Many times Paul makes the case that it makes more sense for people to spend $1,000 on a phone and $500 on a computer or tablet or whatever because you use it more, and derive more value from it. Most recently he said this on GFQ but I’ve heard him say it many times: https://youtu.be/IOZwt6AX5CE?t=28m16s
This logic doesn’t make sense to me at all. So, you should spend more money on a device you use more often, even if spending more money on it doesn’t return more value to you?
For example. I can go buy a 32GB iPhone 6s for $549 or I could go buy a 256GB iPhone 7 for $849. When it comes down to my return on investment, they have nearly the exact same return with one requiring a much larger investment. The iPhone 7 might be a bit faster and obviously has more storage, but in all my time using my iPhone I’ve never needed more than 32GB thanks to the cloud.
Furthermore, both devices are great build quality, good warranty, great customer support, and on and on. When buying a PC that is not the case. A $300 HP stream does not have the same level of build quality as a $1500 HP x360. Also for the additional price you get a more flexible device, which pen and touch support, more ports, faster ports, better quality screens, and of course faster components.
It seems like the justification for spending $1000 on a laptop far outweighs the justification for spending $1000 on an iPhone.
What do you think? Did I miss Paul’s point? Do you agree/disagree with Paul? How do you decide how to allocate your tech budget?
Bats
<p>Yep, Paul makes a lot of sense. Tech stuff is personal. People are accomplishing a lot of what they need to do their phone than on a PC. Just the other the day, I bought something from the store called Bloomingdales, the purchase was made near the escalator with the salesman using an iPhone. A few months, I found out what's wrong with my car using an OBDII OBD2 scanner with my Android App, via Bluetooth. Now when I go to the dealer to get my car fix, I tell them exactly what needs to be done and I don't get tricked into an cross-selling.</p><p><br></p><p>The point is not to say phones give more value than PCs (Windows, Chrome OS, Mac, Linux), but to level the playing field between the two type of computers. From a personal computing standard, mobile computer is better than non-mobile. After all, are you going to bring your HP x360 wherever you go? WHen you go to grocery store, is there a PAY-BY-LAPTOP option at the checkout? That's really the point. You can do more, much more with a $1,000 phone than you can with a $1,000 PC, therefore it's better to buy the phone than the PC, because the user will get more value from it. </p>
skane2600
<blockquote><a href="#175325"><em>In reply to TheJoeFin:</em></a></blockquote><p>Yes, and it also depends on how an individual uses their phone. Some people can easily get by with phone costing less than $200. </p>
skane2600
<blockquote><a href="#175320"><em>In reply to paul-thurrott:</em></a></blockquote><p>I think it's more like most people who never needed a PC before smartphones, still don't need one.</p>
skane2600
<blockquote><a href="#175716"><em>In reply to wunderbar:</em></a></blockquote><p>Canada needs to create its own nice phone :)</p>