iPhone or iPod Touch?

[Avatar74]

My point is I'm curious why you're even asking for the advice of others on what is ostensibly a luxury purchase (as opposed to a necessity)... I mean, if you don't think of investment opportunity cost, then screw it. Don't ask... just go spend. What more reason could you need than "I want"?

I'm serious... I'm answering the way I am because you seem to be seeking affirmation of one choice over another, as if there's a need to provide a rational justification for a phone with lots of bells and whistles.

Do you need our affirmation to believe that what you're doing requires logic? I went to the Apple Store the day of the release and bought it because, hey, I like the multitouch idea and it's a cool toy. I didn't sit down with my wife or friends and lay out the pros and cons and ask them to affirm my frivolity.

Either you want confirmation so you don't feel self-conscious, or you want us to talk you out of spending an arm and a leg when you could get a free phone that serves the basic purpose.

Seriously, I am not trying reverse psychology... I'm telling you that I too separate investments from luxury purchases. If I think of it as an investment, I analyze it as an investment. But I don't try to justify luxury purchases because it's a silly exercise in self-affirmation and nothing more.

 

[beeeen]

I've been debating the same thing lately. I'm with AT&T, so adding on the data plan wouldn't be that bad for only 20 bucks a month. I have unlimited texting already so that's fine. The only thing that is really stopping me from getting the iphone is the lack of 3rd party apps, but now that we can jailbreak and apple is releasing the sdk, I'm leaning more toward the phone. I also do like some of the phones on at&t as well, which is why I wanted the touch. I realized I would want to be on the internet, and the iPhone offers an inexpensive solution for me. Yeah, my two cents.

 

[hah116]

Isn't this discussion basically over?

He isn't 18 and therefore can't even sign up for the iPhone contract.

Sucks for him, he could have a way cooler device and end up "saving" more if he was old enough.

 

[CD3660]

Isn't this discussion basically over?

He isn't 18 and therefore can't even sign up for the iPhone contract.

.....unless he can get a parent, uncle or aunt to do it for him.

 

[Avatar74]

Isn't this discussion basically over?

He isn't 18 and therefore can't even sign up for the iPhone contract.

Sucks for him, he could have a way cooler device and end up "saving" more if he was old enough.

Granted, that settles that issue... but I still think there's a bigger issue here I'm questioning and that is the logic being applied in his decision making.

.....unless he can get a parent, uncle or aunt to do it for him.

I think if they would have agreed, he would have done it. My guess is they said "No" and for good reason. Even 33 year olds don't "need" iPhones... I don't see any reason why he does. He thinks he can afford it. So? I'm sure that anyone can live paycheck by paycheck, letting every spare few hundred dollars burn a hole in their pocket... but who learns to save, invest and grow these days? Nobody. That's the problem.

Kids are developing an instant gratification mentality like never before, buying every gadget they like to satisfy their appetite temporarily. It will be harder and harder for their generation to save because of the interest rates available to them and the dissolution of social security benefits. And the time value of money is a concept that leaves even most adults with blank stares... Adults are having trouble saving, and they're teaching the "oh I can afford it because I have some spare cash sitting around" idea to their kids.

I used to think exactly like that and saw money coming in and going out...eventually that thinking leads to rationalizing deferred credit purchases, etc. Even if he isn't now, that's a mentality that justifies precisely that kind of behavior because marketers are VERY persuasive in that regard. Why do you think so many homeowners got suckered into ARM's? It's not because they're just morons... It's because fiscal responsibility is tricky when the facts are obscured from view. You have to be a lot more vigilant about not letting everyone take advantage of your propensity to want things you don't immediately need.

I've saved several thousand dollars just in the past 3-4 months by not succumbing to my appetite for gadgetry at every turn... And by "saved" I don't mean I bought less expensive things. I mean I didn't buy things I didn't need and I have a pile of cash in my bank account which I'm going to put away in investments and turn into a bigger pile of cash.

One thing young kids and even middle aged adults do not see is that they will reach an age where they have no earning power. Where nobody wants to hire them to do a job that they can pay a new graduate a lot less to do the same job.

If you're earning, say a household income of $80,000 today and you want to maintain the same lifestyle, you'd have to have at minimum $1.5 million stashed away to retire today... In 40-50 years when this kid retires, he'll need several times that. At that level of household income, it takes a LOT of discipline to grow a savings of $1.5 million, let alone the $3-5 million it will have to be (due to inflation and vanishing Soc. Sec. benefits) for future retirees.

If the kid doesn't start developing a sense of fiscal responsibility NOW, he's going to be crying 50 years from now about all the iPods and iPhones and other gadgets he could have done without which had nickel and dimed away a healthy retirement.

I'm not trying to be a doomsayer... it doesn't take a lot to be fiscally responsible. The hardest part is learning, understanding and initiating a lifestyle that lives by the Time Value of Money principle which is the central guiding principle behind all financial transactions. It's what puts bankers in Ferraris and uneducated consumers in the poor house.

I'm just tired of all the "should I spend $2000 on a frivolity" threads that I'm seeing from 12-18 year olds around here. Where are the parents in this discussion? Sure, it's the kids money but it's a parents job to at least educate their kids about fiscal responsibility so they can make educated choices about what they need and what they don't... I suspect it's because parents are also busy spending themselves into an early grave.

No wonder the kids want these gadgets... As with the marketing genius behind cigarettes, kids mistakenly think that the accumulation of toys is what being an adult is all about. Unfortunately, too many adults believe that, too.

 

[CD3660]

Wow! You must feel very strongly on these matters having gone to such an effort.

 

[Avatar74]

Wow! You must feel very strongly on these matters having gone to such an effort.

No effort, really. These are just common sense things. I am passionate about the issue, yes... but it's really not taxing me to type a few words on the matter.

 

[CD3660]

No effort, really. These are just common sense things. I am passionate about the issue, yes... but it's really not taxing me to type a few words on the matter.

You speak many words of wisdom but I suspect that most are falling on deaf ears.

 

[twodollars]

You've convinced me not to get an iPod Touch/new $400 phone.

Though you don't understand me as much as you assume. I'm living on my own, I have several thousand in the bank, ect ect.

I would like to check out more about investing though. The interest from $7000 in the bank isn't too hot......

 

[Arcus]

Your original post said $700-800 for the two. I'm basing it on your figures.



Ok... Either way you lose roughly $1800. You gain service but, let's be clear... You are not "gaining" $40 or $60 or anything... there is no "net" gain as this is not an investment transaction. You may say that you spent $1800 versus $1840.

The problem is that advertisers love to use weasel words and reverse psychology to prey on you... They'll never say in the commercial "you could spend $1800 instead of spending $1840." That is what's happening but it doesn't sound as appealing as confusing a price differential with a net gain.



So what if it is or isn't? Do you think I'm hurting for $300 right now? Do you think I'm hurting for $2000? Still, money going out your pocket is money going out your pocket. Wouldn't you like more money to come in your pocket than goes out?

If you don't learn the time value of money now you will find yourself growing debt at an alarming rate, each step of the way rationalizing the imaginary "savings" you will reap by handing your money over to merchants now as opposed to investing it now and being handed more money later.

Do what you want but I think the primary motivation kids your age want these toys so badly is because you see people in the media who are affluent and you want to emulate that. Now more than ever in surveys teenagers think the most important goal is to be rich... but more and more, as you demonstrate here, you kids don't seem to understand what it takes to get there.

Believe me I understand the allure of instant gratification... but I have a different kind of gratification now being on the other side of that equation. Sooner or later, you're going to want to know how its done... I just hope you come to that conclusion before you find yourself in a pile of debt that arises from precisely this kind of confusion over what a "gain" really is.

God you are a self-righteous ******. You dont know anything about this person yet presume to know a lot. Good lord get over your self and all this knowledge you have.

He asked about a phone, not for an online-dad. Sheesh

 

[branjosef]

Of the two, I prefer the iPhone. I think it has more functionality (out of the box). Sure you can hack both now and put whatever you want on them, but I think the iPhone is the way to go.

 

[SpaceMagic]

Can I please have an answer to this question.. been searching forums but no luck:

I want the camera, mail.app, etc... but I wont be able to activate the iPhone...

Can I buy an iPhone and use it 100% (except not connected to network, so no EDGE, Calls or SMS) without activating and WITHOUT hacks?

Like... can you basically use it as an iPod touch but with a camera and mail?

Or do you HAVE to activate it to put music, etc on it... remember NO hacks!

Thanks!