Thank you for the post. Very well written and the sentiments expressed resonate with more people than would admit to it I'd vouch.I might be way off base… but what if this luxury company with lots of intelligent people and smart leaders (who can predict the financial future far better than I can) knows that the financial stability of the average person is going to be much different in the next few years?
Maybe Apple was a luxury brand that didn’t care about the cost. Hence, when Steve told Ive to make the iMac g3 have a transparent blue case even though it was three times (I think) the typical case cost. But those days are gone. This is now a company that will sell an Apple Watch 3 way past its time or use “old” designs and call it an SE. And instead of someone saying, “Hey, why are they selling old stuff with a new name” we say instead, “hey, they are making products for all price points”...
I work at a nonprofit (a church) that pays for my phone and plan. They want me to be reachable at all times, and I guess it is nice that I got a new iPhone (or whatever phone I wanted to pick). But I also drive a vehicle with 300,000 miles and have to intentionally not buy groceries I would like because I also make 40k a year. So for someone like me, the ability to split something between this month’s paycheck and next month’s paycheck could be a way for me to keep needed purchases on debit without having to resort to another of my credit cards that in the past few years have become more and more needed for even the basic “needs” of life.
I might be an exception. I read a post about people with second homes in other countries with 100+ HomeKit accessories. I also see posts from people who say they bought a MacBook Air just to have it in the living room because the MBP is rendering in the home office. And I admit I am envious. I have nice setup at work, but I wanted so badly for the TD snafu to be true so I could get an MBA half-price and use it at home
There are plenty of people who have bought things they couldn’t afford. I admit my guilt. Many people here probably have as well. There are also plenty of people in this country for whom money is virtually not a thought on their minds. They want it. They buy it in cash. And they got there because they worked hard; or they got there because they happened to luck up and got a killer job when their friend got skipped over for the interview.
My encouragement would be to be conservative with comments making fun of options to help the middle/lower class (a group that maybe Apple sees as increasing in the next decade?). Of course, some run up debt just for the fun of it with no intentions of paying it back. There are also those like me who are trying everything they humanly know to provide for their family while still serving in a career that aims to increase the happiness of others before increasing the comfort of our finances. And for those people, something like this could be used responsibly.
Above, someone makes a K-Mart remark. I smiled without offense because when I was a kid going to K-Mart was a big deal. I got to get a $5 toy and then go to the Little Caesar’s cafe in K-Mart and get a little pack of mini crazy bread with my mama. Then after my stepdad murdered my mother when I was ten, and I got a new family, K-Mart clothes turned into clothes from the mall. And my pride grew as well as I became a teenager who wouldn’t wear Walmart clothes… I quickly forgot where I came from--especially considering it wasn’t my own bootstraps that got me where I was. It was a babysitter who was willing to adopt me as her own. I could boast about nothing. It was all due to the gift of another.
A few years ago, I became friends with a homeless man in our town. He would hang out at a local place, and if I were in the area, I would make a point to stop and sit at the table outside with him. That helped me so much. As I got to know Sammy, I learned that he knew far more about life, electronics, engineering, etc., a whole whole whole lot more than I did. What made the difference? Was I smarter or harder working or better working with my hands? No. I often thought about him (he is gone from our town now) and how most of our country is (like him) one blown engine that makes us rely on a friend to get to work, that begins not to be able to make it to work, that loses our job, that loses our rental place and next thing we know we are in a position we never thought we’d be in. It just takes a few missed paychecks for many Americans to end up in the exact same place.
I know MR isn’t a philosophy forum or how to treat people better. But, treating people better includes not saying things about people that are not true, even if they are people we do not know. So while Pay Later might do more hurt than help in the long run, I can feel for those who see it as another way to juggle the increasing cost of living with a flatline income that isn’t keeping up.
I don’t know how I even got off on this. I worked all day, saw my family for about 3 hours tonight, then came back to the office to work through the night on several items with hard deadlines around noon today. I need to log off and get back to my projects after this little mental break. But perhaps this post can be an encouragement to someone. My Apple Card used to be solid white monthly, paying it off in full. Then a few family situations impacted matters. Then an economic change caused my income to go from keeping up with a little extra to being unable to keep up. Perhaps there’s a man in this forum who feels guilty because, along with trying your hardest to provide for your family, you also have a hobby to keep yourself sane. And if your hobby like mine is browsing around MR since 2003, then you are bound to come across forum posts that make you feel like even less of a family provider when you compare your perceived life with another’s perceived life. If that is you, I encourage you to with these words: whether you buy your kids the latest and greatest or not, your worth is not based on whether you use Apple Pay Later or you have payments set to automatically pay the balance in full. You don’t even have to look at the account to know if it will clear… you’re important. And don’t let the size of your bank account or the means you provide for your family determine how important you are to your family who loves you.
Forgive any grammar, I'm dead tired and the words are blurring together.
One of the best and most empathetic and human ones I have ever read on MacRumours…
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