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That awkward moment when Apple mocked good hardware and poor people

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Re: That awkward moment when Apple mocked good hardware and poor people

#401

Post by alistairSH »

kdamken wrote: post #121
petra wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> no one is forcing people to buy iPhones. It's not that simple. I once heard a lecture from a psychologist researching the effects brands have on teenagers, and she said owning a brand can deeply affect a teenager's self-assurance, create anxieties, etc.

I remember, it's tough to be a teenager. It's a shame they have to go through that. But at the end of the day if you can't afford lunch, you need to reevaluate your priorities. Maybe get a slightly older iPhone, or one of the many cheaper but comparable Androids.

I'm fairly confident they did evaluate their priorities.

"Free" lunches are provided by the state, so they don't need to budget for that expense. Lunch @ $3/day, 20 days/month in school, school year runs 10 months/year. Those "free" lunches just paid for the iPhone.

Re: That awkward moment when Apple mocked good hardware and poor people

#403

Post by collyw »

CaptainZapp wrote: post #338
JohnBooty wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you're already poor, then an iPhone (not a smartphone) is definitely a luxury. It's not wrong, nor necessarily economically irresponsible, for "poor" people to have a few nice things. Assuming a lifespan of 3 years, the cost difference between a $600 phone and a $300 phone is barely more than $0.25 per day - and probably even less, considering that iPhones have a higher resale value. Maybe that "poor person" car…

I'm not sure if you have any perspective what being poor means. This link : http://whatever.scalzi.com/2005/09/03/being-poor/ Seems quite appropriate and - I hope - illuminating.

I find it quite annoying when people equate owning a smartphone to not being poor. Phones are regularly sold on 18 month contracts, so there are tons of 2 year old perfectly usable smartphones kicking around and probably given to the ex-owners poorer friends.

Re: That awkward moment when Apple mocked good hardware and poor people

#404

Post by robmcm »

sickbeard wrote: post #110

Story time! My gf and I went to take pictures of some expensive cars at an Audi dealership. While there one of the nicely dressed sales people started talking to us about the Q7. He quoted about 70k cdn as a starting price and argued, sure it was an expensive car but it lasts longer and you save money in the long run. I think maybe that's what apple was trying to get across, buy some quality hardware that is updated…

Resale value would have been a better approach (perhaps not from new though).

Re: That awkward moment when Apple mocked good hardware and poor people

#405

Post by erroneousfunk »

cat-dev-null wrote: post #227
waspleg wrote: post #41

I completely agree with the author of the article. Apple is the real-world incarnation of the economic premise of Huxley's "A Brave New World". This was just the mask dropping for a second to pander to the faithful. I'd like to add, as someone who works at K12 public high school, that I've seen the reality of the article played out. My building is 100% free lunch, most are extremely poor, and yet there is a sizable n…

Absolutely true... as another anecdotal example, one of my mechanics in his 20's is also an Uber driver and has a brand new iPhone 6s Plus. Also, the prevalence of gold-collar workers splurging on old (and increasingly expensive to maintain) Lexus, Acuras, BMWs, Mercedes, etc. Contrast this with folks whom have wealth and do everything possible to look fashionably broke (or at least "if you've got it, hide it"): torn…

A mechanic in his 20's who also drives an Uber? Sounds like exactly the sort of person who would probably be able to afford, and get tremendous value from, an iPhone 6s Plus.

Mechanics make good money, and having a side income is all just extra cash for a guy in his 20's that probably doesn't have a lot in the way of bills. Super fast processor, latest GPS chip and assisted GPS software, extra large screen to view the map at a glance while driving... Most of the bad experiences I've had with Uber have been caused by problems with the driver's phone or GPS, not their car. Investing in good (and relatively cheap, all things considered) equipment is probably a wise move here.

And I would't say Urban Outfitters looks "cheap" It looks like Urban Outfitters. The point of a brand new Joy Division "concert" shirt and torn jeans isn't to fool people. Jeans with a pattern of distress marks in front upper thigh and "patch" machine stitching on the back? Expensive (tacky, but expensive). Jeans where both knees have a horizontal split that's threatening to extend to the side seams? Cheap. I would argue that people with "wealth" haven't really been a big demographic at Urban Outfitters lately, anyway. "Understated" clothing brands like Everlane, Calvin Klein seem to be more popular in the US.

Re: That awkward moment when Apple mocked good hardware and poor people

#406

Post by sh-run »

mrbill wrote: post #164

I just bought a "new to me" laptop. Refurb Thinkpad T420s from 2011. I added 16G RAM, two Intel SSDs, an Ultrabay battery, and an 802.12ac wifi card. Grand total: less than $325. This will be my primary portable for at least 2-3 years, and it's already four years old. Just because I can afford Apple doesn't mean I can justify the 2x price premium, or that "old" hardware isn't capable.

I've been using a T410 for almost 6 years now. It's got 8GB of RAM, an SSD and the hard drive that it shipped with is now in the ultrabay. With the 9 cell battery I get almost 5 hours of battery life with normal use. I see no reason to upgrade. Sure a newer laptop might be a little thinner or a little faster, but for what I do I'd never notice. It's not like an ultrabook is going to fit in my pocket. I'd still need to carry it in a bag.

Re: That awkward moment when Apple mocked good hardware and poor people

#408

Post by chetanahuja »

CaptainZapp wrote: post #338
JohnBooty wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you're already poor, then an iPhone (not a smartphone) is definitely a luxury. It's not wrong, nor necessarily economically irresponsible, for "poor" people to have a few nice things. Assuming a lifespan of 3 years, the cost difference between a $600 phone and a $300 phone is barely more than $0.25 per day - and probably even less, considering that iPhones have a higher resale value. Maybe that "poor person" car…

I'm not sure if you have any perspective what being poor means. This link : http://whatever.scalzi.com/2005/09/03/being-poor/ Seems quite appropriate and - I hope - illuminating.

That's a good perspective for those of us living comfortable middle-class lives in the developed world currently.

But having seen the other side of the coin in the not-so-developed world, I'm sure the author could (and should) add the words "in America" to that essay's title. Being poor elsewhere is far far worse than what he describes here.

Re: That awkward moment when Apple mocked good hardware and poor people

#409

Post by mangeletti »

waspleg wrote: post #41

I completely agree with the author of the article. Apple is the real-world incarnation of the economic premise of Huxley's "A Brave New World". This was just the mask dropping for a second to pander to the faithful. I'd like to add, as someone who works at K12 public high school, that I've seen the reality of the article played out. My building is 100% free lunch, most are extremely poor, and yet there is a sizable n…

> Why? Because they don't want to look poor or be thought of as such.

This is not necessarily correct.

A lot of people still regard iPhones and other high-end smartphones as being something of a luxury. They are a luxury when you compare them to what we need for survival (food, water, shelter), but there is something to be said about a small rectangular device that, once purchased, can provide nearly free:

1. entertainment

2. education (Wikipedia, etc.)

3. news

4. photography

5. social connection

6. documentation of events (note taking, video, etc.)

7. voice recording

8. calculator

9. more complex tools (graphing calculator, 12C, etc.)

10. flash light

11. access to e-commerce (save money on things you need)

12. e-readers (text books that might otherwise be cost-prohibitive)

The list goes on, but, for all of its negatives, the value of a high-quality smartphone like an iPhone can't be over-stated.

In fact, when you consider all the things it replaces, including entertainment, poor people almost cannot afford to not have a smartphone.

Whether the additional value of an iPhone or other high-end device (Galaxy, etc.), compared to a low-end smartphone, pays for the increase in cost, is definitely debatable.

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