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by scrollaway 4173 days ago
> makes it seem like you're not open to dialogue.

Complaining about downvotes without replies makes it seem like I'm not open to dialogue? I think it makes some people in here seem like they live in a bubble, to each their own huh?

> But this thread isn't about $40 smartphones

Actually, it is; GGP said he "knows people too cheap to pay $1 for apps" and that is completely valid for Android as well. The rest of your post's premise is wrong on that basis. I'm not claiming iphones are popular amongst that sector of the population. But even if I did, as someone else said below, actual pirated/resold iphones do cost around 30-40 USD making them just as accessible.

Edit: And I don't mean to be rude, it just disgusts me how some people here are so full of money it doesn't even register that for some, $1 is a big deal.

1 comments

> "Complaining about downvotes without replies makes it seem like I'm not open to dialogue?"

No. Treating disagreement as a sign that people need a "reality check" and that they're "in a bubble" makes it seem like you're not open to dialogue. Like you don't even acknowledge the possibility that someone disagreeing with you could have a valid perspective.

> "it is ... completely valid for Android"

Yes, but the broader context of the thread was about iPhone piracy. Also note that he claimed he knew people "too cheap" to pay $1 -- not people "too poor" to pay $1 -- for apps.

I get that $1 is a big deal to some people. I live in one of the poorest zip codes in my state. I've taken in three poor families in the last two years (a divorced mom, teen parents, and a single woman working through community college). My church runs a fairly substantial food bank and clothing bank. I'm connected to a ministry that rescues young women from polygamy (FLDS, AUB, and related groups) and they often have 3-5 children, no money, and a 6th grade education at age 20. I taught in a school where 95% of students qualified for federal free/reduced lunch. Some of my family members do charity work out at Navajo Mountain in southern Utah, which is one of the poorest places in the US.

The people I know in deep poverty are not major app pirates. Most of them don't have smartphones, and the ones that do have $40 or less grocery store phones running Android 2.2 on a pay-as-you-go plan, with either free games or no games.

Conversely, everyone I know who pirates $1 apps is either a college student whose parents pay for everything and they just can't be bothered to ask mom for iTunes credits, or they're a middle-class adult who thinks "I can get it for free if I jailbreak my phone, so it's not stealing." They have adequate dollars to pay for apps to go with their $500+ phone and $100+/month plan, but choose not to. Hence, "too cheap".