cell phone networks. Very affordable services and good coverage, by several carriers with real competition that we don't have in the US.

They pay a fraction of what we pay. They've adopted smart phones too but I think they're just more social people. Remember that texting hit big in Europe and Asia long before Americans adopted it heavily.

As for their economic problems, no the debt problem in Spain had to do with an overheated housing market. Fiscally, Spain was in good shape but the financial crisis bursted that housing bubble.

What's more common in Europe is people use prepaid cell phone services, rather than sign contracts, though with smart phones, contracts are becoming more common.