Comment: Are you serious? Over a £1,000 for a phone!

Tuesday 26 September 2017

In the next in our series of opinion articles, Chief Technology Officer and Assistant Headteacher at Beaulieu, Rory Steel, takes a look at one of the major tech announcements of the last few weeks: the launch of the Apple iPhone X.

"I’ve always been an early adopter, the satisfaction of playing with the newest tech before anyone else is a touch narcissistic but it brings me joy and I’m unashamed. With the upcoming release of the iPhone X, that joy is coming with a hefty price tag this November, but is it worth it?

"Most people's gut instinct is a decisive NO, but is it really as indulgent as it seems? 20 years ago when mobile phones became mainstream we used them to call, text and play Snake, it’s all you could do, but we loved them. Modern Smartphones can now do the vast majority of a laptop's functions, often much faster and easier. How many people use a proper DSLR camera anymore?

"You can easily edit your instant memories on your phone and send them half a world away in a minute. Love them or hate them, social media Apps like Snapchat and Instagram only work on a Smartphone. Many busy professionals eMail on the fly and review documents while grabbing a bite to eat. We are living in an always-on world that is only going to become more interconnected. While the Blackberry has died, it paved the way for mobile productivity from which we can never return. I used to live on my laptop, I used to count down the days each year for the latest release of my Macbook. Now, however,  I’m currently rocking a three-year-old version that I now rarely pick up. My laptop is becoming redundant, jealous of the time I spend with my phone.

Apple's promotional video for the new iPhone X

"People are quick to judge 'Apple Fanboys' like me, assuming we’d buy bin liner if they slapped an Apple logo on it but the new Google Pixel 2 and Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Smartphones are not far behind in price. Remember the fury when Apple killed the standard Headphone Jack? Samsung quickly followed suit, change is emotive, scary even but inevitable. Our phones will replace our wallets very soon. We will view a sofa in our room through the lens of our phone before we buy it using augmented reality next year. We will vote in elections with them, we will pay for parking with them and they will monitor our health and save our lives. These are not wild predictions but currently developing uses of the devices. Leaving your phone at home will soon, if not already, be unthinkable.

"We find ourselves using our phones more than any other device, to connect with our loved ones, to capture our children's first words, for fun, for work, for everything. So why is a price tag of £1000 so outrageous? It’s outrageous if you only buy one for status. I see people walking around with a supercomputer in their pockets using it for nothing more than what I used to use my Nokia brick for two decades ago.

"I see teenagers desperate to own the latest shiny release, more concerned if it still comes in Rose Gold than its new A11 chip, that makes it faster than my laptop. Don’t judge me for paying seemingly astronomical prices for my phone, I use it well, I rely on it, it saves me time. I think, yes, I think I might just have convinced myself it is actually worth it."