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Why should wives/gf's get the hand-me-down iPhones??

Ish

Ish

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Nov 30, 2004
2,282
895
UK
I'm going to open up a real can of worms here! (rubs hands together) :D

Have you noticed the number of posts on this forum that say something like 'I'll give my phone to my wife/gf when I get the new one' or 'I gave my 2G phone to my wife/gf when I got the 3G'? I haven't heard anyone say I got my wife/gf's old iPhone when she got a new one have you?

Not saying none of the ladies have nice shiny new ones; there are posts that say they've got a new one each, just that it seems to be a one way traffic in used iPhones.

Why should that be I wonder? Gentlemen, you may now justify yourselves! :)
 
most people would rather pass on a perfectly good device if they got a newer version than just throw it away

gender has nothing to do with it other than maybe guys tend to be more techie than ladies are generally
 
I think it makes sense when the wife/gf in question is either less tech savvy or less interested in having the newest technology. While most of us guys with iPhones NEED to have the latest tech, they just want a cool phone and are content with a second-hand phone.
 
You might be right in the general case but I don't count myself as a normal woman (don't like shopping(extept for geek toys), build and fly rockets and work in IT industry)

i wouldn't want my other half second hand not quite so good phone when I can go get my own shiney one, however i did offer him my old iPhone, but he thinks the iphone is too big for him and got a shiney new nano instead, doesn't stop him playing games on my phone tho.
 
I usually get a phone right after I'm eligible. At one point, I had a stack of unused phones. My wife began to take these phones for a spin and settled on a few she liked. The last 3 phones I've put to the side, she's immediately picked up and used.

Her choice, not mine. She'd prefer to not spend money on a new phone.
 
it's just a justification for buying things we don't need ie someone else will make good use of the old version so it makes good sense for me to buy the new version.
 
Thanks for the replies. I was interested to know why it seems to be a one way thing. It's like a number of years ago you could see women turning the steering wheel furiously when turning the car while men were much more laid back about it. The reason? Many men had power steering while their wives got their old cars.

I was also interested in whether the people who passed on the phone genuinely had wives who really didn't care, or whether it was just taken for granted that they'd be satisfied with the old one.

Gingular, it's people like you that restore the balance!
 
opposites attract! none of the girls ive dated are really into phones, yea they have a full keyboard for texting but other than that they could care less. i would never hand anything down to a girlfriend, sell it before that would ever happen, maybe if i was married id give it to my wife.
 
A - People posting on this board are mose likely the "head tech" in their household.They'll be buying the latest and greatest first, probably because no one else in the house cares as much. Hand-me-downs come from this person, not towards them.

B - Most posters here are male.


There's your answer. Combine those two facts and you've got it.
 
I've had my iPhone for 3 months; in that time my wife has gradually started to say, "maybe I'll get one of those when my Sprint contract ends..."

However, she would probably end up using about 20-40% of its capabilities. Not that she isn't smart (she's an electrical engineer by degree), but she doesn't do the "digging and tinkering" that I do.

Assuming that there's a newer model when she's ready to buy - I would be envious of the new features and she probably wouldn't use them.

Of course, that doesn't mean that she'll swap and let me have the new phone, though... :rolleyes:
 
I was going to give my wife the original iPhone when the 3G came out, but decided to buy her the new one instead.

She feels so special that her new phone is so much faster than mine. Especially since I am "the techie".
 
Small White Car said:
A - People posting on this board are mose likely the "head tech" in their household.They'll be buying the latest and greatest first, probably because no one else in the house cares as much. Hand-me-downs come from this person, not towards them.

B - Most posters here are male.


There's your answer. Combine those two facts and you've got it.
Click to expand...

Bullseye!
 
Ish said:
I'm going to open up a real can of worms here! (rubs hands together) :D

Have you noticed the number of posts on this forum that say something like 'I'll give my phone to my wife/gf when I get the new one' or 'I gave my 2G phone to my wife/gf when I got the 3G'? I haven't heard anyone say I got my wife/gf's old iPhone when she got a new one have you?

Not saying none of the ladies have nice shiny new ones; there are posts that say they've got a new one each, just that it seems to be a one way traffic in used iPhones.

Why should that be I wonder? Gentlemen, you may now justify yourselves! :)
Click to expand...

is this being based off the Girls and iphone thread? maybe girls get the hand-me-down iPhone's because guys are more willing to risk the money for a new product (meaning more men bought the original iphone than women, so when the 3G came out more men upgraded and gave their 1g to their daughter/wife/girlfriend etc.), just a thought.
 
Small White Car said:
A - People posting on this board are mose likely the "head tech" in their household.They'll be buying the latest and greatest first, probably because no one else in the house cares as much. Hand-me-downs come from this person, not towards them.

B - Most posters here are male.


There's your answer. Combine those two facts and you've got it.
Click to expand...

+1, my mom could care less about getting the latest and greatest, so I give her my first generation iPhone. Besides, my iPhone did not have a SINGLE scratch on it - could have been played off as brand new... When I saw it a week after I gave it to her I saw the top right corner of the aluminum and it had been dropped on asphalt, you could still see little tiny stones that were driven into the aluminum. Made me sick to my stomach - a $600 phone, that's why she does not have the latest and greatest.
 
I Small White Car got it. As a woman, I don't find this offensive or anything, its just a simple fact of life.

I have an iPhone and my fiance does not. What does that say about me? :p
 
she just doesn't care if she gets the brand new one .... and would much rather have the hand-me-down and the cash we saved to go shopping or something like that.
 
pshhhh,, because we are better... we are the stronger sex and we deserve it, all they do is nag all day anyways.....lol im kidding ladies im kidding, but my mom would not take a hands me down, and my ex.hmm probably wouldn't have either, so if this is hapenning then they shoudl speak up and give their dudes hands downs ometimes too..
 
Small White Car said:
A - People posting on this board are mose likely the "head tech" in their household.They'll be buying the latest and greatest first, probably because no one else in the house cares as much. Hand-me-downs come from this person, not towards them.

B - Most posters here are male.


There's your answer. Combine those two facts and you've got it.
Click to expand...

Small White Car said:
I suspect there are tons of women who buy the newest Apple gadgets the day they come out.

The issue is that those women don't seem to post here in great numbers. Now THAT's a topic for discussion. Why is this? I don't know.
Click to expand...

I think you've got it there. Maybe it isn't really such a one-way traffic, just that we tend to hear it that way on here because the gender balance is skewed. At least we're assuming it is. Lots of posters are 'anonymous'.

bobfitz14 said:
is this being based off the Girls and iphone thread? maybe girls get the hand-me-down iPhone's because guys are more willing to risk the money for a new product (meaning more men bought the original iphone than women, so when the 3G came out more men upgraded and gave their 1g to their daughter/wife/girlfriend etc.), just a thought.
Click to expand...

No, it's just coincidence that the two threads are around at the same time. I'd read about passing the old one onto my wife enough times in the past to make it worth a new thread to wonder why.
 
zachplaysguitar said:
I think it makes sense when the wife/gf in question is either less tech savvy or less interested in having the newest technology. While most of us guys with iPhones NEED to have the latest tech, they just want a cool phone and are content with a second-hand phone.
Click to expand...


I completely agree, my wife doesn't care if she has the latest and greatest that is available. Me myself would like to have my hands on everything that is the latest that is out...

BUT then again if my wife sees something that is out there that is brand new that she wants, my beauty queen gets what she wants....


I think what everyone is stating is that they would rather hand down a perfectly good phone than just let it sit and collect dust. I dont think that it is a matter of the wife getting a hand me down, as not looking at it as she is second best... in my eyes she is #1 always :)
 
I bought my 3g before my husband....and he was so impressed he bought his own a week later.....I wouldn't want my husbands second hand phone....would want a new one
 
It just works out that my wife gets my old phones. She can go out and get a new one for all I care, she just thinks its easier to use my old one since I did all the legwork to get it.

To be honest, I think she could care less what phone she has.
 
Well, my g/f got me my first iPhone, it was pretty mucha no brainer to give it back to her when I got the 3G. Honestly, I don't understand the big deal people make about what gender owns an iPhone. I'd be much more interested to see numbers on people below the age of 18 that think they're the sh*t because their parents got them an iPhone and pay the bill for them. Good times.
 
Gosh, you guys are surely missing the point.

WAGs get the hand-me-down phones because it's cheaper than getting them new phones!

HTH :D
 
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