When will "He has a smart phone, he is financially irresponsible" be over?

[miden851]

this thread belongs to 5 years ago IMO

nowadays, it is as same as with other things in your life; you're paying for it all, whether your house, car, cell phone, vacation, entertainment, food etc etc. I don't see why would anyone be bothered with someone's lifestyle or his/her choices...

we use iPhones for so long now... however, there is saying geared toward technology; once the latest is given to you, it is hard to go back, so you better pace yourself

 

[E365]

Originally Posted by alarmguy
Originally Posted by E365
Originally Posted by alarmguy
Originally Posted by E365
I buy the top iPhone every 2 years. The missing part of the "$1,000" phone equation is that I'll resell my $1,000 phone for probably $700 two years down the road. The used market has always been hot for iPhone sales.


Will never happen


Sure it will. Used, mint iPhone Xs are still selling for $850+ on eBay. They're almost 1.5 years old.

Such as: https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F143092580628


People are getting $500+ for a BROKEN iPhone X.

Such as: https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F273658414322



Brand new Iphone X on ebay $800.00 - Click

Brand new Iphone X on Best Buy - $900 https://www.bestbuy.com/site/iphone/iphone-x/pcmcat1505326434742.c?id=pcmcat1505326434742


Those are just the 64GB versions. Everything I was referencing was the 256GB version, which are much more valuable and in demand.

 

[ZeeOSix]

The 4 essential things in life: Food, booze, cigarettes and an iphone.

 

[alarmguy]

Most people, most, not all have no idea what they are doing when it comes to paying for any service.
Corporations got you figured out, they know how you think and why you buy things.

They make you feel like a product is better and they make you feel better by spending more money on it.
If, for ANY reason you can not purchase a phone without a LOAN or plan to buy it, you have no business owning it and its simply huge corporations making money off you.

ANYONE in the United States of America can have UNLIMITED cell phone service from ANY carrier for $30 a month ACTUAL PAYMENT.
Plain and simple.
Anyone in America can own an awesome phone, thats looks better, works almost as good as any phone at any price for less then $250.
MY Huawei Mate SE is awesome and as far as looks? Everyone asks me who makes that phone when they see it.

Bottom line, I handle customers phones on a daily basis installing Security and Camera apps, Im never impressed by anything as much as my own $250 phone or my wifes $70 Huawei phone.

This isnt a rant, but it is a rant for people complaining about the price of cell service and phones, the internet is your friend, phone service has NEVER been cheaper in the USA since it was invented over 100 years ago.

We are a nation of loans, for gods sake, who ever thought the day would come when people FINANCE a TELEPHONE! MY GOD!
Phones are cheap but phone companies will make them as expensive as you want.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted by csandste
No smart phone? I don't trust'em.

Hey, I don't have one. I'm simply nuts and can't stand the things.

alarmguy: Considering your [justifiable] paranoia with respect to Google, I'm not sure I'd be thrilled about owning a Huawei phone.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted by Garak
Originally Posted by csandste
No smart phone? I don't trust'em.

Hey, I don't have one. I'm simply nuts and can't stand the things.

alarmguy: Considering your [justifiable] paranoia with respect to Google, I'm not sure I'd be thrilled about owning a Huawei phone.


I'm not sure how you survive, I can't even get into the gym without a smart phone. They have an app with a barcode the front desk scans to get in. I suppose they could also look you up by name, but that takes longer.

It's one of those things that you don't think you really need til you get it and hey it's great.

Don't know how I survived this long without heated seats either.

 

[Garak]

I admit I like heated seats, though I spent most of my life in this miserable province without them. I do understand the convenience of a cell phone, but they're not worth the trade offs to me. I don't need people telephoning me on a whim. That happens enough with a land line. When I'm in my car, shopping, or at a restaurant, I expect to be left alone. Additionally, cell phones do a lot of things satisfactorily, but they excel at none of them. As a clock (or alarm clock), if you're stuck without a network, they're not even as effective as a double-bell Big Ben on full wind. Voice and call quality isn't impressive. I'm not impressed with their music handling, much less fidelity of poorly encoded MP3s. Photographic function is beaten by fairly cheap point and shoots. Text messaging is a joke. I'll never understand what went through someone's head to turn an $800 telephone into a 200 year old telegraph. Crimony's sake, online chats with a BBS sysop in 1985 were more advanced. As far as computing function goes, they're a disaster and I can do less on one than I can do on a ten year old desktop - probably even a twenty year old desktop.

Beyond that, I don't need Apple or Google or Huawei tracking me or deciding how I use software or music. I also don't need a potentially live mic and camera following me around. I also don't like the extremely short planned obsolescence cycle. Smart phones are inherently poor candidates for open source software. My last comment in the above paragraph has as much to do with what companies allow their phones to be used for as it does with technical limitations. Far too many apps out there are based upon you not really understanding what you're doing or figuring out how to do things yourself, and also to guide you to buying more apps, or more space, or what have you. I can't begin to tell you how many young people I know who seemingly can do everything with their phone, yet if I tell them I need them to send me a large file, they're absolutely flummoxed. They don't know how to send a small PDF without the PDF app itself - doing an email attachment on their own is beyond their skill set. The notion that a file can be transferred irrespective of its format or extension or platform is absolutely alien to them, as is the notion that there are ways to deal with file size, be it too small or way too large. As I've mentioned in another thread, you toss someone a split rar file, it might as well be hieroglyphics. Send them a tarball, and it might as well be military grade encryption. Send an iPhone user something that isn't in Quicktime format, and they've had it. We don't have a technically savvy society at all. We have a society of trained chimps.

If a business requires a smartphone for my business, they won't get my business.

 

[Astro14]

As a frequent traveler, it's incredibly useful. Don't know how I could live without it.

I book flights, cars, and hotels all the time. I can change and rebook in a moment on my phone. I frequently need to adjust my plan in real time, and finding a computer terminal wouldn't allow me to make those changes in a timely enough manner to be successful.

I can check weather, airport delays, and other important, work related, tasks.

Of course, I can also use it to post on BITOG while I'm waiting to board, as I am now.

Two steps forward.

One step back.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted by Astro14
As a frequent traveler, it's incredibly useful. Don't know how I could live without it.

Remember, though, I'm a nutcase that can still function with a typewriter, let alone a semi-modern computer.

I remember a couple years ago, I was paying a supplier, and the cheque was in an envelope, which I had printed on my laser printer. It was using an old courier font on some high end envelope stock. He looked at it and asked, "Did you do this on a typewriter?" I laughed and said no, but I do have one, and it works.

I'm not a Luddite when it comes to computers, but I am when it comes to gadgets. My dad had to have a GPS the minute they became available to the public. He had to get the first brick phone. Yet, you couldn't get him to turn on a computer at gunpoint. I'm the opposite.

 

[DejaVue]

Originally Posted by Garak
I admit I like heated seats, though I spent most of my life in this miserable province without them.
I don't need people telephoning me on a whim. That happens enough with a land line. When I'm in my car, shopping, or at a restaurant, I expect to be left alone.
Text messaging is a joke. I'll never understand what went through someone's head to turn an $800 telephone into a 200 year old telegraph. .

I had no use for heated seats, because I always had cloth seats.
Then I got leather seats and discovered the extremes of my backside being hot in the summer and cold in the winter. And then suddenly I had a use for heated seats.

Since you don't like people calling you on a whim and like being left alone, would think you'd love texting.
No need to sit through answering machine messages. No need to dial your voicemail and sit through messages.
A quick glance at your phone and you know what the message is about. And text messages force (most) people to get to the point and not ramble at you. And then you can reply back to them without having to talk to them, and they understand if your text message is direct and to the point since it's a text message.

 

[supton]

I love email. I can type exactly what I wanted to say. I can file away responses. Unlike spoken words. Also, I can respond on my own time. Email comes in but I'm busy? ignoring... Someone walks into my office? gotta drop everything and talk right this moment. Ok, I can ignore phone calls too, often do, but some people would rather talk than type--and all too often, go away and completely forget what was talked about (myself included).

Texts are the same way for me.

Sidenote: recently I've started playing online with typing tests. I get in the 60's for wpm on a bad day. I find texting annoying on a smart phone but have zero problem typing long sentences.

Sidenote 2: when did phone message etiquette go out the window? I swear, every single message I've received over the last 10 plus years, not one single person repeated their phone number and name. Only stated once. And often I couldn't hear what was said. Yes, that info might be in caller ID (assuming I have it, not every home phone does!).

 

[alarmguy]

Originally Posted by Garak
Originally Posted by csandste
No smart phone? I don't trust'em.

Hey, I don't have one. I'm simply nuts and can't stand the things.

alarmguy: Considering your [justifiable] paranoia with respect to Google, I'm not sure I'd be thrilled about owning a Huawei phone.


Why?
EVERY electronic product Americans own comes from China (almost) even when you buy it from an American company.
Just because the US government doesnt want products from Chinese companies in our government buildings doesnt mean we should allow Apple (as an example) to produce the same products in China and resell them here at 600% markup when you can buy products just as good directly from the Chinese.

My Huawei Mate SE at $229 blows away the looks of almost any cell phone on the market at any price, and the performance for ANY who is not some super performance user would never, ever know any difference and actually enjoy this phone more then any other, at any price and at this price, its almost disposable in a few years. It even has some of the most reliable and well known in the industry things like, Huawei fingerprint readers are the best on the market, stuff like that, you will also NEVER buy a Huawei with crappy battery life at any price ... etc...

Add to that, my daughter and wife have a Huawei Elate (as I did) and its almost just as good, purchase price was $70 and battery life will last 2 days or more, unlike almost anything on the market at any price...

As you can see, its justified not using American owned Google (anyone has to be nuts to use only it) but a Chinese phone is just plain smart, until of course, the day comes, that an AMERICAN company, produces a phone in America that can compete..

Suggest to others to start searching using duckduckgo.com as well as google. Duckduckgo.com will give you full, unbiased, unslanted searches. Google is an evil empire and sooner or later, people will learn that even their search results are based on what information google has stored about you, to make sure they give you results that you will click on to create add revenue for them.
The public is still stupid as to what is going on ...... more scary is, if you use google to search news stories, they will direct you to the stories based on what they think you should see not what is out there.

 

[Wolf359]

Well the app isn't required for the gym but it makes it a lot easier, has all the classes on it and you can reserve your spot in class if needed on the app.

Also as for texting, both Apple and google has a pretty good speech to text function. I find it's pretty accurate if you speak slowly and clearly. You can actually ramble on and send complete sentences and usually there's only one or two corrections that need to be made which is still faster than typing it out.

As for people calling on a whim, that's got nothing to do with a smartphone, they do that regardless of what kind of phone you have. But it's also easy to put your phone on silent. I use google voice so half the time I don't need to hear the message, I just read it.

As for Huawei, the key difference between them and Apple/Google is that they install the firmware. And you don't know what they're doing. Apple and Google are American companies so the US can subpoena them for their records and they don't spy for the US government. Not so much for a Chinese company. Those US companies aren't keeping tracking of your voice recording, your phone is always listening for keywords to activate it. It's relatively easy for a company controlled by foreign government to use that capability to spy on you. They can deny that they do it on a regular basis, but maybe if you're high up enough in whatever job you do, they might listen in on you in a case by case basis. That's the basis of why the US government doesn't want them used by their employees.

 

[oldmaninsc]

I guess my pet peeve is when I see so many fast food type workers coming out of work being on their latest and greatest 1,000.00 phone, and then complaining about they aren't getting paid a "living wage."

Close second is parents that give their young kids the latest and greatest phone and then they sit at a table in a restaurant and blast the tinny distorted sound of the latest video game or movie - all through dinner. Preschool and maybe even elementary children do NOT need a smart phone or a tablet.

I myself like to go to restaurants that do NOT have several tvs mounted on the wall ( IHOP, Soup Plantation, etc.)

You can call me an old fuddy duddy if you like. My daughters both have the latest and greatest smart phones and I'm fine with that. They both have good paying jobs and it is part of their budget.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted by DejaVue
Since you don't like people calling you on a whim and like being left alone, would think you'd love texting.
No need to sit through answering machine messages. No need to dial your voicemail and sit through messages.

I have my integrated answering machine turned off and no voicemail.

The biggest problem I have with texting isn't with what you suggest. That would make sense. People want to have a conversation over text and want an instant answer.

alarmguy: Huawei is positioned right over the bullseye of most western democracies for political reasons (which we won't get into here) and technological reasons (which we can get into). I don't doubt the attractiveness and functionality of Huawei products. If I wanted a phone and didn't care about any underlying issues, yes, I admit it, I'd buy a Huawei straight off. However, I don't trust them with data or with back doors any more than I would Google, and in fact, even less, which is pretty difficult. I haven't seen any security expert (not that most of them are that expert in the first place) say a single positive thing about Huawei.

To get me to the point where I want and am comfortable with a smart phone, the underlying model must change first. The notion of directing me as to how I use software is the first and biggest problem. I don't let Microsoft pull that garbage with me for a desktop (Windows tends to get wiped within five minutes of me setting up a desktop, if it has an OS in the first place) and I'm not about to let a cell phone manufacturer do it either. And, since we're not really at the place yet where I can wipe a cell phone and put whatever OS I want on it and use it how I want to, I choose not to spend the money

Oldmaninsc's point is valid. I always love when a guy is pandhandling with a cell phone in his hand. Myself, I'm not about to spend $200 to $1000 for the privilege of being pestered. I've debated yanking my landline, too, on and off for a while. However, the rise of cell phones has actually meant fewer telemarketing and spam calls to me residential line.

 

[Wolf359]

As I mentioned earlier, Huawei is a Chinese company and China controls their companies a lot more than in we do in the US. For instance, they're required to cooperate with the government and if you read the wiki on them, at one point they were redirecting traffic meant for South Korea back to China. Remember, China is the one that censors their own internet. It's a very real concern. If you're worried about Google, they're child's play compared to Huawei.

As for the panhandler with a phone, it's pretty surprising how cheap a smartphone and plan are these days. Xfinity Mobile has android phones as cheap as $120 with a $100 gift card back. So $20 gets you the Moto e5 play and it's $12 a month for 1 gig of data and talk/text is free. Could actually be free if you use less than 400 megs of data a month.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted by Wolf359
As for the panhandler with a phone, it's pretty surprising how cheap a smartphone and plan are these days.
month.


Probably a few panhandlers sitting at the end of the interstate off ramp with a cardboard sign saying "Need money for an iPhone XS Max".

 

[alarmguy]

Originally Posted by Garak

alarmguy: Huawei is positioned right over the bullseye of most western democracies for political reasons (which we won't get into here) and technological reasons (which we can get into). I don't doubt the attractiveness and functionality of Huawei products. If I wanted a phone and didn't care about any underlying issues, yes, I admit it, I'd buy a Huawei straight off. However, I don't trust them with data or with back doors any more than I would Google, and in fact, even less, which is pretty difficult. I haven't seen any security expert (not that most of them are that expert in the first place) say a single positive thing about Huawei.

To get me to the point where I want and am comfortable with a smart phone, the underlying model must change first. The notion of directing me as to how I use software is the first and biggest problem. I don't let Microsoft pull that garbage with me for a desktop (Windows tends to get wiped within five minutes of me setting up a desktop, if it has an OS in the first place) and I'm not about to let a cell phone manufacturer do it either. And, since we're not really at the place yet where I can wipe a cell phone and put whatever OS I want on it and use it how I want to, I choose not to spend the money
.


I havent seen a "security expert" on anything yet comment on Huawei and never trust "experts" with my money. )
and ... China isnt after me or you, and ... a back door can be built into anything and google is far, far less trustworthy and dangerous to the USA or your case Canada.

Example = have everyone you know google the same exact subject on their personal computers. Google will return anything but the same results.
The results will be based on the "profile" that google built on you and that is dangerous because they are controlling what you see online including news from "experts" and politics.

The perfect subject would be "gun control" to search, everyone will get results based on googles profile on you. Maybe since that news is already "out there" you may want another subject as its possible google masked it to now deliver the same results. The experts have verified all I am typing here.

Again, not talking about you since you dont have a smart phone but anyone can pay any price they want, Ill go with the Chinese company until the American company that builds its phones in China stops making a 600% markup on the public, Ill take the better looking and better working Chinese phone for $400.00 + dollars less.

In the meanwhile, tune google out of your life as much as possible, one way is to start using www.duckduckgo.com
as your primary and still use bing of google as a back up, after a while it becomes fun to actually see a fresh air and different perspective of search results, instead of the same old boring thing based on googles profile of you.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted by alarmguy
Originally Posted by Garak

alarmguy: Huawei is positioned right over the bullseye of most western democracies for political reasons (which we won't get into here) and technological reasons (which we can get into). I don't doubt the attractiveness and functionality of Huawei products. If I wanted a phone and didn't care about any underlying issues, yes, I admit it, I'd buy a Huawei straight off. However, I don't trust them with data or with back doors any more than I would Google, and in fact, even less, which is pretty difficult. I haven't seen any security expert (not that most of them are that expert in the first place) say a single positive thing about Huawei.

To get me to the point where I want and am comfortable with a smart phone, the underlying model must change first. The notion of directing me as to how I use software is the first and biggest problem. I don't let Microsoft pull that garbage with me for a desktop (Windows tends to get wiped within five minutes of me setting up a desktop, if it has an OS in the first place) and I'm not about to let a cell phone manufacturer do it either. And, since we're not really at the place yet where I can wipe a cell phone and put whatever OS I want on it and use it how I want to, I choose not to spend the money
.


I havent seen a "security expert" on anything yet comment on Huawei and never trust "experts" with my money. )
and ... China isnt after me or you, and ... a back door can be built into anything and google is far, far less trustworthy and dangerous to the USA or your case Canada.

Example = have everyone you know google the same exact subject on their personal computers. Google will return anything but the same results.
The results will be based on the "profile" that google built on you and that is dangerous because they are controlling what you see online including news from "experts" and politics.

The perfect subject would be "gun control" to search, everyone will get results based on googles profile on you. Maybe since that news is already "out there" you may want another subject as its possible google masked it to now deliver the same results. The experts have verified all I am typing here.

Again, not talking about you since you dont have a smart phone but anyone can pay any price they want, Ill go with the Chinese company until the American company that builds its phones in China stops making a 600% markup on the public, Ill take the better looking and better working Chinese phone for $400.00 + dollars less.

In the meanwhile, tune google out of your life as much as possible, one way is to start using www.duckduckgo.com
as your primary and still use bing of google as a back up, after a while it becomes fun to actually see a fresh air and different perspective of search results, instead of the same old boring thing based on googles profile of you.


Just read the Wiki on the company.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huawei

If you're wondering about all those stories about how China steals trade secrets, well, they're one of those companies that do it. If you want to support that, go ahead.

It's easy to make things cheaper if you steal the source code and don't have spend millions writing your own. Then your costs are much lower and you can sell it cheaper. Like buying stolen goods, those are always cheaper.

But I'd rather support a US company out to make a buck than a foreign one who is not only out there to make a buck but...

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted by Wolf359
As for the panhandler with a phone, it's pretty surprising how cheap a smartphone and plan are these days. Xfinity Mobile has android phones as cheap as $120 with a $100 gift card back. So $20 gets you the Moto e5 play and it's $12 a month for 1 gig of data and talk/text is free. Could actually be free if you use less than 400 megs of data a month.

Not here. If you want a phone here, generally speaking, you can get a monthly plan, and for that you need a credit check and/or a deposit. If you are panhandling and you passed a credit check, you don't need my help. If it's pay as you go, you're paying full price on the phone, no rebates. If you can do that, you don't need my help.

alarmguy: Huawei is being charged with many offences in the States and their CFO, I believe it is, is under extradition process from Canada to the States, having been arrested on a visit here. As was already pointed out, they make Google look like boyscouts. Huawei, Apple, and Google can all go suck lemons.