“Anyone who has bought a smartphone is well aware of what their mobile device cost then, and what it costs to keep the data flowing,” Joe Mont reports for TheStreet.
“But some costs may not be as easy to quantify or recognize. The upfront cost and ongoing fees are just the beginning of how this growing technology is shrinking your checking account,” Mont reports.
The following are 10 ways your smartphone addiction is costing you:
• Phone envy
• Accessories
• App hoarding
• Time wasting
• 24/7 shopping
• Impulse buys
• Countdown coupons
• Deals too close to pass up
• Revealing debt patterns
• Theft and loss
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “JES42” for the heads up.]
Yah, I can see this happening to everyone!
Precisely the kind of hard-hitting journalism we’ve come to expect from TheStreet. In other news, Brett Arends says you should stop feeding your kids and put the money you save away for their college fund.
+c1
Glad to see you back. How’s the new job?
OK, I’ll play… These don’t all work for the same group of people. The first one (“phone envy”) applies mostly to the tech crowd, which closely follows new developments and prefers to be early adopter. Meanwhile the “app hoarding” (without later using any of those apps) seems to apply more to the technologically ignorant people, who just go and download.
Altogether, the stats and numbers may corroborate the statements, but all of it is pretty much common sense stuff, I doubt anyone who read any of this has learned anything new.
As CO said, hard-hitting journalism….
#11 Having a daughter who tends to drop her iPhone on it’s face continuously, and a son that leaves his everywhere…
Time to get them a dumb phone
Or make them responsible for their phone. They lose/break it, they pay for a new one. Don’t “bail them out”.
What teach them they are responsible for their actions? What an amazing idea…
I have a daughter like that. Although I try to teach her about responsibility, NOT giving her a replacement punishes ME in my concern about that she may be out at night without a means to communicate (I am referring to her being in transit for those who are waiting to lecture me on parenting and knowing where your kid is)
Give her a feature phone when she loses her phone, not an iPhone.
The key to teaching responsibility is making sure that SHE suffers when she makes bad decisions, rather than you assuming the negative consequences.
Joe Mont also has an article called “10 ways to make an article when you have nothing of real substance to talk about and the editor is breathing down your back”
Already have iPhone 4 so no phone envy
Never bought any extra accessories for this phone but I have before
App hoarding – yes
Time wasting – yes
Never shopped for anything on my phone that I wasn’t planning on looking for in the first place
Never bought anything on impulse through my phone (other than maybe an app)
Never bought a countdown coupon on my phone or otherwise
Never found a deal too close to pass up on my phone
Not sure what they mean by “revealing debt patterns” but I check my credit score periodically
I’ve had the original iPhone, iPhone 3GS, and now iPhone 4 and haven’t lost one or had one stolen yet (knock on wood)
Okay maybe I do have phone envy since I want the newest one when it comes out.
As far as app hoarding goes, I find that I download apps that look interesting, get good reviews, or that I remember playing on other platforms (e.g. Paper Boy, Sim City). However, I don’t play some of these very often. So I guess I may be a moderate app hoarder.
Article should have been “10 ways a smartphone drains my TIME”
Now THAT would be revealing!
#1 on THAT list for me would be “Reading inane drivel like this article and other analyst tripe, when checking MDN for interesting news before heading to the Apple Store in Tulsa.”
Or, 10 ways reading this articles wastes your time
It is not the smartphone.
Yeah, it is not the smartphone.
Oh OK, now I get it. But how come??
I have to say, some yes, some no. Phone envy, while I admire the new phones, I don’t have to spring for the new iPhone each time it comes out. I skipped the iPhone 3Gs for the iPhone 4 (and would have skipped the iPhone 4, too, had I not had to do an emergency phone purchase due to some baby formula spilled on it). Yes, I did get the OtterBox for it, but the case is mainly to prevent the theft and loss instance (as I did have a phone swiped on the subway). I do hoard apps – free ones. No money cost there. But more than hoarding apps, I hoard podcasts, which are also free (probably why I don’t buy apps – I save the room for podcasts, and there’s no point in spending money for an app I won’t use because I have to delete it to make room for podcasts!) I don’t place any orders on my phone – I do those all at my computer. Now time wasting? Okay, yeah, guilty. 😉
Most of those points are simply ways that somebody who is weak in the head can be parted with their money.
I personally, have never experienced any of the bullet points that he mentioned….But it has kept me from overdraft charges in my checking account, many times. My iPhone will send me a text messege when my account gets too low (which I set up), so I’m able to avoid the charges. Also, I can check my account to see if I have enough in there for large purchases. If I see my checking account is low on funds, I transfer money over from my savings…all while waiting to get checked out at the grocery store…or wherever I happen to be. So in fact, my iPhone has actually SAVED me money many times.! Apparently the writer doesn’t know how to contain, restrain, or refrain from his emotional impulses….or from writing from his opinionated slant!
Yep the smart phone that works is SUCH A RIP OFF. here’s my ten:
-increased productivity
-apps that SAVE me money and lots of it Ie fuel pricing
-apps that cost 1/5 of desktop version that do the same thing
-sold 3 GPS units as iPhone taken in every vehicle
-sold PDA no longer needed
-saves me time in more ways than I can write
-reduces risk of theft / damage to dedicated camera (not needed due to iPhone being good for most sits)
-increased profit from clients with brand association
-constant access to recording important events of family etc = PRICELESS
-easy access to Gods Word = VITAL (can save your soul not just your $)
Great post. Especially the last one! Love having the Bible/Concordance with me at ALL times.
5,6,7, and 8 are all the same thing: shopping on your phone. But when it comes to shopping, the phone can actually save you money by using Red Laser, Shop Savvy, or a number of other apps that let you do instant price comparisons and see reviews. And how is using a coupon costing you money if it is for something you would have bought anyhow?
nope. None of those apply to me.
iPhone 3G. Very slow. No multitasking. Crap battery life.
Hardly any apps.
Only accessory is a hard case bought with the phone.
I have never shopped on the phone – screen far too small to see anything.
It’s crap actually. Maps is the only app I use and it is soooo pathetically slow, useless in built up areas (can’t see satellites) and its so hard to see any street names it is hardly worth the effort.
Theft? I wish someone would…
Hmmm…get a walkie-talkie then…it is cheaper.
Personally, I find that most of the apps I get, while they might have a minimal fee, make my phone more useful/productive/valuable — not a drain on the wallet. Its just about training yourself to identify tasks you do frequently and thinking, “I wonder if there’s a good app for that.” Most of the time there is.
Greed is good. Go Apple.