I’ve calculated that my
life is 50% simpler because I own a smartphone. blog.mindrocketnow.com
So I’m one of the people that cannot leave
their smartphone alone for more than 6.5 minutes. However, rather than
feeling guilty, I think this is a sign of my savvy consumer insight. I did some
rough accounting, and using my smartphone has saved me money:
|
Gadget
|
Incremental cost on iPhone
|
Non-iPhone equivalent
|
Cost of equivalent
|
|
Address book
|
£0 Contacts app
|
Collins A5
|
£9.99
|
|
Alarm clock
|
Free app
|
Casio TQ140
|
£4.75
|
|
Album
|
£9.99/m Spotify premium
|
Amazon CD
|
£4.99 ea.
|
|
Babysitting
|
£4.99 Minecraft app
|
Local teenager
|
£8/h
|
|
Bike computer
|
£0 Runkeeper app
|
Velo Champion 16
|
£24.99
|
|
Boarding pass
|
£0 Passbook app
|
Printed at airport
|
£0
|
|
Book
|
£4.99 Kindle book ea.
|
Amazon paperback
|
£5.99 ea.
|
|
Calculator
|
£0 Calculator app
|
Casio FX-83GT
|
£11.99
|
|
Calendar
|
£0 Calendar app
|
Filofax
|
£7.50
|
|
Camera
|
£0 Camera app
|
Nikon Coolpix L31
|
£58
|
|
Comic
|
$69 p.a. Marvel Unlimited
|
Comic book store comic
|
£3.99 ea.
|
|
Digital music player
|
£0 Music app
|
Sony Walkman NWZE585
|
£84.99
|
|
Game
|
Marvel Puzzle Quest £14.99 in-app purchase
|
Lego Marvel Avengers for Wii U
|
£30.99
|
|
International call
|
£0 over wi-fi
|
BT standard tariff
to India
|
40p/min
|
|
Map
|
£0 Google maps
|
AtoZ London
|
£5.99
|
|
Movie
|
£0 Amazon Fire TV
app
|
Amazon blu-ray
|
£10.99 ea.
|
|
Newspaper
|
£0 Feedly app
|
The Times
|
£1.20/d
|
|
Radio
|
£0 Podcasts app
|
Roberts Radio
Revival Mini
|
£160
|
|
Sat nav
|
£0 Waze app
|
TomTom Start 25M UK maps
|
£119.99
|
|
Telephone
|
£28.32/m tariff
+ £480 for the phone
|
Line rental + BT
1000 DECT phone
|
£16.70/m + £19.99
|
|
TV box set
|
£0 Now TV app
|
Additional NowTV box + subs
|
£10 + £6.99/m
|
|
Weather forecast
|
£0 Yahoo! Weather
app
|
Watson W8682-mkII
|
£59.95
|
|
Annual Total
|
£1064.58
|
|
£2264.22
|
Yikes! My gadget habit costs me over a grand per year. At
least it’s 50% cheaper using my iPhone than with replacements.
Some of my favourite activities turn out to be free
activities that I find better to do on my smartphone; activities like browsing,
checking email, or borrowing books from the library. Others are activities that
would cost real money in meatspace, are now free using an app, like a second
screen movie viewing vs. buying a blu-ray.
Very rarely is there an activity that is cheaper in
meatspace than online. The only example I can think of is buying digital media.
It’s still cheaper to by real CDs and books, and movies than downloading,
unless you buy a subscription.
What I find most interesting about this list, is that there
are over 20 activities that I now do with this single device, that I would find
valuable enough to pay for. In other words, if I didn’t have my smartphone, I
would’ve happily bought a bevvy of additional gadgets. My smartphone is
revolutionary because it simplifies my life.
