To Buy or Not To Buy

Damn you and your seductive marketing

So I've been doing some major thinkery in the last couple of days, centered mostly on whether or not I need a new phone. I want a new phone that's for sure, my phone is old the touch screen isn't as sensitive as it used to be. I also currently do not have a data plan, and when I move off campus I won't have constant access to wifi. If I get an iPhone I'll be able to text my girlfriend (whom I'm fairly fond of) for free. Plus I'll be able to talk to Siri and feel like I am one of the cool kids. However, I really don't like Apple's marketing, AT&T or Verizon very much. I think that cellphone plans are insanely overpriced, and that it is ridiculous to force customers to choose a voice plan (I have an exceedingly strong aversion to talking on the phone).

Even Obama doesn't enjoy it, and he's on an airplane

I've been looking at iPhones online and thus far I've put one in my online cart at least 37 times, only give up and close the window. I can't bring myself to do it, it costs so much moneys and as a future teacher I'm reluctant to part with what little I have. It's not just the $200 to buy the phone, but it's the $80 a month that I have to promise to pay. Now, I'm fairly stupid when it comes to buy as I have a tendency to buy things I have no need for, and then wallow in guilt over wasting money. I am however graduating in a few months which means that the real world will be asking me for my money. I would also like to visit the old ball and chain (girlfriend) in Florence this semester, and spending money on a phone would make that more difficult.

Pictured: girlfriend after reading
the ball and chain remark

Is this just me whining about wanting shiny new toys? Partly, but I also feel that it is the embodiment of something much worse. I'm growing up. If I had been debating this last year, I would have just bought the phone. I would have paid for the ticket to Florence, and I would have thrown money at my problems hoping that they would go away. But now... now the stark reality of real life is staring me in the face. Sure, I'm not poor by any stretch of the imagination... but I don't have a job lined up yet, nor do I have anywhere to live rent-free in the US (my parents made the silly decision of living in another country).  My point is, I think that this is some sort of horrible milestone in my life where I choose between shiny things and practicality. I have a phone and an iPod so what use do I have for an iPhone? I currently pay $10/month for unlimited texting pay for calls as I use them, so why pay 8 times that for a fixed number of texts and calls that I will never use?

Kaylee from Firefly likes shiny things, so they must be good

As much as I want a new toy, I know that it will not make me happier in the least-- in fact I'll definitely regret it when it comes time to pay for rent and the like. Why then am I still so tempted to buy a new phone? I blame the marketists, and my own inability to accept something that I know intellectually. I'd like to think that after all this, I will not go ahead and buy the phone. In fact, I probably won't... but I've said that about a lot of things. Hopefully this marks the beginning of me growing up, of me not wasting money on things I have no need for, and of me being able to control my impulses.

Look at it sitting there,
tempting me with its shiny ways