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Cheap doesn't mean it has to be dangerous, that's a false dilemma. Instead of shopping at Apple, try monoprice. Edit: I have no affiliation with monoprice. If

Cheap doesn't mean it has to be dangerous, that's a false dilemma. Instead of shopping at Apple, try monoprice. Edit: I have no affiliation with monoprice. If you downvote, please explain. Is my alternative not helpful?

DanBC 14y ago
> Cheap doesn't mean it has to be dangerous, that's a false dilemma. I bought[1] a brand new mobile / cell phone today. £4.95 ($8 USD) which includes the phone, the battery, and a charger. It's all neatly packed, things in bags etc. it's not on a contract. So it's possible for huge multinational companies to use economies of scale to make, ship, and sell cheap things. I'm not so sure that small companies have the same economies of scale - especially for things which require being built to safety standards. [1] Buying it took about 10 minutes. I can't quite work out how all the people in the chain manage to get paid from an $8 phone.
- andyking 14y ago
  These cheap pay-as-you-go phones are subsidised by the network--normally, you have to buy at least a £10 topup to get it, and if you look at the website of a phone shop like Carphone Warehouse, you'll find the exact same phone listed at different prices on different networks. Of course, once you actually go into the shop and buy it, you find it's the same (unlocked) handset. But because you bought it on, say, O2 instead of Orange, you get it cheaper.
  - TazeTSchnitzel 14y ago
    Yeah, I was buying a budget phone recently. They are about £10-£30 cheaper locked to a network.
- Retric 14y ago
  You can build the gut's of a basic phone using well under 1$ worth of electronics (speaker/microphone/processor/antenna/and a little storage) and a simple antenna. After that it's battery, case, display, charger, packaging and assembly which can go up and down the cost/quality map, don't have to cost much individually. It's the same reason you can have those key-chain games with more processing power than a Ti-86 calculator for 3$.
veyron 14y ago
One obligatory warning: oftentimes the cables are older generation or may not support all features. Especially with the mac cables (e.g. thunderbold/minidisplayport)
jws 14y ago
I use monoprice for many cables. But their knockoff iPhone earbuds of a few years ago were disasters[1] and their iPhone charger cables haven't lasted well. On the other hand, I've been getting gorgeous, well made XLR cables from them for a great price, and I've never had a problem with CAT 5/6 cables or HDMI cables[2] from them. Maybe we can say that low price tolerates more variability. EOM [1] They dropped those earbuds pretty quickly. I see they again sell an iPhone earbud, maybe it is better. For $2.36 each I'll probably add three to my next order just to see. [2] Whenever I need a common cable, I generally buy 3 to 6 of them on the theory that my friends and family will have problems that need solving with such a cable. Then I can give them a $3 solution instead of them going to BestBuy and dropping $30.

DanBC 14y ago

> Cheap doesn't mean it has to be dangerous, that's a false dilemma. I bought[1] a brand new mobile / cell phone today. £4.95 ($8 USD) which includes the phone, the battery, and a charger. It's all neatly packed, things in bags etc. it's not on a contract. So it's possible for huge multinational companies to use economies of scale to make, ship, and sell cheap things. I'm not so sure that small companies have the same economies of scale - especially for things which require being built to safety standards. [1] Buying it took about 10 minutes. I can't quite work out how all the people in the chain manage to get paid from an $8 phone.

andyking 14y ago
These cheap pay-as-you-go phones are subsidised by the network--normally, you have to buy at least a £10 topup to get it, and if you look at the website of a phone shop like Carphone Warehouse, you'll find the exact same phone listed at different prices on different networks. Of course, once you actually go into the shop and buy it, you find it's the same (unlocked) handset. But because you bought it on, say, O2 instead of Orange, you get it cheaper.
- TazeTSchnitzel 14y ago
  Yeah, I was buying a budget phone recently. They are about £10-£30 cheaper locked to a network.
Retric 14y ago
You can build the gut's of a basic phone using well under 1$ worth of electronics (speaker/microphone/processor/antenna/and a little storage) and a simple antenna. After that it's battery, case, display, charger, packaging and assembly which can go up and down the cost/quality map, don't have to cost much individually. It's the same reason you can have those key-chain games with more processing power than a Ti-86 calculator for 3$.

veyron 14y ago

One obligatory warning: oftentimes the cables are older generation or may not support all features. Especially with the mac cables (e.g. thunderbold/minidisplayport)

jws 14y ago

I use monoprice for many cables. But their knockoff iPhone earbuds of a few years ago were disasters[1] and their iPhone charger cables haven't lasted well. On the other hand, I've been getting gorgeous, well made XLR cables from them for a great price, and I've never had a problem with CAT 5/6 cables or HDMI cables[2] from them. Maybe we can say that low price tolerates more variability. EOM [1] They dropped those earbuds pretty quickly. I see they again sell an iPhone earbud, maybe it is better. For $2.36 each I'll probably add three to my next order just to see. [2] Whenever I need a common cable, I generally buy 3 to 6 of them on the theory that my friends and family will have problems that need solving with such a cable. Then I can give them a $3 solution instead of them going to BestBuy and dropping $30.