Disclaimer: like all other entries in this blog, the points and perspectives in this entry are purely my own opinion.
Funny how a WhatsApp chat regarding smartphone can get the gears on my sane and logical side turning.
Smartphone, or what I like to call "mobile internet digital camera with phone (and other) function", has its camera as the main selling point nowadays.
After competing to be bigger (how is that more convenient to bring around?), now it's a competition of how many lenses on the device.
Just... ridiculous really. To me, that is.
Why is it still market as a phone is beyond me, when the phone function of the device gets little usage time compared to its other functions nowadays.
Oh well.
Regardless, people are still buying all those latest and greatest smartphones that cost (to me) an arm and a leg like the world will end without them.
That means they still find those smartphones worth their value for the asking price. They still find value for money in those products.
I think we can all agree that business is about making profit, else it's not business but charity.
It's all about profit margin, and a product's price is whatever the consumers are willing to pay for, regardless of the product cost or the actual value.
It's all about the perceived value by the consumers. Okay, and how greedy the business-owners are but we already established that business is all about profit margin.
As long as the consumers continue to buy (to the volume projected by the business-owners), the business-owners will continue to make and sell more and more expensive products. Perfectly logical business sense.
It's all down to the consumers.
The power to steer the product pricing is in the consumers' hands, but only if the mass majority has similar value for money standard, and is willing to act on it.
If the mass majority of consumers in a specific market segment refuse to buy an overpriced product, then the business-owner will need to price it accordingly in their next product or lose the market share.
But of course smart business-owners would already have done their market survey prior to launching the product.
So it still boils down to the mass majority of the consumers are either filthy rich (compared to me), or perceived there is value for money for those, to me, overpriced stuff.
Or just being what I called the white sheep.
I probably should put in another disclaimer here: that while I am doing okay (according to my own definition), I am very far from being rich by any standard. In fact, wifey believes our financial situation is shit and will become shittier if we do not migrate to some other country.
I think of those who just follow mass majority trend as the white sheep.
Some of them may not think it's value for money, but they will buy it nevertheless, just to be part of the mass. To be on the bandwagon, to be "in", so to speak.
Good thing I never have any qualm being the black sheep. I never need to be "in" if it doesn't make sense to me, if it doesn't have value for money to me.
Either I have very high standard for value for money, or I am cheap.
Also, unlike some people, my needs don't inflate with the advancement in technology.
I never have the urge to get the latest and greatest if I already have something that serves the purpose, that fulfils the need.
For example my 6 megapixel point and shoot camera serves the purpose of capturing the important moments in life when I bought it many years ago, it still serves the purpose perfectly fine nowadays.
Higher megapixel camera will get bigger resolution photos, but do I really need bigger resolution photos? Am I ever going to print those photos in poster size? Or are they just a record of event, to be viewed on computer, tablet, or television screen?
Is being able to see the wrinkles or pimples on the face important? Maybe it is to some, but not to me. I am happy with all those old photos I have, for they serve their purpose.
I have never been a materialistic person, and I have known from mingling with others that my sense of value for money is definitely not the same as the mass majority.
I am fine with that, like I said, I never have any qualm being the odd one out.
Maybe I am just mingling with the wrong 'rich' crowd, where I don't belong.
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