Postponed Purchases

the economy will take off once people really buy the things they are now postponing? Besides the obvious thing of eventually needing a new car, etc, here is my list of purchases I do not doubt I will someday make:

*modern wide-screen high def TV
*GPS for the car
*DVR for the TV
*buit-in satellite radio, home and car [now use portable devices for this]

plus some I can't think of, no doubt. Please vote. Will anyone add to the list?

Skip the GPS for the car. If you get a smartphone, the GPS on your phone will be far superior, with up to the minute maps and traffic/detour data.

I'm always looking at the latest cameras. I know I don't need it, I can't help it.

We're probably getting a new flatscreen, because the old one is starting to fritz. I'll spend the extra and get a couple more " and go LED.

Bought a flat screen HD tv last year. Have a DVR and a new Xbox 360 (halo brandded for all you other geeks). I have pretty much everything I need. I am a happy man.

What car these days does not COME with GPS, and how in the world is a phone's any better than the latest info loaded onto one of them?
How can anybody go into football season without a new big flatscreen?

I guess I'm out of touch.

If I could think of any consumer item in the world that I value more than the cash it costs, I would have already bought it

I will be buying a new pair of $15 shoes next week

Half a tank of gas tonight

And trips to the buffets as hunger dictates

Christmas and my birthday should take care of socks and underwear. Thanks mom

The economy would be a lot better if people bought a lot fewer things

Quote: TomG

If I could think of any consumer item in the world that I value more than the cash it costs, I would have already bought it

I will be buying a new pair of $15 shoes next week

Half a tank of gas tonight

And trips to the buffets as hunger dictates

Christmas and my birthday should take care of socks and underwear. Thanks mom

The economy would be a lot better if people bought a lot fewer things

and I have been accused of being a "minimalist". I feel better now [g].

I was starting to develop a theory that gamblers generally have no desire for delayed gratification. Me myself, I'm mostly a gamer, so purchasing/delaying has a lot to do with "playing the game". I have the money.

Quote: JerryLogan

What car these days does not COME with GPS, and how in the world is a phone's any better than the latest info loaded onto one of them?
How can anybody go into football season without a new big flatscreen?

I guess I'm out of touch.

Actually, many cars don't come with built in nav. And it is very expensive on the ones that have it, usually costing about $1000 and requiring a premium option package (or the purchase of a premium automobile). The GPSs that come already in a car are actually not as good as the stand-alones, and the stand-alones are not as good as the phones. Map data changes a lot faster than you might think. GPSs not only provide route information but also business information. You have to update your maps, not just the roads but the locations as well. Hard wired GPSs take updates via discs, and stand-alones get connected to your computer via USB cable; in each case, there is a charge for the update (Garmin charges $50).

Your phone has every bit the computing power of the GPS. In addition to that, it receives free real time data on traffic and detours, and up-to-date information on routes, businesses and restaurants. It also has the advantage of all the apps being interconnected; they share data and function. For example, you can pull up a phone number in your address book, touch it on the screen and choose "navigate to". You can do the same for a movie theater in the Flixter app, or a restaurant or hotel that you pulled up in Google. You can "track": that is, you can start the GPS, then set it to track your route, and save it; for example, a scenic motorcycle drive through fall foliage in northeast Pennsylvania.

In terms of getting the highest score from buying stuff, delaying the purchase actually minimizes gratification. If buying a new TV or GPS is truly what will make you happy, waiting only means you are losing out on that now

For myself, I just don't get much out of it. A lot less than I get from being able to stay out of the workforce

Quote: Mosca

Your phone has every bit the computing power of the GPS. In addition to that, it receives free real time data on traffic and detours, and up-to-date information on routes, businesses and restaurants. It also has the advantage of all the apps being interconnected; they share data and function. For example, you can pull up a phone number in your address book, touch it on the screen and choose "navigate to". You can do the same for a movie theater in the Flixter app, or a restaurant or hotel that you pulled up in Google. You can "track": that is, you can start the GPS, then set it to track your route, and save it; for example, a scenic motorcycle drive through fall foliage in northeast Pennsylvania.

I'd just point out that while many people do have smart phones, I'm not sure if one can assume everyone does. If someone is waiting for the economy to pick up before they go buy a $100 garmin, then I'm not assuming they are shelling out an additional $30/month for a data plan.


FWIW - I had a gps before I got an iphone. I have a gps app on my iphone. I still use my gps because it has a bigger screen and just plain works better.

Quote: Mosca

Actually, many cars don't come with built in nav. And it is very expensive on the ones that have it, usually costing about $1000 and requiring a premium option package (or the purchase of a premium automobile). The GPSs that come already in a car are actually not as good as the stand-alones, and the stand-alones are not as good as the phones. Map data changes a lot faster than you might think. GPSs not only provide route information but also business information. You have to update your maps, not just the roads but the locations as well. Hard wired GPSs take updates via discs, and stand-alones get connected to your computer via USB cable; in each case, there is a charge for the update (Garmin charges $50).

Your phone has every bit the computing power of the GPS. In addition to that, it receives free real time data on traffic and detours, and up-to-date information on routes, businesses and restaurants. It also has the advantage of all the apps being interconnected; they share data and function. For example, you can pull up a phone number in your address book, touch it on the screen and choose "navigate to". You can do the same for a movie theater in the Flixter app, or a restaurant or hotel that you pulled up in Google. You can "track": that is, you can start the GPS, then set it to track your route, and save it; for example, a scenic motorcycle drive through fall foliage in northeast Pennsylvania.

Huh? The GPS that came with my Audi and the one in my wife's minivan both have the latest up-to-date data including traffic, weather, restaurants, homeless shelters and movie theaters, and I can update them for free at any time in the future. Those silly little things people put on their dashes because they can't afford the real thing are trashy to me and are just as ugly as radar detectors (although not as useless as detectors). And using phone GPS? What do you do, glue the thing to the dash then start cursing if you get a phone call? Plus I want to be able to SEE the directions. there is no phone anywhere near as big as the built-ins I've used and seen.