How Different We Really Are...

[anomie]

So does the Air have a USB port?

what???!!! and open up that beautiful closed consumer environment to allow you to put your own content on the device!???

That would ruin the purpose of its existence! And hurt the Apple bottom line!$$

[vivacious]

Ya. I think it's kind of dumb when devices don't allow an SD card or have a USB jack. An SD card is what, 10 bucks? But then they charge $100 for an equivalent amount of space. And no USB is kind of sad. Everything uses USB nowadays.

[Alcibar]

Just dropped close to 2000$ on two iPad Airs on Friday. I use mine for work and entertainment. DW uses hers for mainly entertainment as she does not work outside our home. Anyone who thinks you cannot use the iPad for content creation has not really tried. I now do not carry a laptop on short business trips or vacations. I do extensive email, review contracts with track changes (cannot create tracked changes), presentations (review work of others, create presentations, write letters and reports,make presentations using a dongle) review complex spreadsheets (hard to do complex spreadsheet creation), mark up PDF's etc. etc. If I wanted I could remote into a desktop system at home (work won't allow this). The only thing I really cannot do is use corporate lotus notes data base (hate lotus notes). Aside from all this work I have access to a wide variety of entertainment - books, games movies and of course the web.

iPads get more powerful every year. This iPad has a higher geek bench score than my 2010 Mac Air. Without a doubt this is the future of computing.

Sure it is a bit irritating that Apple makes choices like no USB port but the benefits far out weigh any Apple induced limitations.

Note that I use a home built gaming PC so am not a total fanboy (way to old to be a boy anyway)

[Alcibar]

Note 2000$ is not a big deal for me given the # of hrs I expect the DW and I will use these devices over a 2 year period. Actually would not want to admit what a 2 yr total usage figure would be. One example of use case is I flew to Shanghai and back last week. About 40 hrs transit time through Tokyo. iPad 3 provided a lot of entertainment.

[Dragline]

iPads get more powerful every year. This iPad has a higher geek bench score than my 2010 Mac Air. Without a doubt this is the future of computing.

I am quite happy that I have no idea what a "geek bench score" is, although I would interpret it as a "sucker consumerismistic metric."

Jeez, your post reads like an ad. (And I would not be surprised if it is.) But not even a very good one. Sorry, man, that's just ugly. Especially the $2K. Word to the wise -- every computer system gets more powerful and efficient every year. And every automobile. And every [fill in the blank]. Doesn't mean you need one.

[Alcibar]

LOL no ads here ha! Learned a long time ago not to criticize anyone's spending as long as they can afford what they buy. I reached FI long ago and only work because I have an interesting job - more interesting to me than making my own stuff. I subscribe to Heinlein's competent man theory and have done most things for myself over the years including designing and building my own house. Today I save roughly 50% of my net income through habit more than any need. That leaves plenty leftover for occasional indulgences. Being frugal is not a religion, but I do believe that going into excessive debt is wrong. I think most of the ideas on the forum are valuable and interesting. One different view that I have is many on the forum are IMHO overly optimistic regarding their financial needs later in life. On the other hand investment advisors consistent advice regarding how much you need in retirement ( I just had a ML investment advisor tell me that I need to replace 120% of my income for retirement ). I am old enough to have seen how much money event affluent relatives were able to spend in their declining years and it wasn't very much.

[vern]

FFJeff, yeah, I know he's insane but that video of him heckling the Black Friday shoppers is classic!

[Dragline]

LOL no ads here ha! Learned a long time ago not to criticize anyone's spending as long as they can afford what they buy. I reached FI long ago and only work because I have an interesting job - more interesting to me than making my own stuff. I subscribe to Heinlein's competent man theory and have done most things for myself over the years including designing and building my own house. Today I save roughly 50% of my net income through habit more than any need. That leaves plenty leftover for occasional indulgences. Being frugal is not a religion, but I do believe that going into excessive debt is wrong. I think most of the ideas on the forum are valuable and interesting. One different view that I have is many on the forum are IMHO overly optimistic regarding their financial needs later in life. On the other hand investment advisors consistent advice regarding how much you need in retirement ( I just had a ML investment advisor tell me that I need to replace 120% of my income for retirement ). I am old enough to have seen how much money event affluent relatives were able to spend in their declining years and it wasn't very much.

Glad you are doing well and have caught on to the financial advisor fear-factory advertising machine. I think they worship at the altar of Edward Bernays nightly. But I have more of a nagging feeling that they are simply being flogged by their masters to sell more financial products.

Be careful of too much Heinlein -- you could catch a bad case of "Farnham's Freehold" syndrome.

[Felix]

So does the Air have a USB port?

what???!!! and open up that beautiful closed consumer environment to allow you to put your own content on the device!???

That would ruin the purpose of its existence! And hurt the Apple bottom line!$$

http://youtu.be/3iGm4dl0Ys4?t=4m17s

[Hildred]

I've noticed that it's some of the poorest of people who are the most feckless with their money. One of my old school friends was recently bragging about his new Iphone 5s. I worked out that his all in-cost for two years of ownership was about $3k. This guy only earns about $15k a year, so it's just madness that he's spending 20% of his earnings on his cell phone!

Even as someone who works in technology, I don't see the point in spending such a crazy amount of money on a phone. Last year, I replaced an ageing (but perfectly functioning) Nokia with a brand new Huawei Android phone that I bought off ebay for $65. My prepay deal costs me about $10 a month. My all in cost for the 2 years should be $300. sure, I don't get always on internet, but in the day and age where you are never far from wi-fi - who cares?

Not bashing Apple, I think they make reliable, durable and long-lasting computers (my MacBook performed like a trooper for just over 6 years). I just think that their Ios devices are horribly overpriced for what they are. Google's mobile products do exactly the same thing and are comparative in terms of quality, but are much cheaper.

[JohnnyH]

I agree on tablets; time/money suck. I still have, and really like, my 2011 $119 32gb CyanogenMod 9 HP Touchpad... But I've found it's most proficient as a personal TV when I'm too excited to read (ie: plane/train/bus/car). Otherwise it get's used mostly as portable workbench/kitchen counter PDF reader, couch googler (lol, appropriate moniker) and bathroom RSSer... It also works nicely as an alternative to a home printer (rather than print I show person a PDF on tablet).

I do not take seriously the claim that a tablet can keep up with a PC for basically anything more than reading... The idea that a tablet, or phone even, can compete with a workstation for serious work is patently ridiculous... That said, they can be made useful; but I prefer to cut wood with a saw, not a knife.
____
*I sometimes do multiple credit card transactions, but it is always to satisfy spending deals (spend $XXXX to get $XXX), I imagine I'm in extreme minority here.

Learned a long time ago not to criticize anyone's spending as long as they can afford what they buy.

I'm not questioning spending from an affordability/how people spend their money standpoint, to each their own, but I definitely question spending from a value standpoint.

A $2,000 1995 Corolla provides the same utility as a $100,000 2014 BMW, albeit at a slower benchmark. A good driver in the Corolla makes better time than an average driver in the BMW... A $200 tablet generally does the same things a $1,000 tablet.

Not to mention depreciation on new releases: usually the price is 60% by 6-12 months.
Don't get me wrong, I like fast stuff; but I generally divide the benchmarks by $ so I don't end up a sucker...

[Seneca]

I was asked to drive to an offsite meeting by a VP one day at work back when I was commuting a beater-ish 1985 Mustang SVO. The look on his face when he got in was priceless.

Now I think there are circumstances, especially while still working toward FI, when it might be worth the social capital gained from the punters to spend some money on a "luxury" like a nicer car (though not a $100,000 brand new one!) or Apple product.

It probably wouldn't be the best idea to take an ancient, but servicable, Dell laptop in to meetings with Silicon Valley entreprenuers and VCs. The financial cost of a MBP is probably worth the social capital gained for someone working in that field. A realtor probably shouldn't show up in my old SVO to drive around clients either.

The trick is to remember the mission and not fall in to the Affluenza trap.

[Chad]

It's also nice not to be consumed by not spending money, which is a real danger for people here.

[JohnnyH]

@Seneca: lol, yeah... I can see how some things might have to be considered investments for certain careers/situations... I can also see how some people completely indulge themselves and blame their career for justification.

I suppose it can work the other way too; tenants mostly treat me pretty well when I pull up in 1970s era work truck and am dressed in tattered rags...
Also, I've never been burglarized, robbed, mugged, etc... Digression ahoy!

[Seneca]

It's also nice not to be consumed by not spending money, which is a real danger for people here.

Right, definitely not my "issue", but common among the ER communities.

@Seneca: lol, yeah... I can see how some things might have to be considered investments for certain careers/situations... I can also see how some people completely indulge themselves and blame their career for justification.

I'll give an example too, I used to justify eating lunch out every day as investment...which was patently bullshit, though it took me years to realize it.

I suppose it can work the other way too; tenants mostly treat me pretty well when I pull up in 1970s era work truck and am dressed in tattered rags...
Also, I've never been burglarized, robbed, mugged, etc... Digression ahoy!

Absolutely, we don't yet own rentals, but the last thing I'd want to communicate to tenants was being wealthy. I have a friend who owns a small business that has always wanted an Acura NSX. Bought used now the depreciation would be minimal, compared to his wealth, and the cost of all his employees' financed new cars he'd be parking next to, it'd be a reasonable purchase. He was still too concerned about appearances to buy one however.

[Seneca]

A tour de force catalog of differences- http://www.mainstreet.com/article/retir ... ent?page=1

[theanimal]

From the article:

"Power savers put away 20% of their income into savings and pay about 30% in taxes, which leaves only half of an income to live on," Moss said. "You need all that savings over a 30 year period for a happy retirement."

LOL...too many funny statements from that.

[Standard Staples]

A tour de force catalog of differences- http://www.mainstreet.com/article/retir ... ent?page=1

Amazing use of "tour de force"

Really that different? You're both buying an iPad.

It's tough to judge from an overheard snippet of conversation. I've said I don't have enough money as a quick way to end an upsale. Maybe he had plenty of money but didn't want a $40 case, and was too passive to say, "no thanks." Maybe he used 3 cards to max out his rewards or miles.

Either way, who cares? You both got your iPads.

Since when is the guy at the Wal-Mart check out giving an "upsale" with high enough pressure to justify a long drawn out explanation of needing to "wait until your next paycheck?" This wasn't exactly a timeshare or shady used car purchase. Perception is often spot on.

[JohnnyH]

@ffjeff: Frightening... Hopefully, 99% shrugged the "guru" off and only the remaining 1% made the final cut.

[Seneca]

@Vern

I am so glad you realize this guy is nuts. The scary nutty people are the ones that are partially correct on certain issues and act like they know the answers. You gotta watch this movie.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoWmNAS16fY

Interesting, in interviews he says making the movie made him less cynical about spirituality.

Never heard of it, will have to check it out.