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Never take seriously those who ridicule low income people for having a smartphone or laptop.

“If they’re so poor how did they buy an iPhone???”

Because they’re trying to escape poverty, not the 1700s, genius. If you think basic tech access is luxury, try and survive a month without it.😐

reshared this

in reply to Qasim Rashid, Esq.

Elena ``of Valhalla''
Elena ``of Valhalla''
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@Qasim Rashid, Esq. isn't the question there “why an expensive iphone instead of a cheaper android phone”, rather than “why a smartphone”? which is still problematic, if one considers the existence of a significantly richer used market for iphones than for android phones.

(the whole thing depends on the local phone market, of course, here a new iPhone is afaik about a month's wages for a *non poor* person, decent android phones can be had for a bit more than a tenth of that)

@Qasim Rashid, Esq.
in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

Elena ``of Valhalla''
Elena ``of Valhalla''
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@Qasim Rashid, Esq. it's also *very* problematic when talking about refugees (who were likely to be comfortably middle class people before having to flee from a war or some catastrophe, and obviously already had a phone)
@Qasim Rashid, Esq.
in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

mnemonicoverload
mnemonicoverload
• •

@Elena ``of Valhalla''
There's an easy answer for that. iPhones are the most popular cell phone in the US so unsurprisingly they make up a huge portion of the secondary market. A used iPhone 6 can be had for as little as $40-50. A refurbished 6s goes for about $100.

@Qasim Rashid, Esq.

@Elena ``of Valhalla'' @Qasim Rashid, Esq.
in reply to Qasim Rashid, Esq.

British Tech Guru
British Tech Guru
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I have a $50 prepay AT&T android Alcatel phone and pay $33 a month for connection. I get 3gb of data a month.

I refuse to get contract phones or to spend a grand on a phone that'll break in 3 years.

in reply to British Tech Guru

mnemonicoverload
mnemonicoverload
• •

@British Tech Guru
For that same $50 you could have got a used iPhone 6. Why does the Apple logo on the back mean anything to you in regards to poverty or frugality? Did you accidentally swallow Apple's marketing that they are a "premium brand" at face value?

@Qasim Rashid, Esq.

@Qasim Rashid, Esq. @British Tech Guru
in reply to mnemonicoverload

British Tech Guru
British Tech Guru
• •
I had an iPhone it was new and I paid $150 for it. That was when I was with straight talk. In only two years the battery went from good to bad. That wasn't worth $50 let alone $150. But that wasn't the reason I dumped straight talk
in reply to British Tech Guru

mnemonicoverload
mnemonicoverload
• •

@British Tech Guru
And my sister still uses an iPhone 6 that she's had for 7 years now. I only make $15k a year and a $50 phone can't keep up with the bloated software I have to use for work so I literally had to spend $250 for a phone the last time I replaced mine. The plural of anecdote isn't data.

The point is rather that you can't draw any conclusions about someone's lifestyle by which brand or model of phone they own. You don't know their individual circumstances behind the choices they make. You don't know what their individual needs are.

@Qasim Rashid, Esq.

@Qasim Rashid, Esq. @British Tech Guru
in reply to mnemonicoverload

British Tech Guru
British Tech Guru
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I make considerably more than $15K but I refuse to buy expensive phones. As for the phone you needed for work, my answer would have been to tell the company to stuff it or buy you a phone. I hope you reported them for abuse
in reply to British Tech Guru

mnemonicoverload
mnemonicoverload
• •
That's not how labour law works in Canada, unfortunately. I can claim a percentage of the costs on my taxes as an employment expense but I can't refuse to use my own phone, force them to provide me with a work phone, or force them to reimburse me the costs.
in reply to mnemonicoverload

British Tech Guru
British Tech Guru
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For $15K, that job really does not sound worth doing unless your living costs are zero.
in reply to British Tech Guru

mnemonicoverload
mnemonicoverload
• •
It's only ~10 hours a week which is about the most I can handle with my disabilities and it's just enough for me to live on. I could apply for disability benefits and not work at all but assuming I qualified it would be ~$1,000 less per year than what I currently earn from work and I'd lose roughly another $1,500/year in low income worker tax rebates on top of that.
in reply to Qasim Rashid, Esq.

Arnel Šarić Sharan :verified:
Arnel Šarić Sharan :verified:
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I'm sorry, but you can buy a more powerful Xiaomi for one-third of the iPhone's price. iPhone is still luxurious, like other Apple products, especially in low-standard countries like mine. New iPhone 14 here is more than 1000 euros, and I don't consider that my 250 € Poco X3 Pro is anything near the 1700s.
in reply to Arnel Šarić Sharan :verified:

mnemonicoverload
mnemonicoverload
• •

@Arnel Šarić Sharan :verified:
Maybe consider that the original poster is American and the iPhone is far and away the most popular brand there so they also make up the bulk of the secondary market in the US? A used iPhone 8 (which is still currently a supported model) is common AF and only costs ~$100USD there. It's hardly a luxury purchase in context.

@Qasim Rashid, Esq.

@Arnel Šarić Sharan :verified: @Qasim Rashid, Esq.
in reply to Qasim Rashid, Esq.

Dan Bocain
Dan Bocain
• •

If they always have the NEWEST phone, that statement is pretty valid but I agree, smartphones are cheap for the value they offer. Education, access, opportunity, social security (friends/family, not the govt program).

$250-$350 goes a long way when spent on a smartphone. And if you're in the city, you may not even need more then $18/mo to maintain a phone, text and data line.

in reply to Dan Bocain

mnemonicoverload
mnemonicoverload
• •

@Dan Bocain
Heck, even a smartphone that you can't afford a data plan for is still an immensely useful tool if it's your only computer and you have ready access to public wifi.

@Qasim Rashid, Esq.

@Qasim Rashid, Esq. @Dan Bocain

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