Money saving, expensive 'phones and Maslow's hierarchy.

Leopard

Upon the subject of whether or not buying an expensive mobile 'phone is justifiable, I found * THIS ARTICLE * very interesting.

I'm not taking sides on the argument involved, just drawing it to the attention of others, here.

Does anyone have any comments on it?

mikegahan

I found it interesting. of course a phone a combination of toy, status symbol, emotional blanket, lure for the oposite sex, geeky plaything, depending on the owner. What i do find amazing is the hugh amount people spend not so much on the handset but on mobile phone bills. Many ordinary people spend much more than they can afford or need. An oldie like me uses a mobile as and when I cannot use a landline(which for me is free or nearly free). I like a posh handset and get them cheap on ebay use them for a while and sell them on but my actual phone bill is pennies. I switched to o2 mobile recently because they gave me £5 pm off my broadband!

mobilejunkie

An interesting reference to Maslow's hierarchy; true too about it fulfilling needs at every level - depending on the individual and their circumstnaces, of course!

Personally I just don't get it; I get all my phones for free through cashback deals and expect them to last a lot longer than 2 years. They aren't fashion objects, but useful pieces of equipment. I've never understood the clamour to pay a lot just to get the latest model - which is often inferior in many ways to those which have gone before - when you can get them free too at some point in the not so distant future. I prefer to have the machine and the money - or wouldn't spend much at all on mobiles calls. I recognise it's hard to be without once you've had - therefore I grab another free deal each month to extend the free window in case I'd have to pay.

Like anything else, fashion and toys seem to motivate when affluence abounds.