Here’s a question to ponder: If, prior to 2007, a young person struggling with the cost of tuition, or rent, or saving to buy a house, had complained about how hard it was to save money, would you have told them that something they needed to do was get rid of their landline phone, to save a few dollars?
No, you wouldn’t, in part because prior to 2007 — which is when the iPhone was introduced — most people didn’t have what we call landlines, they just had a phone, which plugged into a wall in your home and was what you used to make and receive personal phone calls.
Mostly, though, you wouldn’t have suggested it because you would have realized that people need phones. Sure, they were nice to have to chat with family and friends, but it was also how employers (potential and actual) got hold of you, or you got hold of them. It was how you were alerted to an emergency situation, or something you used in case of an emergency. It was a quick and easy way to get and disseminate important information.
However, look at the comments on any story about young people struggling with affordability issues, and you’ll see people grumbling about their expensive phones. “They say they can’t afford rent but they can afford an iPhone! They need to ditch the fancy phones!”
There’s a bit to unpack here, so let’s go for the low-hanging fruit first and note that for many people today, their smartphone is their only phone. It does all the things that phones have always done, with the added advantage that you always have it with you, so you won’t miss those important calls, like a potential employer phoning to say they want you to come in for an interview.
Then there’s the cost. Have you seen the price tag on a new iPhone? Outrageous! Or it would be, if people were going into the phone store and plunking cash on the barrelhead. Speaking for myself, I have never paid for a new smartphone, or at least have never paid the full asking price at one go. Instead, I do what almost everyone does, and purchase a smartphone on what’s basically an instalment plan, with a portion of my monthly bill going towards the cost of the phone. At the end of a fixed term I own the phone outright, and can than start all over again with a new one, whenever I feel the need.
Next, that monthly fee allows people to cut costs elsewhere. For many people, their smartphone means they don’t need a computer, enabling them to avoid that cost, as well as an extra internet connection fee. They don’t need cable, because they have access to TV shows, movies, newscasts, and more for free. They don’t need a camera, or a radio, or a calculator: it’s all in their phone.
Finally, telling someone that by eschewing a smartphone they’ll have gone a long way to solving their financial woes is clueless at best, cruel at worst, and shows a glaring lack of awareness of just how tough it is today for young people trying to get by. In 1972, the undergraduate tuition fee for someone studying medicine in Canada was $674 per year; minimum wage was $2 an hour, meaning you had to work for 337 hours to pay for it, which was eminently doable if you had a 13-week summer job of 35 hours per week.
In 2007 that cost was $4,887 and minimum wage was $8 an hour, meaning you’d have to work for 1,319 hours (or 37.6 weeks at 35 hours per week) to pay for one year. Today, at the University of Toronto, the cost of that one year of tuition is $27,000, while minimum wage is $16.55, equating to 1,631 hours of work, or 46.6 weeks. Keep that in mind, next time you’re inclined to scold someone about their smartphone, or you might find it wedged into an uncomfortable place.
