Americans Spend Twice as Much Fixing Cell Phones than Buying Toilet Paper
The news is in. It has recently been discovered that the average American is forking out more cash each year to service and/or repair their cell phone than they are to purchase that all-important bathroom commodity, toilet paper!
An interesting comparison perhaps, but it does make one wonder why so many people in this country are doling out hundreds on their digital devices. To be honest, when most of us refer to cell phones these days; we are actually talking about the modern, computer-hybrid counterpart known as the smartphone.
Phones cost the nation more than TP!
Android and iOS-powered handhelds have accounted for the bulk of the market for the last five years (at the very least), and now command unprecedented influence over what has come to be known as the era of smartphones.
Back to the point at hand; a study performed by the technology protection plan provider SquareTrade, found that Americans have spent roughly $6 billion on their damaged iPhones. Keep in mind that this data does not include the cost of their Android counterparts, but it is safe to assume the figure is another couple billion at least!
The hard truth: keep your phone out of the bathroom
The survey gathered responses from over 2,000 iPhone users, and totals the expenditures on repairs, replacements, and deductibles paid to smartphone insurance plans. Everything from accidental drops to cracked screens to waterlogged devices and more, are the basis for this incredible cost.
To offer some perspective, in 2012 (the same year the SquareTrade study was conducted), Americans doled out $2.6 billion on toilet paper. After all, who can live without good old TP?! Something definitely has to be said about the fact that as a whole, our society is allocating three times more of our personal income to the smartphone upkeep than essential “commode material.
Coincidence? We think not!
As well, as the spirit of irony would have it, one of the primary causes of damaged iPhones is the all too common, accidental drop into the toilet bowl. You can go from scrolling through your Facebook Newsfeed one second, to staring at a bubbled up, blank screen the next. While indeed a calamity of sorts, just remember that you are just one of the millions of people that this happens to each year.
Case-in-point, it was also noted that 30% of iPhone users caused harm to their device in some way or another! Here is another interesting, relatable factoid. In the same year, the total cost of downloadable ringtones amounted to $5 billion.
There definitely seems to be a trend here. One can only imagine what smartphone app charges will be in the next few years. Alas, when all else fails, you can always wipe your tears with a roll of TP, because chances are that smartphone in your hands will soon be on its way to the repair shop!
