Is it really worth it?

One of the secrets to this lifestyle is determining whether things provide value for their cost.

Weighing up the cost

Cost is not just money. It's the hassle of buying it, the space to store it, the time to clean and maintain it and, for the eco-conscious, the impact of disposing of it later. Is it worth all that cost for the benefit it brings?

What ads say

The trick is that society (particularly advertising) will tell you the opposite. Provided you have the money - and often even if you don't - something that brings any value at all is something we are urged to buy.

Sometimes it's even just the slim chance of a tiny amount of value. This current ad is a classic example. Telstra, an Australian telco, is known for its comprehensive area coverage, particularly in remote areas.

The proposition seems to be that you should pay for this extra coverage incase:

You are a footy fan, AND
you're in a remote area on game night, AND
the power goes out during the game, AND
no-one else at the venue has Telstra (despite it being Australia's most popular telco), AND
the game must absolutely be watched live, AND
your phone has sufficient charge to last the rest of the game.

Highly unlikely

That's a very unlikely sequence of events. Even as someone who watches a fair amount of sport, I'm very confident I'll go the rest of my life without it ever happening.

Not a big deal

Even as a sports fan, there are far worse things in life than missing half a TV game. Ads like this are really just exploiting our FOMO.

A better alternative

Recently I've been reading Digital Minimalism* by Cal Newport. I imagine he'd suggest that instead of going to extreme lengths to feed our addiction to more screen time, that the fans (when the power goes out) could gather around and share stories about their love of the game and their favourite football memories.

The social interaction would be far more meaningful than everyone staring at one mobile screen for an hour - and half of the people being upset about their team losing.

*Soon I'll be publishing my review of Digital Minimalism (it's great read). Follow on facebook, or subscribe at the top of the screen to be notified when I've written it.

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