Quote Originally Posted by Patler View Post
In bad times, "economics" will dictate keeping an old (dumb) phone instead of upgrading to the higher cost of a plan for a smart phone (even if the phone itself is free), or dumping a smart phone and its higher plan costs in favor of simple, basic cell phone service. For the vast majority of people, a smart phone is a luxury, anyway you look at it.

Years ago Apple became popular among kids because they gave computers to the schools. It was a good marketing approach for them. When parents starting buying, they bought what the kids were familiar with. Then, pc's became popular in business settings, and parents started buying what they were familiar with. Apple still has a very active program to donate computers to schools, both in the US and Canada.
It's not even upgrading to a smartphone. I just got a phone that I like. Does anyone think that in two years, I'm going to pay $200 to ditch a perfectly good phone to get another one that does the same thing? That is not a smart economic choice for me. My boss still uses his old Droid because it's in good shape. He likely will not upgrade until the next time he wants to leave the country (provided I don't just loan him an old, global-ready non-smart phone). If my old Droid didn't blow up in the earthquake, there's no way I'd have a new phone right now. P is looking at the world from the perspective of the privileged assuming that everyone will "have" to have it. Problem is 14 million people are out of work and buying power of most Americans is decreasing. You're right. An iPhone is a luxury as are most Mac products as they cost significantly more than comparable PC products. Luxuries are the first things to go.

Apple has the program to donate to schools, but so does Microsoft. And from this morning's paper: Analysts expect Amazon will be releasing a tablet, possibly by year end, as a lower-cost alternative to the iPad. And an interesting story on Samsung that it's probably best to pay attention to before counting your dollar signs. http://www.washingtonpost.com/busine...WJK_story.html