Americans are working less

[Mosbonian]

Originally Posted by IowaHawkeyeChief

Wages have been pushed down by NAFTA and illegal immigration. This is not meant to be a political statement as it is documented and quantifiable. I was a free market guy as an Economics major, but it has decimated the middle class. That being said, I see many of today's youths using door dash regularly, having the newest and best Iphone/Galaxy etc. Wealth doesn't come easy, but I've seen a lot of young folks with average jobs who are in great shape in their 30's.

This is what makes me shake my head......DoorDash, Uber Eats, or just dropping by the local deli on their way home to pick up the same meal they could make at home for 1/3 the cost and even have leftovers for lunch the next day.

I went to the local T-Mobile store last week....there were 10 customers in there....8 were easily under the age of 30 and the other 2 were me and a guy much the same age as me. The word constantly repeated was Iphone....

I still have my 1st generation Flip phone from 4 years ago and it does me fine...

(Rant over)

[|Zach|]

Originally Posted by Mosbonian

This is what makes me shake my head......DoorDash, Uber Eats, or just dropping by the local deli on their way home to pick up the same meal they could make at home for 1/3 the cost and even have leftovers for lunch the next day.

I went to the local T-Mobile store last week....there were 10 customers in there....8 were easily under the age of 30 and the other 2 were me and a guy much the same age as me. The word constantly repeated was Iphone....

I still have my 1st generation Flip phone from 4 years ago and it does me fine...

(Rant over)

I don't agree with the idea that an iphone is a luxury. If you want to be competitive in today's job market you need a smartphone. Not for everything...but to not be tapped in like that would be extremely limiting.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by |Zach|

I don't agree with the idea that an iphone is a luxury. If you want to be competitive in today's job market you need a smartphone. Not for everything...but to not be tapped in like that would be extremely limiting.

...even if we wish it weren't that way. I'd love to be able to actually disconnect at the end of the "work day."

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by |Zach|

I don't agree with the idea that an iphone is a luxury. If you want to be competitive in today's job market you need a smartphone. Not for everything...but to not be tapped in like that would be extremely limiting.

I think you can buy a pretty basic smartphone for a few hundred bucks though.. or refurbished, or just don't run out to buy the latest one every year.

I don't think spending the extra money on a new iPhone is the main issue... like he said, it's spending the extra coin on a new iPhone and then using DoorDash and also going out to eat a lot instead of cooking at home, and having several streaming subs, and then complaining that a 4 bedroom house or luxury apartment costs too much for a 25yo.

/shouts at cloud

[mr. tegu]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

I think you can buy a pretty basic smartphone for a few hundred bucks though.. or refurbished, or just don't run out to buy the latest one every year.

I don't think spending the extra money on a new iPhone is the main issue... like he said, it's spending the extra coin on a new iPhone and then using DoorDash and also going out to eat a lot instead of cooking at home, and having several streaming subs, and then complaining that a 4 bedroom house or luxury apartment costs too much for a 25yo.

/shouts at cloud

I think the Venn diagram of people who buy new iPhones every year and also utilize door dash for most of their meals is basically a circle. Basically people that make bad financial decisions do so in all aspects of their spending habits.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

I think you can buy a pretty basic smartphone for a few hundred bucks though.. or refurbished, or just don't run out to buy the latest one every year.

I don't think spending the extra money on a new iPhone is the main issue... like he said, it's spending the extra coin on a new iPhone and then using DoorDash and also going out to eat a lot instead of cooking at home, and having several streaming subs, and then complaining that a 4 bedroom house or luxury apartment costs too much for a 25yo.

/shouts at cloud

My daughters and Mrs. are constantly giving me shit about the refurb Pixel 3 I bought on ebay a few years ago for $65. The Mrs. has an older Apple phone but mine works just fine, lol.

[Bl00dyBizkitz]

Originally Posted by |Zach|

I don't agree with the idea that an iphone is a luxury. If you want to be competitive in today's job market you need a smartphone. Not for everything...but to not be tapped in like that would be extremely limiting.

As someone loosely in IT, you literally need a smartphone to work at any decent office job. They all require MFA for cybersecurity insurance and most IT firms exclusively use an MFA app on your smartphone.

They are absolutely required.

[loochy]

Originally Posted by Bl00dyBizkitz

As someone loosely in IT, you literally need a smartphone to work at any decent office job. They all require MFA for cybersecurity insurance and most IT firms exclusively use an MFA app on your smartphone.

They are absolutely required.

If a job needs me to use a smartphone then they need to provide the smartphone (which mine has - I have an iPhone). They don't expect me to use my own laptop too do they?

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by loochy

If a job needs me to use a smartphone then they need to provide the smartphone (which mine has - I have an iPhone). They don't expect me to use my own laptop too do they?

I don't think I've ever met anyone under 60 years old who doesn't have a smart phone, at least in the past 5 years.

All phones are fkn smart phones now.

[loochy]

Originally Posted by BWillie

I don't think I've ever met anyone under 60 years old who doesn't have a smart phone, at least in the past 5 years.

All phones are fkn smart phones now.

Yes, but I'm not going to use my personal phone for work. Don't send me texts on it, don't call me on it, don't make me access work email on it. That stays separate from my personal phone.


My wife made this mistake and she gets texts all night about patients and blah blah blah.


and my statement was targeted at this:

Originally Posted by Bl00dyBizkitz

As someone loosely in IT, you literally need a smartphone to work at any decent office job. They all require MFA for cybersecurity insurance and most IT firms exclusively use an MFA app on your smartphone.

They are absolutely required.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by loochy

Yes, but I'm not going to use my personal phone for work. Don't send me texts on it, don't call me on it, don't make me access work email on it. That stays separate from my personal phone.


My wife made this mistake and she gets texts all night about patients and blah blah blah.


and my statement was targeted at this:

Eh, I get the sentiment. That seems pretty unusual, though. If someone has to be on their phone constantly, then sure, work should pay for it. I don't want to have a separate device just for basic emails, Slacks, and 2FA, though.

Depending on how you set it up, you can possibly just disable work apps after hours if that's the part you don't want.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Bl00dyBizkitz

As someone loosely in IT, you literally need a smartphone to work at any decent office job. They all require MFA for cybersecurity insurance and most IT firms exclusively use an MFA app on your smartphone.

They are absolutely required.

Most IT and IT security companies will assign you a phone and computer. They don't want people's personal devices having access to sensitive information.

[Bl00dyBizkitz]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

Most IT and IT security companies will assign you a phone and computer. They don't want people's personal devices having access to sensitive information.

I suppose you could get a company phone or a FOB.

I guess I was pushing against the iPhone/Door Dash rhetoric just a bit. Door Dash, GrubHub, UberEats, and any equivalent is a scam and I think you're a fool to use it frequently, but a smart phone has great features and is relatively inexpensive. I dont think you'd be crippling yourself financially by getting one.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Bl00dyBizkitz

I suppose you could get a company phone or a FOB.

I guess I was pushing against the iPhone/Door Dash rhetoric just a bit. Door Dash, GrubHub, UberEats, and any equivalent is a scam and I think you're a fool to use it frequently, but a smart phone has great features and is relatively inexpensive. I dont think you'd be crippling yourself financially by getting one.

It isn't the phone so much as it's the contract that comes with it. To get the absolute latest phones, you have to go with a bigger provider. The discount mobile providers generally give out older phones, which is how they keep costs down.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

It isn't the phone so much as it's the contract that comes with it. To get the absolute latest phones, you have to go with a bigger provider. The discount mobile providers generally give out older phones, which is how they keep costs down.

Interesting. I can see that if you are going to get your phone as part of a package/contract.

A while back I tried to switch to one of those $25 per month per line spinoffs of our current provider, Verizon, and they told me my old Pixel 3 phone couldn't handle it. It grinds my butt to pay the Verizon bill each month but out here that is seems to be the best choice.