wanted: new phone

phone shopping with her didn't go off quite as well as it should have. for starters, the nokia 3230 she's had her eye on turns out to be a plasticky ergonomic nightmare. it's stiff buttons and user unfriendly menu button placements sent her spiraling down the pit of darkest despair as she realized that it was something she couldn't use.

for those of you who already know her, you'll remember that she likes large phones. she loses things so easily that she has no choice but to choose monstrosities that stick out so badly, you can't help but see them. what that means is, no slick small technological marvel for her.

but i digress, back to the story.

so of course, the nokia 6680 turns up right next to the disappointing 3230, and though she makes excuses that it has a bunch of functions that she doesn't need, i know that the $888 price tag (before trade-in) is what bothers her the most. granted that it IS a lot of money to pay for a phone, but if you seriously think about it, the cellphone is one of two things we use most in our lives (the other being a computer) and you might as well invest in one that makes you happy if you are going to use it for awhile. oh, here's a disclaimer, just in case you think she's being extravagant, i'll have you know that her current phone is over two years old, and starting to go wonky, so a new one is NEEDED.

let's do the math:

new phone ($888) minus trade-in value of new phone ($150) = $738

assuming the phone lasts for two years (which i think i will), the monthly cost incurred is $738 divided by 24 months = $30.75/month. this breaks down to about $1 dollar a day, less than the cost of a can of coke at the local kopitiam (coffeeshop for you non-singaporeans)

i don't know about you, but to keep my sanity, i would be glad to fork out $1 a day.

too bad my reputation as a spendthrift completely negates my opinion.

ps: it seems like this is in the works, but no telling if it'll make it to asia. i'm sure it'll be cheaper, but is it worth the wait?