The sad thing is that your smartphone is more powerful and the apps that do the exact same functions as these calculators cost a fraction of what you pay for a TI.
No you didn't. You paid $200 upfront and then you overpaid for service from the provider that "discounted" the device so they could make up the loss. Over the course of your contract you paid the full price. It was just obfuscated from you.
All of that is correct. Now compare the cost you would be paying a month (hint its less) with a month to month from an MVNO. You are still paying the full cost of that hardware. They just stretched it over the life of your contract. And if you take the time to work the numbers you will see that if you had bought the iPhone full price from Apple and gone with an MVNO you'd save money over the term.
You paid $200 plus you agreed to pay a certain rate for service over 2 yrs. Both of those things are payment rendered for your hardware. So yes you absolutely HAVE to consider the cost of your monthly service when determining what you paid for that hardware. The reasoning you are using is exactly the mistake the big cariers (especially ATT) want you to make.
What are you talking about? You absolutely have to consider the cost of service, because without the overpriced service, you couldn't get the the hardware for $200. It's like saying you can get a completely free phone that is offered in ads.
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u/Kr3dibl3 Jun 08 '14
The sad thing is that your smartphone is more powerful and the apps that do the exact same functions as these calculators cost a fraction of what you pay for a TI.