I tried to renew my cell phone contract with my provider for 10 years. I called to check my options for new models and perhaps if they could make me a nice offer, as me being one of their loyal customers. How ignorant must I have been to think this..
Apparently my customer status, which was one of the highest two years ago, got degraded to one of the lowest since I cut back my monthly payment. The salesman on the phone told me that nowadays the number of years did not count anymore, but merely how much money I brought up. As a result of my low customer status, he could only make me a reasonable offer if I switched from a one-year contract to a two-year one AND if I included Internet on my cell. ‘But I do not use Internet on my cell, I don’t need Internet’, I tried. Unfortunately he could not help me if I did not upgrade, leaving me little choice.
So why not take Internet on my cell, surely everybody has it these days. Yet, this is what bothers me: yes everybody seems to have it, but why? Do we really need to be accessible ALL the time? Does the 12-year old really need Internet on his phone to let his friends know on facebook, who he just saw in class an hour ago, that he is playing World of Warcraft right now? Does the discussion between a group of students about who again said ‘Keep calm and carry on’ has to be hit K.O because someone digs up his iPhone and googles it? Do I really need Internet on my phone while I have Internet at work and at home? What could I have possibly missed in that half an hour from work to home in which I didn’t have direct access?
My point is, why does everybody think they need every new development that comes to the market? Who really needs an iPod, iPhone WITH Angry Birds on it (and don’t pretend that you did not played that!), iPad, E-reader, laptop, PC, TomTom, GPS on his phone, Internet on his phone, a Wii, K’nect, the Playstation 3 while the Nintendo 64, Gamecube and X-box are gathering dust in a closet? Wouldn’t it be just better if we all were just a little more critical consumers? Instead of the ‘I need it all’-attitude adopt more of an ‘I could use this, but that is not really relevant for me’-mentality.
Just marvels me how we swap our self-declared Enlightenment and change into an obedient herd so easily for the newest app on our iPhones.
Video by PSA: Be a Critical Consumer of Popular Culture
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