When will "He has a smart phone, he is financially irresponsible" be over?

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My ipone 5s cost 150 bucks. Couldn't do without it. So nice to contact people with text instead of bothering them when they are busy. Not only that but its a safety thing. I can track my wife's phone in real time (with her permission) to 25 feet. on a Satellite map,
 
Originally Posted by jeepman3071
I've never heard anyone say that...

Same here. Smart phones are completely normal nowadays. In fact, if someone doesn't have one, I'd almost think they were in the minority. My Mom is over 70 years old and has an iPhone. Granted, I doubt she's ever browsed the web with it or in fact, done much more than use it for phone calls and very light text messaging .... oh, and taking pictures. Anything internet-based, she's got an iPad ! Has a computer too.
 
Smart phones and service are both really cheap.
Almost any phone you'd get these days would have data capability and is therefore smart.
Most of these folks use their phones in place of a landline, so the incremental cost is nil.
For those who say that some people need to get a job, you can't get one without a phone number and that pocket device suits the purpose.
 
Most everything on here depends on context and this phone rant is one of those things where I'd scratch my head and ask...did the "pull myself up by the bootstraps" thread generate this...did the "You're an idiot because you don't have a six month emergency fund and zero debt like responsible people do" thread kick this one over??, or did the "I hate Kalifornia/Silicon Valley" thread create this?? Some things are sociologically or politically hyper-predictable on here, so my guess is that this rant somehow relates to a thread like that or similar that pops up every other week...if not more often.
 
Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Originally Posted by jeepman3071
I've never heard anyone say that...

Same here. Smart phones are completely normal nowadays. In fact, if someone doesn't have one, I'd almost think they were in the minority. My Mom is over 70 years old and has an iPhone. Granted, I doubt she's ever browsed the web with it or in fact, done much more than use it for phone calls and very light text messaging .... oh, and taking pictures. Anything internet-based, she's got an iPad ! Has a computer too.


Everybody I know has a smartphone and looks at me like an old fuddyduddy because I still have a flip phone. Heck i barely use the flip phone!
thumbsup2.gif
 
People spend $50k on a car every 3 years and no-one batts an eye.

$1k for a phone for 3 years? Not a big deal. That's $333 a year, or $28 a month. Or a decent dinner at a restaurant for 1.

Big whoop.
 
Originally Posted by Vuflanovsky
Most everything on here depends on context and this phone rant is one of those things where I'd scratch my head and ask...did the "pull myself up by the bootstraps" thread generate this...did the "You're an idiot because you don't have a six month emergency fund and zero debt like responsible people do" thread kick this one over??, or did the "I hate Kalifornia/Silicon Valley" thread create this?? Some things are sociologically or politically hyper-predictable on here, so my guess is that this rant somehow relates to a thread like that or similar that pops up every other week...if not more often.



I'd refer you to Mr. Nice's post earlier. "Maybe people on food stamps, SNAP, WIC and Gov assistance have an iPhone.... but have no money to feed their kids."

This kind of thinking seems to suggest that:

1) smart phone is a luxury (ok, maybe the latest iphone is, but as you can see here we have people using older and cheaper iphone too)
2) therefore it is a sign that people do not need the help (financial help and luxury should be mutually exclusive, which I agree).
3) applying for help if you qualify is irresponsible or shameful, even if you have the financial capability to support yourself (this is debatable as it borders political debate, I am trying to stay away from raising this point but focus on 1 and 2 instead).

I don't think Kalifonia / SV hate is involved, and didn't really suggest that (or intent to come to this conclusion).
 
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I got a smart phone (LG K20, about $150 retail) for free for jumping to a new carrier, and only pay $30/month including all taxes. It does everything I need a phone to do. People that spend $1000 for a smart phone are doing it just to be "cool" ... phones are a status symbol with some people.
 
Originally Posted by Mr Nice
Maybe people on food stamps, SNAP, WIC and Gov assistance have an iPhone.... but have no money to feed their kids.


Yep! And they can always seem to afford tattoos and blue hair,but can't afford to pay their bills!
 
Who is saying this?

I've got no idea what you're talking about....

I've got a nice phone. No one is calling me irresponsible.

Now, if you a person who can't afford the basics in life, but you've got a $1,000 phone, you're not good with financial priorities...

Is that what you meant?

That's always been true, when you can get all you actually NEED for far less...
 
Smartphone plans are relatively cheap now.

It is not a status symbol anymore except possibly the highest end models. A lot of them can be obtained for under $200 used/new. It is the affordable, portable and useful calculator, camera, web browser, computer, organizer, communication, entertainment..... etc for everyone's life from homeless to uber wealthy.

It is everyday life in 2019. Event the remote areas of our planet with no electricity have them to stay connected.

A smartphone is the easiest avenue to a job even collecting when you have little else, because you look over job ads, apply to them, write email, and answer calls with voice mail anywhere.

I was laughing when I called a person to return something wife borrowed from local farmer. I asked if he was home and he stated he answered the phone so of course he is. Did this old dude realize people rarely have landlines when he made what he thought was a sarcastic comment?
 
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Imo in today's world,a smart phone is a necessity. Life moves at a very fast pace now. EVERYTHING is online. The days of sitting at home waiting for that phone call on the landline ended years ago. One of my best friends still uses a landline only and pays long distance haha!
 
Originally Posted by aquariuscsm
Imo in today's world,a smart phone is a necessity. Life moves at a very fast pace now. EVERYTHING is online. The days of sitting at home waiting for that phone call on the landline ended years ago. One of my best friends still uses a landline only and pays long distance haha!


Agreed.

But you can do all that with a moderately priced phone.

A car is a necessity for many.

A Corolla makes sense if you're tight on money. You don't need a Mercedes.

If you get a Mercedes when a Corolla will do, then you're a fool.

So it is with phones.
 
Because, OP, your numbers are as bad at portraying the scenario as the assumption that you're arguing against. .

I pay $140/mo on ATT for two unlimited data lines with all the taxes and fees. I could be doing ATT next for two iPhone or samsung galaxy phones for around $80 for the two. That would be $220/month for having two smartphone lines!

If instead I bought minimum data, it would still be a decent amount of money. ATT 1GB prepaid is still $35, and so that's $70 for two lines. Yes, a refurbished iPhone 6s 16gb is only like $140 at Walmart. Got it.,

So the reality is that the spectrum is broad.

When I see someone buying groceries on WIC/EBT, while texting on a late model iPhone, I'm not particularly sympathetic. When I see someone with a beat up smartphone with a cracked screen, I am. So the rest of the context is important.
 
I agree that a smartphone has become a necessity for most including myself. Besides being here on BITOG, I pay all my bills and most of my shopping with the device.

As a senior I get the senior rates. T Mobile charged me $30 a month for each line unlimited. With FaceTime and other apps the wife and I communicate all over the world as the family is pretty much everywhere.

The way I buy phones is to get them unlocked at the beginning so I can use any carrier I want which comes in handy traveling. I have a iPhone 6 and as long as it works I don't need anything newer.
 
It's one thing to take advantage of carrier deals and basically get the brand new phone each year, while not being particularly financially responsible. Still, because it was a deal or the price is paid off per month for an amount that could be covered with a PT job, so be it. I think many people in the US fall into this bucket.

It's another thing to save up and buy the new phone each year outright because you just want the newest phone. Less people fall into this bucket but they exist.

It's yet another thing to get by, each year, with a really slow and old smart phone. Many people do this.

And it's another thing to demand that you have the best of each thing each year, not have the financials to support this lifestyle, buy it without any promotions or discounts or payment plans (not being a smart consumer, even though you have a powerful computer in your pocket), and then simultaneously gripe all the time that everything is expensive or that you can't afford to pay your utilities. I pray nobody here has sympathy for this person.
 
Originally Posted by Nick1994
People spend $50k on a car every 3 years and no-one batts an eye.

$1k for a phone for 3 years? Not a big deal. That's $333 a year, or $28 a month. Or a decent dinner at a restaurant for 1.

Big whoop.

Poor people aren't going to rock a three year old iPhone/Galaxy/Note. They're gonna get the new hotness every time it's released.
 
Originally Posted by RTexasF
Pointless thread award winner of the new year!

OP has a bunch of Apple stock and is worried about the plummetting stock price. "Flagship phones are a Right!"
 
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