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I really gave much thought at the way we spend money on gadgets until a friend of mine told me he wanted to buy an iPhone 5 for his girlfriend as a birthday pre
by carlob 14y ago
I really gave much thought at the way we spend money on gadgets until a friend of mine told me he wanted to buy an iPhone 5 for his girlfriend as a birthday present. And then it dawned on me that an iPhone 5 (without a contract) costs as much as some really nice jewelry that this her granddaughter will probably inherit.
It's not even about conspicuous consumption versus a more frugal lifestyle, it's about spending 800$ on something that is going to be tossed away or broken in 24 months.
- bigiain 14y agoFWIW, and iPhone does hae somewhat more "utility" than jewelry. Sure, it's partly a "shiny thing", bit it's a shiny _useful_ thing. (Whether its utility is worth the ~$400/year it costs if you break/lose one every two years is a good question.)
- carlob 14y agoYes, but this person already owns a fully functional Android phone that costed about 200$. It is not as shiny, but it does more or less everything the iPhone does (at least in term of usefulness).