Posted on 09/22/2017 12:04:12 AM PDT by Swordmaker
For many, it’s a status symbol.
Ten dollars is too much for a phone. You want to spend a grand? Have at it.
Today, I think it's safe to say that your average handheld phone has more computing power than all of NASA back then.
ok, I have ATT with being able to use phone for hotspot, how do you make that work?
The jury is out on that. It sounds pretty much second rate except for processing speed. I don’t think it will bring in new customers. Just the more money than brains club who like thr nonstop shilling.
I bought an original bottom-end IBM PC when first introduced.
$6000 in today’s dollars.
1.1count noun An inessential, desirable item which is expensive or difficult to obtain.
Of course the thing is a luxury. But so is Samsung's.
“My first THREE cars cost 1000 dollars combined!!!”
Used cars are, on a dollar per pound basis, the best buy of anything today. I paid more for a sofa and recliner chair than I did for a working car that I got just as much use from.
I currently own a ‘92 Suburban, a ‘98 Mark 8, a ‘99 Town Car and a ‘56 Studebaker. The most expensive by far was the Studebaker, which cost $7000 with a rebuilt drive train and in good driver condition. It actually exceeded the cost of all the others which all had good tires and working air conditioning. True, I spend more in maintenance, but the cost is about equal to two or three car payments per car per year.
“Used cars are, on a dollar per pound basis, the best buy of anything today”
One thing gets more, pound=for-pound:
For $1,000 you could buy 10 houses in Detroit.
Dear free market conservative Freepers: The iPhone X will be worth $1000 to everyone that purchases one. For those that disagree they won’t buy one.
I’m on an Android phone that is at least 3 models old purchased on Amazon for $348. Does everything and serves pretty much as my office in all ways. The new models keep having supposedly “can’t live without” features that most people can’t even notice. And my phone is sleek and modern not some old clunker.
Hey! Good to see you drop in, FRiend...:)
Long time no see!
As mewzilla pointed out, of course these phones are luxury items. And I suspect Freeper jdsteel will agree with my post here.
I always find it interesting to see conservatives implying via negative and derogatory commentary that purchasers of luxury items are greedy, spoiled, or ignorant for buying a phone that is more expensive than they feel it should be.
Since when did conservatives start doing this? Are they getting bleed-over from being inundated with all the virtue signalling that goes on in nearly every societal direction they look?
True conservatives have always felt that the market sets the price of an item. The two way interaction between prices and supply/demand is the invisible hand that makes a capitalistic system work the way we want it too. The concept of the “invisible hand” is anathema to liberals. They despise it and are dismissive of it.
When the price goes up too high, demand will come down (because at some point, people won’t pay the price) and if prices go too low, demand will go up until a market is saturated. Like water finding its level, as long as government doesn’t stick its fingers in, everyone will be happy. People like us are out there, voting with our dollars and casting those “dollar” votes with companies like Apple and Samsung to let them know what features we want on the phones, and where we want those phones to be sent for retail. It is this mechanism that make it possible for us to buy whatever phone we want, with the features we want, where we want to buy it.
It is the best of all worlds.
Companies will make profits and people will have phones.
Since when did we as conservatives start making noise about something being too expensive?
Why do we care if someone wants to buy a phone that has 128-256 GB of storage (which is what those high end phones will cost)? Why do people care if they want to store all their music or cat videos locally on the phone?
Isn’t the whole point that penetrating a market with these phones with advanced capabilities and storage capacity will make it more likely that the lower end of the market will eventually see these high end phones, as they are replaced at the high end by phones with even greater storage and capability?
Of course these phones are a luxury. But isn’t that one of the key drivers of making available to the masses many of the things we take for granted today...the driver of luxury?
There was once a time when a phone was considered a luxury. My mother told me when her father purchased their house back in the 1930’s, as they looked in the windows before they moved in, they saw a telephone, and everyone was excited, because that was the height of luxury back then for a family like hers during the depression. Now, even cell phones are considered a necessity by many people, and not just cell phones, but ones that can surf the Internet and take hi-res shake-corrected video.
Even if you don’t buy an expensive Apple phone, you should be glad they make them. They don’t drive the price of phones up, they drive the value up (features/price) and that high end of “early adopters” has made it affordable for people with even basic phones to surf the Internet. Good or bad, that is what people want.
This framing of these phones as elitist toys just smacks of liberalism to me, because it is what they do (Even, of course, if they own one, because they can justify their “need” to own one while criticizing others who own them, and can do it without a hint of hypocrisy).
As conservatives, we should be glad these high end phones are available for people to purchase if they wish.
From my experience in marketing, I’ve learned that being a “technology consumer leader” is something that a segment of the population will pay for (not just for tech, but “be the first to have X” is an incentive for many). They are willing to pay a premium for that, and to me that premium is for a luxury
I have a $120 phone and no contract. The performance difference between it and an S8 is unnoticeable in the things that I and my friend with an S8 do. Having “Samsung S8” on his phone along with specs that say his phone is better is the $700 luxury for him and a value worth the cost. Also, he can drop his phone in water, so maybe not a full $700 for the luxury. But I can replace my phone 6 times before spending as much as he did if I drop it in water or lose it.
The $1000 iphone is pretty much the same as the S8 in value/tech/luxury. The name is a luxury many people want that or to be a “technology leader”. You can’t convince me the different between the retina display and my 1920x1080 is noticeable in typical phone usage (ie. without running a demo to make it obvious). Maybe you really can see it and maybe some applications make use of it, but for me it’s meaningless other than the fact that you can say “I have a retina display”
I really want people to keep buying $800 or $1000 phones. I get a new one every 1-2 years for $100-$150 that is awesome because apple and samsung spent so much to develope the latest $1000 phone and the technology keeps improving for everyone even if I’m a couple years behind. And apps need to run well on 2-3 year old phones, so I hardly notice. When apps start needing today’s iphone or s8, I’ll have an equivalent for $100-$150.
Is a $1000 too much for a Phone?
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For a phone? YES certainly .. however if it’s mobile computing you are really asking about and not placing phone calls there are much better and less costly solutions. Combining the two into a device too small to be useful due to screen size (as compared to a large tablet or laptop) is prohibitively expensive.
Just as the iWatch is useless because it doesn’t have enough battery to be useful as a true watch,, requiring constant charging.
Exactly. It is those “rich” people and “early adopters” (for whatever reason...greed, status, local availability of cat videos) who make it possible for everyone who would NEVER be able to afford a phone with 128 GB...to finally at some point GET a phone with 128 GB at or near the same relative price point they used to pay for a phone with 4 GB.
We should cheer those “fools” who want to be parted with their money! (WE are the eventual winners!)
I am dealing with the same deal with my LG phone right now; it is at Sprint for service at this moment. There was a recall on my phone. It gets super hot in my pocket.
The guy there warned that today I might not be able to get in the door because mouth breathing Apple fanboys will be lining up around the corner to buy some new Apple product that is released today.
I have no interest in discussing brands but I have a phone with a fast efficient processor, plenty of memory, 1080p AMOLED screen and a battery that lasts two days with regular use that costs less than $400. This met all my needs plus exceeded my expectations regarding camera, sensors, etc. I would consider a phone like this above a basic needs phone. Buying a phone, any brand, that costs twice as much and arguably doesn’t perform any additional functions could be considered a luxury.
In that way, I consider all the cutting edge phones a luxury phone.
If you are an IOS user, there will be multiple models that are above a basic needs phone but cost will under a grand, those I would not consider luxury.
At a thousand dollars it’d be a luxury for me.
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