[reacweb]

I think Ballmer is very smart and logical. It is completely crazy to spend so much money to buy a phone even if it doubles as a bad computer. I know many people do it, but IMHO it remains crazy and illogical. How do convince your boss that people will spend so much money in illogical way ?

[gumby]

> I think Ballmer is very smart and logical. It is completely crazy to spend so much money to buy a phone even if it doubles as a bad computer. I know many people do it, but IMHO it remains crazy and illogical.

It's illogical for your use case. But most people use their phone to read web pages, send messages, pay their bills, and FB/SC/etc. They don't need a non-"bad" computer. Plus they don't want to go to the computer; with this one they have it with them all the time.

So it's not illogical for them.

My use case is closer to yours (though I have a smart phone as well) but I recognize that other people have different motivations. Even when I don't quite understand them!

[blacksmith_tb]

Conspicuous consumption of all sorts of luxury goods? Who would pay $5000 USD for a Rolex when a $20 Casio tells time more accurately?

[reacweb]

For Rolex, the idea is to be part of the small elite that can afford it. But how do you explain that so many people spend so much money for a recent iphone when a 10$ phone works better for phone calls (more autonomy, stronger, better fit in hand).

[nodamage]

Probably because most people don't use their phones to make phone calls anymore, so other use cases are more important to them? Messaging, Facebook, etc.