OT - Buy Now, Pay Later

Investment Analysis Clubs Macro Economic Trends and Risks
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My very busy second daughter and I have a running … dare I say “Battle” over why I don’t buy an iPhone so I could have all sorts of neat features she uses and I have no interest or need for. She commented that if I can afford two week trips to Cuba and am looking at a Med cruise I can certainly afford an Iphone. It has nothing to do with “afford”! I’ve spent over 40 years of my life using non-Apple products and even managed to turn it into a very lucrative second career.

Why should I spend a whole lot of time buying into a product that insists on doing things differently than anyone else? I have a silent supporter in SIL who can’t figure out how to start her very expensive Apple desktop that she is using to brainwash her two girls … along with the iPhones they each have so she can keep track of them.

Stumbled on this while wandering through junk email from “Seeking Alpha” last night. If ever there was an economics problem to worry about in the world it has been the growth of instant gratification through debt? Of course I can afford it … I still have room on the credit care at oh 23.05%.

Anymouse

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3847034-is-a-bank-charter-in-t…

Is a bank charter in the cards after Apple touts ‘Pay Later’ program?

Jun. 09, 2022 4:42 AM ET Apple Inc. (AAPL)AFRM, KLAR, PYPL, GS, MA, BCS, SOFIBy: Yoel Minkoff, SA News Editor

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zero debt, hates debt and interest payments

I do, however, like those ‘no interest for six months’ periods (before paying off in full).

I remember buying a Ford a number of years ago. They had a offer for a $2000 rebate but only if I signed up for a zero-interest loan. I took it. :slight_smile:

DB2

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…and I have no interest or need for. …It has nothing to do with “afford”

I feel your pain. I have zero interest in any sort of cell phone. I ignore the landline phone for months at a time. I have zero interest one that “Alexa” thing too. Car makers tout “Android and Apple compatible” in dash video games. Could not care less. The one thing that would be useful, a CD player, has been deleted.

But, yes, being hip deep in debt is Shiny. As offered before, that “supply side economic miracle” of the last 40 years is an illusion, built on a mountain of debt.

Steve

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“I feel your pain. I have zero interest in any sort of cell phone. I ignore the landline phone for months at a time. I have zero interest one that “Alexa” thing too. Car makers tout “Android and Apple compatible” in dash video games. Could not care less. The one thing that would be useful, a CD player, has been deleted.”

It’s all about getting consumers on subscription plans, that is the holy grail for business.
For me, subscribing to OnStar so that if I ever lock my keys in the car I can call them
( assuming I didn’t lock phone in car ) and they can remotely unlock it is most definitely not
worth a monthly payment. I do subscribe to XM radio, to me it is worth the monthly fee, but that
is just a personal preference, I can see how someone would not see the value in it.

Did a river float with a good sized group of people a couple of weekends ago, in 1 canoe
a couple of 20 somethings had their I-phone tuned to their Pandora account, bluetoothing
tunes to a couple of little portable speakers they had set up on their beer cooler. Good
sound quality,too. But some of us oldsters enjoy the sounds of nature, so we just paddled
and stayed a couple of bends ahead so we didn’t have to listen to it. And this was out in the
boonies, too, and I don’t think they ever lost the cell signal.

Played in a golf outing last weekend, and several different groups had the same setup in their
golf carts. All tunes, all the time. It was a scramble, so it’s basically a 5 hour party
while hitting golf balls, can’t say that I enjoyed their taste in music, but no big deal.

A lot of technology feels like heavy overkill to us, but to the younger people, that’s what they’re
used to, so it just feels normal.

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" I do subscribe to XM radio, to me it is worth the monthly fee, but that
is just a personal preference,"

Exactly - it’s all personal preference.

Your XM subscription can do all those things on your phone just like ‘their Pandora account’.
All music all the time was the norm for a lot of us when we were younger, but we were limited to sources like car and home. I’m pretty sure we would have opted for portable if it had been available. Eventually the Walkman was invented. Phones are just a technological update of the Walkman.
We’re getting old…

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The one thing that would be useful, a CD player, has been deleted.

Oh, when my new micro desktop puter arrived (no CD/DVD drive) I ordered an “external dvd drive” that plugs in to USB Type-A & Type-C, high speed transmission from Amazon. Cheap and works perfectly.

Tim

This is of course Amazon.ca but they even knocked an extra C$5 off with a coupon.

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07C1VP88H?pd_rd_i=B07C1VP88H&p…

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It’s all about getting consumers on subscription plans, that is the holy grail for business.
For me, subscribing to OnStar so that if I ever lock my keys in the car I can call them
( assuming I didn’t lock phone in car ) and they can remotely unlock it is most definitely not
worth a monthly payment. I do subscribe to XM radio, to me it is worth the monthly fee,

On your point about locking your phone in the car, my mom always carried a spare key in her purse. One day, she came out of the office, unlocked the car, tossed the keys and purse in, grabbed the snow brush, pushed the button down on the door and closed the door, and started to clean the snow off the car. Realizing she had just locked two keys inside the car, she called me to go over to her house and retrieve the third key. I carry spare car and house keys in the coin pouch of my wallet. Yes, the VW came with two big electronical keys that are too big to put in the pouch, but it also came with a porter key that is the same size as a conventional key.

As for a radio subscription, I have been receiving spam from Sirius, for the last 8 years, imploring me to subscribe for the radio in my VW. I paid for the music I have 40 years ago. I refuse to pay for it again with their jive subscription. My music has morphed from the original vinyl, to mix cassettes, to mix CDs, and will no doubt morph to a flash drive, but I will NOT pay for it again.

A lot of technology feels like heavy overkill to us, but to the younger people, that’s what they’re
used to, so it just feels normal.

One of the folks I discuss automotive things with was leafing through a printed book a few years ago. When he wanted a better look at a pic in the book, he automatically started stroking the pic with his fingers to zoom in, as he would with his phone. No son, books don’t work that way.

Steve

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Isn’t “Buy Now, Pay Later” just the new way of saying “Layaway (plan)”?

I recall when them entities called “Department stores” e.g. Sears, K-Mart, Montgomery Wards, etc, used to have a rep or two to assist with layaway plans. Course, there are way fewer department stores around now

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“As for a radio subscription, I have been receiving spam from Sirius, for the last 8 years, imploring me to subscribe for the radio in my VW. I paid for the music I have 40 years ago. I refuse to pay for it again with their jive subscription. My music has morphed from the original vinyl, to mix cassettes, to mix CDs, and will no doubt morph to a flash drive, but I will NOT pay for it again.”

( not trying to change your mind, to each their own,lol )

my favorite music channel on XM is Little Steven’s Garage. Plays music from all decades back to
the 1950’s, I think. Many great songs by bands I’ve never heard of, also great tunes by musicians
I have heard of, but these songs never made it into the never ending, recycling rotation of
the conventional radio station playlists. Last Fall, drove back from Florida and only changed the channel to listen to the news and a couple of shows on Doctor Radio channel, otherwise Little Steven’s Garage provided the best road trip tunes I’ve ever had. I wasn’t the only person in the vehicle,lol, but not a single complaint about what the radio was tuned to. Plus, I hate advertising, whether on tv or radio, so I’m willing to pay XM for their product, I definitely get my money’s worth out of it, use it every day.

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( not trying to change your mind, to each their own,lol )

You missed the argument DesertDave and I had about which of us is more stubborn?

Steve

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All music all the time was the norm for a lot of us when we were younger, but we were limited to sources like car and home. I’m pretty sure we would have opted for portable if it had been available. Eventually the Walkman was invented. Phones are just a technological update of the Walkman.

Before the Walkman, Sony invented the transistor radio in the 1950s (I think).
Small and compact, like the walkman, and you could get free music from numerous AM and FM stations!

And sports, too!

Mike

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