[Discuss] [OT] Smart Phones

[Rich Braun]

"Greg Rundlett (freephile)" <greg at freephile.com> noted:
> The costs of smart phones are ridiculous.

I saw the Obama administration weighed in on one aspect of affordability this
week:  after another government agency declared that lawsuits by carriers
against consumers who unlock their under-contract phones can go forward, the
Administration accepted an online petition protesting such policy and declared
that such lawsuits are lunacy.  Net effect:  zero.

Sometime last year a major news organization (I think it was ABC) announced
that the build cost of an iPhone is US$8, which if true means the markup is
over 98% of the inflated price.  Last week's Time magazine devoted its entire
news section to a single 24,000-word piece about the so-called chargemaster,
which is the computerized price list used by hospitals to compute bills.

Welcome to the modern price-gouging economy.  Profiteers are finding ways to
corner many markets and jack up prices by ensuring that consumers pay for
things indirectly, blunting the effects of comparison-shopping.

If you want better/cheaper mobile phones and service, alas you have to escape
the boundaries of the USA to get beyond the reach of profiteers.

-rich