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.

Comments

Simple phone

I get my fair share of teasing for still using a Nokia phone. So I feel quite vindicated that someone has now invented a new non-smartphone . It's pitched for those who want a decluttered life. Instead of features, its selling points are things like "reclaim a little quietude from the constant intrusions of technology", "no internet connection, no app store and definitely no camera for taking selfies". One quote from the article said "as smartphones get bigger and bulkier, there is a place for something small and simplified, without all the functions." That kind of statement resonates with me. Not just for phones, but for so many areas of life - including the houses we live in.

Why own a car, when you can go get?

That's the slogan of one company providing an alternative to car ownership. Here's our experience with them. Why not just have our own car? Another time I'll write a full post about that, but suffice to say that car ownership is a pain in the neck. The servicing, the maintenance, the repairs, the parking, the traffic, the registration, the insurance, the cleaning... For my wife and I, about 98% of our transport needs can be done on foot, by bike, by train, bus or ferry. Maybe 99% if you include rideshare. So we choose to avoid the pain (and cost) of car ownership. However, car use (I think of it separately from car ownership) can be handy in certain situations. We had one of those situations last weekend. Here's how it went. Booking a car My wife signed up for GoGet , and booked the car online for the time window she needed it. As a first-timer, she received her little membership card in the mail. On the day of the booking, GoGet sent her a reminder email about 20 minut...

Too Much Stuff

"Why is it so hard to resist new things even when we know we already have too much. Can we find an alternative to the more, more, more mentality?" That promo got me hooked into the half-hour doco "Too Much Stuff". Australian viewers can see it online . Otherwise, here are some of my highlights. Host Sarah Wilson sums up the problem right at the start. "At every turn we're urged to possess the next thing that will make us feel smarter and more desirable. Anything we want is available with just one click. We're filling up our lives with stuff; yet ultimately, many of us feel empty, guilty and stressed out by our consumption." She sets out to explore an alternative. To see if "radically reducing our consumption" can lead to a better life. (Spoiler alert: Yes) Sarah says many people call her a minimalist but she's not so much about getting rid of things, more about not buying stuff. What's wrong with the Marie Kondo approach? Each ep...

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