These items belong to a friend of mine: a MacBook, IPod, IWatch, and IPhone. She recently moved into her own apartment and is more frugal than ever. However she does budget enough money for the data and Wi-Fi to keep these items functioning. How many Apple products do we really need? Not only are these item expensive to purchase, so is the maintenance to keep them functioning. Meanwhile, Apple continues to push out newer versions of each item every year which most of the time cost more than the one before. Juliet Schor describes “the new consumerism” as our need to “keep up”. This week the new IPhone X comes out. There are already people in lines that wrap around the block at local Apple stores. You can purchase the phone online and receive it within two weeks, but thousands of people simply can’t wait. Consumers pay money for the product and also to be one of the first to have it. Ads are often placed on Craigslist by people willing to wait hours in line for others who can’t get to the store in time for a spot in front on release dates. I’ve heard of people making up to 500 dollars just to stand in line for someone else. These line holders don’t even get the new gadget and even with the money they earn still couldn’t afford it. This growing gap between what we want and what we can afford is another way Schor describes “the new consumerism”.
Rebecca Olmos