I personally would feel quite ashamed to have the latest IPhone, I'd feel that I'd fallen prey to apple's marketing. I live pretty well with a 5 year old SE. For the same reason I refuse to wear visibly branded clothes and am not ashamed to buy some used items. Living frugally by choice gets you back some freedoms.

Certainly, but you're also a product of an environment which values that sort of self-expression. If every time you went and hung out with your friends they shamed you, saying you look homeless, you might think differently. Its certainly a sign of maturity to not really care about those things, but depending on your life trajectory different values will hit. And clearly, a lot of people value a new iphone.

OTOH - its a device that you use for hours and hours a day, for entertainment, organization, communication, and a camera. Having a "better" one is a decent investment if it helps all those areas.

It's a more widespread issue than you say. Even mature professionals give me a look when they see that I use a 2.5-year-old Note8 instead of any iPhone, let a newer one. Some verbalize their antipathy.

"American society" is the environment in which status symbols dictate the character of interactions. Wealthier people tend to value actions or experiences over objects (Do you recycle? Did you go to a "good" school?), and judge based on that, but that's not an absolute rule.

Regarding the phone, I am trying to use my phone as little as I can, but I still do use it some. If you're to chase the latest phone, latest car, you're always going to be wowed, but will miss the other parts of life which I are truly essential.

And the shaming part, I literally don't care what other people think about me in terms of these things. I dress with dignity, have good hygiene, etc so there's nothing guilting me about their expectations.

>> If every time you went and hung out with your friends they shamed you, saying you look homeless, you might think differently

Then you need to change your friends.

It's true that newer phone used to be better than older phones.

But, we're getting to the point where newer phones really aren't any better than older ones.

My new one lasts 2x as long before charging and I can take beautiful photos that aren't grainy at all like the last one. Its absolutely worth the cost for me!

It really depends on the type of upgrade. Of course if you have a really old phone it may be worth upgrading, but keeping up with the latest is a waste of money and energy.

True. I only truly got rid of mine because I was on the 2nd screen and 3rd battery, and I was tired of having to charge it so often.

> I live pretty well with a 5 year old SE.

I love my SE. I really don't want a phone any bigger than the SE.

When my SE finally stopped charging and I found out that I’d missed the window for a subsidized battery, I resigned myself to Apple never introducing that SE2, and bought a used 7 to see if I could come to grips with the larger size.

It’s ok, but still a bit bigger than I’d like. Several apps are now usable again, such as the DB (German railways) app, which I became really dependent on after selling my car.

I can’t stomach the thought of spending 500 EUR on a phone, much less 1100. I’ve gotten cheap as I enter middle age.

I would say you woke from the mirage. Upgrading to the latest is almost never worth it. Use your money on things that you really need instead

I understand that. Being around a certain crowd makes you want certain things. An architect friend said she wouldn't want to be seen using an Android when a client visits her office. I'm glad my work and friends don't pressure me as much with things like that. If anything, I'd be embarrassed to be walking around with a $1100 phone, an openly extravagant purchase.

The SE was released in March 2016. I know how much I love mine, so it can definitely feel like it's been five years. ;)