I recently came across an article telling us what to not buy in 2010. I had to say that I disagree with the majority of the list. Here’s the list and my thoughts:
1. DVDs — Obviously the people who made this list do not have children who want to watch the same movie 400 times. In a row. Not everybody has Netflix (we don’t) or cable that they have movies on demand.
2. Home telephone service. Really? My home phone costs $30 with an additional $20 for long distance. This is for unlimited calls and minutes. I’m afraid to see my cell phone bill if we get rid of the home phone. Seriously. Unless I could get unlimited minutes, I don’t end up ahead by getting rid of my phone service.
3. External hard drives. They are advocating that you use an online backup service instead of an external hard drive. Ummm, the hard drive is cheaper. Trust me, I use both.
4. Smartphones. Ummm, whatever.
5. Compact Digital Cameras. As a person who has both a DSLR and a pocket camera, I have to say that I use my compact 100 times more. Why? I have kids and have enough crap to carry around. I love my DSLR but I don’t have the room for it.
6. Newspaper Subscription. I love my newspaper. I like reading my newspaper. Will never get rid of it.
7. New College Textbooks. They had the services that the article suggests when I was in college and they never seemed to have the books I needed.
8. Gas guzzling cars. We own a Prius and a minivan. Need I say more?
I’d love to know your thoughts. You agree with Yahoo’s list? Or do I make some good points?
What an insane list – theirs, not yours. 😆
I can see their point on home phone service – in a perfect world, this is do-able. We did it for more than a year, and at considerable savings at the time in part because I got a great deal on unlimited cell minutes. I even was able to call 911 with no problem. But you have to live somewhere with reliable cell service 24-7. That's not the case where I live now – it's the cell serivce black hole of the universe. I know people in Afghanistan who get more reliable signals than I do. I suspect it's not the case outside major urban areas in most parts of the country.
You're also right about the great deals to be had on landlines these days. My pricing, for unlimited long distance, is about the same as yours. I think Yahoo didn't account for the smoking deals carriers are offering on landlines in order to stop people from switching to cell only.
From the perspective of someone whose kids also watch the same movie 400 times, I, too, think they're wrong about the DVDs. We have a DVR, but no on-demand movies because of weird technological things here, so this wouldn't work for us. Er, it might actually work for me because I wouldn't have to hear the same Thomas movie 400 times.
I do understand the the home phone thing, in the UK 5% of the population now only have a cell phone and have abandoned the home phone. I think this will increase as mobile broadband speeds up, reception improves in rural areas and call costs drop.
I also see the point on having a land line. My wife and I each have a cell phone, so it seems pointless having a land line. Although I was one of the first folks to go with Vonage — back when they were just a banner ad on the computer screen.
Your spot on with a lot of these, especially the DVD's and Pocket Camera's! Even with Bluray and Netflilx DVD's will be around for a while yet (in Technology terms).
I have to say that I just got Netflix and I love it. The best part is that you can watch movies on your computer, Xbox 360 or PS3. Its much handier than the mail service, although that is nice too.
i agree with just about everything you have had to say about that list.
I think use of External hard drives can't be reduced and the significance of external hard drives to store data will even increase in 2010.
External hard drives are more safer and more reliable way of storing data than online storage.
I can't see the idea of having a landline, unless we got in a situation where alle the satelites would stop working
I'd add mobile broadband to the list, it promises a lot but doesn't deliver, speeds are slow and the connection is always dropping and I'm paying $60 per month for the privelege 🙁