[Off-topic] aawillma:
Just have to vent

I am seriously frustrated and need somewhere to vent and I think I found the thread to do it.

Are you guys f'in kidding me.

"I would love to buy that but I'm short on cash", "Oh sorry I can't trade you for that, I don't have any money"

I get that it's a crap economy and jobs are scarce and blah blah but seriously, you have the latest tech. You could afford to buy/renew-for an SGSIII the week it came out but now you won't trade it for less than $xxx because you are short on money? Maybe you should have thought of that before buying a ridiculously expensive gadget that you don't need!

I'm getting sick of being jealous of the brat in front of me at Walmart buying groceries with food stamps while she puts her HDTV on a different transaction, then pulls her iPhone 4s out of her Coach purse to take an instagram of her new sh*t.

The marketplace forum is like that in a way. All these "broke" people wheeling and dealing with equipment that is worth more than my monthly food bill. And before you object, there is a distinct difference between I can't afford that price (aka: I do not value that item as highly as you do and am unwillingly to spend that much money on it) and I am too broke to buy that. I'm talking about the "Nah, even though I have no feedback, I won't ship my item first because I actually can't! I literally have $5 in my checking - LOL" people.

I seriously hope that when I see people say that they are just misusing the word literally. If I literally had $5 to my name I would not be on XDA meticulously arguing about the condition of a trade item, I would sell every gadget I own at the lowest possible market value price and not buy another until I have enough money to freakin eat. Only in this country do people spend their last dollar on brand new fancy crap they don't need.

An internet ready, free with contract, smartphone is a pretty handy tool for a struggling family. For less than the price of a computer and home internet plan you can get internet access and calling for a somewhat affordable monthly price. Jobs require online access almost exclusively now. You can also check the news, eliminating the need for a TV. You can check the bus route and train times and make contacts for carpooling, making a one or no-car family easier to manage. I get this. But you don't need a PC and netbook and tablet and big screen TV too! And you sure as heck don't need the NEWEST smartphone!

Someone please explain to me why any of this makes sense. Explain to me why people think they NEED stuff like this aside from what I mentioned above about having one phone per family. When I see people saying on XDA that they are a dev and want to buy a new phone to experiment with but they can't afford it yet I read that as they see deving as a hobby and their budget for this hobby does not include this item. I am not talking about that. People that collect gadgets and like to have new stuff and can afford to do this but use their money wisely are not what I am talking about. I do this. I have gadgets I don't need. But I am employed full-time and have no debt a good savings and it's fun for me. I wish everyone treated gadgets this way. I have too many friends that spent their paycheck on a new phone instead of their mounting credit card bill. WHYYYYY.