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Larger percentage of people in Europe/Asia commute via public transportation, meaning they have more than an hour a working day where they can't do much else ot

by dba7dba 13y ago

Larger percentage of people in Europe/Asia commute via public transportation, meaning they have more than an hour a working day where they can't do much else other than read something. With smartphones people started reading/browsing/watching/gaming. And of course for these, bigger phone is more attractive. They couldn't care less what they look like as long as they get the functionality they want out of the phones.

adt2bt 13y ago
I can see that use case clearly now. I, too, commute with public transportation and quickly started bringing actual books, and actually just recently bought a Kindle Fire for the commute. It's wonderful. Honestly (unrelated to screen size), I don't think I'll ever want to go back to paying money for a car to haul my own ass to work every day. I realized the other day that if I get a car that costs me $500/mo. for 72 months and commute to work on average 21 days a month, I'm spending $24 per round trip. Have the car for 15 years? Still $8/trip, not to mention maintenance, gas, parking and all of the other hassles. Sorry for the ramble, this is something I just realized after moving to a city in the States and realizing how freaking awesome public transportation is!
- dba7dba 13y ago
  Haha, awesome that you actually crunched the numbers. One reason the poor in US have EXTRA hard time getting out of poverty IMO is the requirement of a private car. If a poor American happens to lose use of a car (breakdown, gas price, etc), he/she immediately starts having hard time just getting to work. They could, but it takes 1-2 hr each way. The same commute would take half that time with a private car. And don't forget they have to pick up kids, go to medical care, grocery shop, etc. In other countries with well connected/cheap public transportation, no such barrier exists.
- babesh 13y ago
  Sorry but round trip by train and bus would cost me $15 a day. Rather go by car.
- dba7dba 13y ago
  @babesh It's because you live in a place with no REAL public transportation. With a real public transportation system, you can go places at much lower cost.

by dba7dba 13y ago

adt2bt 13y ago

I can see that use case clearly now. I, too, commute with public transportation and quickly started bringing actual books, and actually just recently bought a Kindle Fire for the commute. It's wonderful. Honestly (unrelated to screen size), I don't think I'll ever want to go back to paying money for a car to haul my own ass to work every day. I realized the other day that if I get a car that costs me $500/mo. for 72 months and commute to work on average 21 days a month, I'm spending $24 per round trip. Have the car for 15 years? Still $8/trip, not to mention maintenance, gas, parking and all of the other hassles. Sorry for the ramble, this is something I just realized after moving to a city in the States and realizing how freaking awesome public transportation is!

dba7dba 13y ago
Haha, awesome that you actually crunched the numbers. One reason the poor in US have EXTRA hard time getting out of poverty IMO is the requirement of a private car. If a poor American happens to lose use of a car (breakdown, gas price, etc), he/she immediately starts having hard time just getting to work. They could, but it takes 1-2 hr each way. The same commute would take half that time with a private car. And don't forget they have to pick up kids, go to medical care, grocery shop, etc. In other countries with well connected/cheap public transportation, no such barrier exists.
babesh 13y ago
Sorry but round trip by train and bus would cost me $15 a day. Rather go by car.
dba7dba 13y ago
@babesh It's because you live in a place with no REAL public transportation. With a real public transportation system, you can go places at much lower cost.