4 ms·

I don't know about that... for example, as smartphones become more and more ubiquitous, it becomes easy and cheap for people of all income levels to indulge in

by vekker 7y ago

I don't know about that... for example, as smartphones become more and more ubiquitous, it becomes easy and cheap for people of all income levels to indulge in visual & auditory sensory overload. I'm currently traveling in Asia and it's jarring to see the number of people sitting idly, watching some random YouTube videos or Facebooking to pass the time.

EdwardDiego 7y ago
> I'm currently traveling in Asia and it's jarring to see the number of people sitting idly, watching some random YouTube videos or Facebooking to pass the time. Why is it jarring?
- BoorishBears 7y ago
  Because this person comes from a place where people watch random YouTube videos or Facebook somewhere less visible, like their offices, or their own homes.
- Japhy_Ryder 7y ago
  Because there's an actual real world, with real people around us that we could be interacting with, rather than staring at a smartphone screen?
  - EdwardDiego 7y ago
    Why is it jarring to see in Asia, as opposed to everywhere else?
hinkley 7y ago
The internet tells me that smoking costs about $2k a year. I’m pretty sure people are spending that much on cell phones now.
- shantly 7y ago
  Hm. ~$600/yr for a not-great data plan. Call it $200/yr for the cheapest phone that won't make you want to toss it off a bridge or crush it underfoot, if you keep it three years. $800/yr as kinda the minimum to have a phone with the capabilities and usability to actually do anything with it without going into frugal-enough-it's-A-Thing-for-you territory, yeah, I could see $2k/yr not being that far off for a lot of people. Throw in $200/yr of IAP or subscriptions, a better data plan with a more realistic cap for heavy use, replacing your phone every two years instead of three and getting top-end models rather than older or mid-range ones. Yeah, $2k/yr's probably not an uncommon amount of cellphone-related spending in the US, I bet.

by vekker 7y ago

EdwardDiego 7y ago

> I'm currently traveling in Asia and it's jarring to see the number of people sitting idly, watching some random YouTube videos or Facebooking to pass the time. Why is it jarring?

BoorishBears 7y ago
Because this person comes from a place where people watch random YouTube videos or Facebook somewhere less visible, like their offices, or their own homes.
Japhy_Ryder 7y ago
Because there's an actual real world, with real people around us that we could be interacting with, rather than staring at a smartphone screen?
- EdwardDiego 7y ago
  Why is it jarring to see in Asia, as opposed to everywhere else?

hinkley 7y ago

The internet tells me that smoking costs about $2k a year. I’m pretty sure people are spending that much on cell phones now.

shantly 7y ago
Hm. ~$600/yr for a not-great data plan. Call it $200/yr for the cheapest phone that won't make you want to toss it off a bridge or crush it underfoot, if you keep it three years. $800/yr as kinda the minimum to have a phone with the capabilities and usability to actually do anything with it without going into frugal-enough-it's-A-Thing-for-you territory, yeah, I could see $2k/yr not being that far off for a lot of people. Throw in $200/yr of IAP or subscriptions, a better data plan with a more realistic cap for heavy use, replacing your phone every two years instead of three and getting top-end models rather than older or mid-range ones. Yeah, $2k/yr's probably not an uncommon amount of cellphone-related spending in the US, I bet.