I totally agree that many want the latest and upgrading every year or every two years is somewhat expensive. Some may argue that they have this great plan from their provider which lets them upgrade every year, but of course if you really look at it you will find out that no provider does this out of the goodness of their hearts and in the end you pay through the nose for such a privilege. Then there are those who have multiple smartphones like an Android and an iPhone in order to "stay current with technology" or to "have the best of both worlds". Also some have multiple iDevices and to me that is also a waste of money. At one point I decided to keep my old 5S around and use it at home on WiFi but I quickly realized that I rarely did and always used my new 6S Plus anyways and while I can see how the large screen of an iPad is attractive for sighted people, it doesn't do much for me. I have read messages on here from people who have a very limited income yet they have an iPhone and an iPad, an Apple TV and multiple music and TV streaming services and I sort of wonder if they don't realize that all of this adds up to be a pretty significant cost, at the same time some of the same people complain about some of the expensive apps like KNFB Reader or about paying $5 a month for having a Jaws SMA (it's $120 every two years so it does work out to be just $5 a month which is half of what most of us pay for Apple Music or Spotify). I think Deidre does have a point, but unless you are mostly at home where a landline does the trick and maybe a pay as you go flipphone is enough for the odd time you go somewhere, I think the additional cost for a smartphone plan is justifiable considering what a smartphone offers (GPS, OCR anywhere you go, accessible texting etc.). For anybody who is working or running a business it is more or less essential nowadays, I need access to my email, often apps are easier to use than websites when it comes to making a quick online banking transaction, posting something on Facebook, tracking a package or even maintaining your profiles for Google My Business and so on. At times I can actually be away from my business to do something personal or recreational simply because I am still connected and able to do something if I have to. In a way it's not so different for a sighted person with cars. How many couples have a car each, it costs a lot to buy the thing in the first place and thousands and thousands each year for insurance, gas, parking and repairs/maintenance. Especially if you live in the city you could probably get by using public transportation and take a cab or an Uber when you have to, most of us who don't have sighted partners who drive do it all the time. But being able to jump into a car any time you want for a quick trip somewhere is just so convenient. I live in a rather small town of about 6,000 people, our one local cab company doesn't even use a meter, they charge $8 for a trip in town no matter if it's half a mile from the grocery store back to my house or 2 miles from one side of town to the other. If you do a return trip inside I think an hour or hour and a half then it's $11 for both. My wife is sighted but has epilepsy so can't drive either and we spend maybe $1,000 a year on cab rides for times when the weather is bad, we have more than we can or want to carry etc. If we owned a car I'd spend that alone on insurance let alone buying gas, new tires or dividing the initial purchase price by the lifespan of the vehicle. Interestingly enough people often buy used cars, sometimes cheap old beaters but few of us buy a used iPhone that is 2 years old even though in many cases it would do the trick as well and it would save you a fair bit since it is much cheaper to buy and you could get any post-paid or pre-paid plan you want since no carrier can ask you to sign up for a 2-year contract on some expensive plan.
Regards, Sieghard -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Kelly Pierce Sent: Wednesday, May 24, 2017 8:19 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: the cost of staying connected My observation is that people upgrade too early. If folks kept their iPhone for four years instead of two, the annual cost of an iPhone would be substantially reduced. I did this when I bought my iPhone 5 in 2012 and then upgraded to an iPhone 7 in 2016, selling my iPhone 5 on Craigslist for $120. Further, when I first started out, I did not use the phone much and had a prepaid service for $16 a month where I had 100 minutes, 100 texts and 500 MB of data a month. Now I use my phone a lot more and pay $31 including taxes for 2 GB of data with unlimited talk and texts. This level of service should be plenty for virtually all blind users who can jump on WIFI every so often for app updates and downloads along with downloading podcasts and audio books. For most people, paying more for cell phone service is unnecessary. Kelly On 5/24/17, MamaPeach <[email protected]> wrote: > That is what I did, I gave up my iPhone, and am now using a simple > flip phone that does have speech and it only costs me $25 every 30 > days through Walmart's Total Wireless unlimited talk and text plan. We > cut cable and now > > only use NetFlix and Hulu for watching TV shows and movies. We pay > $64.99 for our internet each month, which allows me to do what I want > and I do have > > an iPod that allows me to connect to our wifi to do anything else I > want to > > do using that device. > > -----Original Message----- > From: Richard Turner > Sent: Wednesday, May 24, 2017 3:18 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: the cost of staying connected > > > You cannot listen to your books outside with the computer unless you > got some kind of wireless speaker system. > But, you could do everything but the phone calls and internet stuff on > an iPod Touch. > If you have wifi at home anyway, then no extra monthly fee. > Ditch the iPhone and get a simple, inexpensive phone for times when > you are > > away from home. > Or, keep the iPhone and decide all that convenience is worth the money. > Just my two cents worth. > Richard > > >> On May 24, 2017, at 8:50 AM, deidre muccio <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> >> In the last day, I have had cause to think of the cost of staying >> connected via an i phone. >> First off we all pay a monthly service charge perhaps starting >> around $50. Put another $7 or more on for insurance if you buy it. >> Then there is the cost of the phone which can be dirt cheap if it is >> your first phone provided by a carrier you have been with for a long >> time. Once that phone needs replacing however, let's say, 2 years and >> a few months, you are in for purchasing a new phone or a used one, or >> might pay a $200 deductible on one that your insurance coverage will >> replace due to hardware damage. >> Add >> this all up, and it's thousands of dollars over a mere 2 year period. >> I have to ask what the true value is in all this? >> On the practical, not philosophical front, I am paying for the >> convenience and portability of a phone that I can make calls on and >> text with, and I can do all the information sharing and web >> searching, social networking, watch movies, listen to podcasts, read >> books, etc all on the run or away from home. Other than phone service >> and texting, all of this I can do on my desktop computer for the >> price of my internet service. >> What would I be missing if I gave this all up? Yesterday, I >> seriously thought of buying a monthly phone service for $25 and >> giving the rest up. Has anyone tried doing that lately? I'd like to >> hear about it! >> Are >> you planning more hikes or tandem bike rides? >> How I love my phone! I love lying in bed or cleaning house and >> moving my phone from room to room while I listen to a podcast, a >> replay of a news show, or a book. Again, I could do all this on a >> desktop computer provided the volume on my speakers reached the far >> rooms. I doubt I'd miss not getting calls or texts while away from >> home unless I was traveling out of State. Admittedly, the cheapest >> cell phone service I was able to purchase was $39 per month so the >> additional cost to text and have a phone with voice over menus is >> definitely superior to that. >> I wonder if I've already nearly fully answered my question cause >> I'm sitting here smiling broadly as I write this. Still, I conclude >> that I'm crazy for putting out the money to entertain myself around >> the clock, not unlike an avid TV watcher, when I could be out >> gardening or I could spend more time at the gym, or finishing a novel >> and/or the few short stories in the works! I could even get some kind >> of volunteer job. I will say that when I do work for pay, my work >> being as a masseuse, I do not use my phone at all. >> One good thing, I guess, is that if I go silent, friends might >> inquire as to whether or not I am still alive, so for safety's sake, >> I guess that detail gets racked up in the plus column. >> I did not write or dictate this using my phone. I am typing away >> on a full keyboard, which is far more comfortable and affords much >> more time for thinking. If I could word process using a full keyboard >> or a dictation program that would allow you to dictate unlimited >> text, I'd trash the desktop pronto. Oh, no no no, having a iphone on >> the blink for the past day was bad enough, we'll always need back up, >> now won't we? >> >> Deidre >> Deidre >> >> -- >> The following information is important for all members of the V >> iPhone list. >> >> If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, >> or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact >> the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. >> >> Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: >> [email protected]. 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Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at > [email protected] > > The archives for this list can be searched at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "VIPhone" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send > an email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/viphone. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > -- > The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone > list. > > If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, > or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact > the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. > > Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: > [email protected]. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at > [email protected] > > The archives for this list can be searched at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "VIPhone" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send > an email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/viphone. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: [email protected]. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at [email protected] The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: [email protected]. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at [email protected] The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
