海角大神

I received an iPod Touch as a Christmas gift in 2008. Since then, I have used and absued the thing at a level perhaps beyond what Apple ever intended. I鈥檝e used it as a constant pocket notebook. I鈥檝e used it as a podcast and music player every time I go on a walk (usually several times a week). I also use it as a pedometer to help record my exercise. I鈥檝e used it to check email and reply to it. I鈥檝e used it to entertain my children and for music in the car on long car trips.

A few days ago, on a long walk across town, my long-used and long-abused iPod Touch finally bit the dust. I was holding it in my (slightly sweaty) hand and dropped it. When I picked it up, it wouldn鈥檛 boot. I took it home, called the Apple Store, and they offered to perform surgery on it. Before I took it in, I tried everything I could find online to fix it, to no avail. After examining it, the person at the Apple Store told me that the motherboard and the battery were both shot.

What鈥檚 next? Do I buy a replacement (getting 10% off by trading it in), do I find a very low-end mp3 player for something to listen to while I鈥檓 walking, or do I buy nothing at all?

Clearly, such an item is a 鈥渨ant鈥� item. I will continue to survive just fine without such a device, as I had for many years before having it.

The real question is when does something you want elevate to the level of a worthwhile purchase?

I don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 an easy answer to that question, and I think different people are going to come to different conclusions. When I鈥檓 thinking about such a non-essential purchase, I ask myself the following questions.

What is my financial situation? Am I having difficulty making ends meet? Are there high-interest outstanding debts that I should be paying down?

Do I know I鈥檒l actually use this item a great deal? Have I used a similar item a lot in the past? Is this item a direct upgrade or replacement for something that鈥檚 in heavy use?

Do I have that much money available in my 鈥渇ree spending鈥� account? By this, I鈥檓 referring to the fact that my wife and I each have small amounts of money we鈥檝e each agreed that we can spend freely each month. Can I simply buy this item out of that 鈥渇ree spending鈥� money? Is the item that urgent that I can鈥檛 wait for a while to replace it (assuming I don鈥檛 have enough 鈥渇ree spending鈥� money)?

Is there a lower cost alternative to a direct replacement? Do I really only use a subset of features on the item, in which case a lower-cost alternative will do the trick?

After evaluating all of these questions, I came to a few conclusions about this potential purchase.

First, the thing I鈥檓 really going to miss is the ability to easily manage podcasts and listen to them while I walk. I listen to a fist full of podcasts and the thing I value most about my iPod Touch is that it helps me to listen to my unlistened ones easily and works with iTunes to manage all of those subscriptions. Not only can I get lost in the podcast while walking (helping me get into shape), but I learn a great deal from all of the podcasts I listen to. Sometimes, I do also listen to music (it can help me set a walking tempo), but I listen to many hours of podcasts a week on this device and that鈥檚 what I would miss without it.

Second, many of the other features are either relatively unimportant to me or are replaced by other things. I can carry a paper notebook in my pocket to handle notes. I have other things (like my laptop) to help entertain the kids in the car. I really don鈥檛 need any device for these things.

What鈥檚 my solution, then? I鈥檓 purchasing a lower-end mp3 player. I鈥檓 looking at a lot of options at the moment before I settle on one. Some of the options I鈥檓 considering include a ($40; a lower-end choice), a ($75, a more feature-rich choice), and even an ($130, has every feature related to walking and listening I could think of).

While I haven鈥檛 made a firm choice there, I have decided not to replace the iPod Touch, which in itself will save me hundreds compared to any of the above choices.

It all comes down to understanding the degrees of importance of the things you want.

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