How many teenagers have their own computer?

[sushi]

That's because computers are more widespread. Same thing with cars. Go back a hundred years, having just 1 was seen as a sign of great riches. Nowadays, not having at least one is seen as a sign of poverty

I think that it is more of a function of cost.

To put it into perspective, I can go out to a used computer store to find a 32MB (as in megabyte) DIMM for $10. In the early 90's, it cost $3,200!

When I purchased my Quadra 840av, the price was around $1,200 for the same DIMM. So to equip my 840av with a wopping 128MB of RAM would have cost me $4,800!

Of course that beat the $12,800 that the early adopters had to pay!

Computer costs have dramatically dropped the past 10 years. I think that this has been a key factor in their widespread adoption.

 

[FocusAndEarnIt]

IComputer costs have dramatically dropped the past 10 years. I think that this has been a key factor in their widespread adoption.

And they are still dropping.

 

[rye9]

I think this is a good point though - many teenagers who are spoiled get whatever they want from their parents and do not respect the value of money and of expensive devices like this. I think it's great for teenagers to buy items like this with their own money to truly appreciate the value of a dollar, and their own money in general, not someone else's. Far too many kids have it to easy these days, and they'll pay for it later on in life.

How will they pay later in life? Im not saying I am one of those teens I did get an iBook that I didnt buy myself, but I do buy many things with my own money. I bought my own bed, ALL of my bikes, and my own video games.

 

[sushi]

And they are still dropping.

Yep.

Although, I don't think the drop in prices will be as dramatic in the next 10 years as we have seen in the past 10 years.

What we will more likely see is that a baseline emerges and stabilizes for each type of item. I bet that some would argue that we are already there. Anyhow, after that, you won't be able to get things cheaper, just more value (features, HD, RAM, etc.) for the given baseline.

I don't know if I am explaining this concept well or not. But hopefully I did.

 

[sushi]

How will they pay later in life?

Not trying to sound condescending, but I know of no way else to put it. Sorry.

When you are much older, it is very easy to see this answer to this question.

Unfortunately, each of us must learn this lesson in our own time. The sooner the better I might ad.

 

[iMatt mini]

I'm 15 and I have an old IBM Desktop, an HP Laptop and my 12'' iBook.
my room takes up a lot of electricity.

 

[~Shard~]

How will they pay later in life? Im not saying I am one of those teens I did get an iBook that I didnt buy myself, but I do buy many things with my own money. I bought my own bed, ALL of my bikes, and my own video games.

First of all, I was speaking of kids who are spoiled, and have everything given to them - if you pay for things on your own than that's not really being spoiled. But for those kids who do have it easy, don't learn the value of a dollar and the hard work required to earn it, they will indeed pay later in life. They will be shocked into reality when they all of a sudden move out, don't have their parents to look after them anymore, have to get a job, have to take out loans which they will mismanage and not pay back due to a lack of understanding of financial concepts such as compound interest, will not want to work hard since everything was given to them before, and will have a hard time making ends meet when they all of a sudden have rent to pay, car payments, etc. etc.

Yes, I know, a rant, and I am obviously generalizing here, but I have seen it happen many times over.

Not trying to sound condescending, but I know of no way else to put it. Sorry.

When you are much older, it is very easy to see this answer to this question.

Unfortunately, each of us must learn this lesson in our own time. The sooner the better I might ad.

That's very well put sushi. As you say, that's just the way it is.

 

[cslewis]

A school issued 12 inch iBook... which isn't technically my own. If I wasn't as lucky as I am, i'd be sharing my family's iMac.

 

[OutThere]

First of all, I was speaking of kids who are spoiled, and have everything given to them - if you pay for things on your own than that's not really being spoiled. But for those kids who do have it easy, don't learn the value of a dollar and the hard work required to earn it, they will indeed pay later in life. They will be shocked into reality when they all of a sudden move out, don't have their parents to look after them anymore, have to get a job, have to take out loans which they will mismanage and not pay back due to a lack of understanding of financial concepts such as compound interest, will not want to work hard since everything was given to them before, and will have a hard time making ends meet when they all of a sudden have rent to pay, car payments, etc. etc.

Yes, I know, a rant, and I am obviously generalizing here, but I have seen it happen many times over.



That's very well put sushi. As you say, that's just the way it is.

These are the people who credit card companies love.

The average american household has 6.5 credit cards, and far to many of those credit cards are maxed out, behind on payments, or the owner has charged it way past anything he'll ever be able to pay for. Unfortunately the credit card companies then profit off of that, making massive interest on late payments...

 

[~Shard~]

These are the people who credit card companies love.

The average american household has 6.5 credit cards, and far to many of those credit cards are maxed out, behind on payments, or the owner has charged it way past anything he'll ever be able to pay for. Unfortunately the credit card companies then profit off of that, making massive interest on late payments...

Precisely - you hit the nail on the head. My father thought me about "real-world finance" (or whatever you want to call it) at an early age, and I really don't see why this kind of stuff isn't taught in school. I remember asking a prof in University about the stock market and he didn't even want to talk about it. Thanks to my Dad though I learned how to save money, how to invest, and in general how to be smart with my money. But as you say, there are so many people out there who live beyond their means, are in debt up to their eyeballs and have no comprehension of these sorts of matters. Quite sad really, but as you say, I guess the credit companies don't think so.

 

[sushi]

Precisely - you hit the nail on the head. My father thought me about "real-world finance" (or whatever you want to call it) at an early age, and I really don't see why this kind of stuff isn't taught in school. I remember asking a prof in University about the stock market and he didn't even want to talk about it. Thanks to my Dad though I learned how to save money, how to invest, and in general how to be smart with my money. But as you say, there are so many people out there who live beyond their means, are in debt up to their eyeballs and have no comprehension of these sorts of matters. Quite sad really, but as you say, I guess the credit companies don't think so.

You are lucky. So many parents don't know or don't share with their sons and daughters.

It is really surprising how many people live paycheck to paycheck these days.

Reference credit cards. They are a wonderful tool if you use them correctly. Unfortunately it seems many don't.

I can't believe how many credit card "deals" that I receive in the mail. Some from my current cards and others from new card applications. All enticing me to spend, spend and spend!

And the interest rates! Yikes! Some are almost like a loan shark charges!

Sushi

 

[EricNau]

You are lucky. So many parents don't know or don't share with their sons and daughters.

It is really surprising how many people live paycheck to paycheck these days.

Reference credit cards. They are a wonderful tool if you use them correctly. Unfortunately it seems many don't.

I can't believe how many credit card "deals" that I receive in the mail. Some from my current cards and others from new card applications. All enticing me to spend, spend and spend!

And the interest rates! Yikes! Some are almost like a loan shark charges!

Sushi

Credit card companies are very happy about this. Recently, my Mom received a notice from her Credit Card bank telling her that they were taking away her rewards because she did NOT carry a balance. Needless to say she doesn't use that credit card anymore.

 

[slooksterPSV]

Just curious, how many teenagers here are between 13 and 18 and have their owm computer?

I actually have 5, 1 of which I use.
1 - My Baby, my own, mine - iBook 1.33GHz, 512MB RAM, 32MB VRAM, 40GB HDD, 12" model - current revision - Tiger 10.4.3
2 - iBook G3 (gave it to my sister) 500MHz, 320MB RAM, 8MB VRAM, 20GB HDD, 12" model - first snow model - Tiger 10.4.2
3 - iMac G3 333MHz, 288MB RAM, 2MB VRAM, 6GB HDD, Ubuntu Breezy.
4 - AMD Duron 1.10 GHz PC, 384MB RAM, 20GB HDD, 64MB AGP 2x Video Card, Windows XP Pro. (don't use it, became family computer).
5 - HP Vectra 350MHz Pentium II, 256MB RAM, 6GB HDD, 8MB VRAM (ATI Rage video card), Windows 98 - old, in closet, never use.

I use #1 the most... sometimes I have to use #4 for odd jobs. But #1 is mine, bough it 2 months ago.

 

[~Shard~]

It is really surprising how many people live paycheck to paycheck these days.

Reference credit cards. They are a wonderful tool if you use them correctly. Unfortunately it seems many don't.

I can't believe how many credit card "deals" that I receive in the mail. Some from my current cards and others from new card applications. All enticing me to spend, spend and spend!

And the interest rates! Yikes! Some are almost like a loan shark charges!

Yeah, I know, it's pretty bad. As I said above, I don't understand why simple real-world finance isn't taught in schools - they should call it "Money Management" or something along those lines.

Credit cards are so bad, as you say, if used incorrectly (as they most often are). For people who carry a balance and continually make minimum payments they end up paying 4 or 5 times as much for whatever item they purchased thanks to the stupidly high interest rates. When dealing with small businesses and the like, I have run into Investment Banks, and that in my mind is legalized loan sharking, however credit card companies are right up there as well.

Anyway, straying a little off-topic I guess, but it does tie back into my initial comment about how some teenagers are spoiled I guess. I just hope too many won't have to learn the hard way, yet I know it will happen in many cases regardless...

 

[sushi]

Anyway, straying a little off-topic I guess, but it does tie back into my initial comment about how some teenagers are spoiled I guess. I just hope too many won't have to learn the hard way, yet I know it will happen in many cases regardless...

Maybe a little off topic, but if we help one young Macrumors member then it has been worth it!

There is nothing like working and savings towards a goal. It makes it mean so much more than if you just receive something as a gift.

I was in my 20's before I purchased my first computer. In HS, I dreamed of the Altair 8800, but it was much more than I could afford.

Today there are so many more viable options available compared to 30 years ago. When it comes to purchasing a personal computer, teenagers are very lucky.

Sushi

 

[Plymouthbreezer]

I do.

 

[~Shard~]

Maybe a little off topic, but if we help one young Macrumors member then it has been worth it!

There is nothing like working and savings towards a goal. It makes it mean so much more than if you just receive something as a gift.

I was in my 20's before I purchased my first computer. In HS, I dreamed of the Altair 8800, but it was much more than I could afford.

Today there are so many more viable options available compared to 30 years ago. When it comes to purchasing a personal computer, teenagers are very lucky.

Sushi

Agreed, if we can help educate even just a few individuals, it is indeed worth it. And yes, the choices are much more abundant nowadays than several years ago, teenagers today are very lucky indeed!

 

[reberto]

I do.

Athlon XP 2700+ 2.5 ghz 160 gig HD Win 2k pro 512 ram 6800XT

iMac G4 1.0 ghz 17' 768 ram 80 gig hd 10.4.3

iMac Rev D 333 mhz 160 ram 10.4.2 120 gig HD (makes a great server)

Blue and white G3 450 mhz Rev C? (it has built in ultra-scsi. VERY weird) 10.2.8 (server)

I paid for all of these my self (ok, the iMac G4 was a gift when my dad upgraded to a iMac G5)

 

[Dynamyk]

I always had my own PC now I got my own Mac too, I'm 18, for everything I've got I've paid at least half, for my PC I paid all.

 

[maestro55]

I am 17 and I have 5 (4 really, one PowerMac 5500 seems to have a bad monitor).

Homebrew Linux Box running SuSe 9.1
2 PowerMac 5500's (one has a bad monitor)
Emachine running Slackware 10
IBM Thinkpad 390X running Windows XP

I have had a computer for as long as I can remember, multiple machines over the years. Mostly Apple machines (Apple //gs, LCIII, Centris, Powerbook Duo Dock, and the two 5500's make up the Apple computers I own/have owned).

I can just see my first apartment, computers everywhere. I am going into networking so my focus will be on Linux machines, but my main computer will be a PowerBook and I suppose I will collect other Apple products over the years.

 

[deadlygopher]

stuff in my sig ++;
just got a semi-awesome pc today, X700, A64 2600+, Firewire(on a pc (blaspheme))