Consoomers / Consoomer Culture - Because if it has a recogniseable brand on it, I’d buy it!

[vomitusdeux]

I try not to spend much on my phones, sure I get some stares for using a Moto, or when I had a chink phone before the restrictions on them. I don't use my phones for much besides calling, texting, whatsapp and other messaging apps to contact international friends that I knew from university. Even when some Motorolas can be rather crappy with battery and updates, I still take care of mine, and if it does stop working, I can easily get another for cheap since I don't go for the expensive motorolas, or expensive smartphones in general.

I've been curious about how motorolas work do you recommend them over samsung? I was thinking about trying one if I ever get to a point where i'm forced to upgrade. My current phone wasn't really cheap (about $170 USD) but I feel like I got my money's worth out of it cus I've been using it for 6 years and it can even handle the lower end games I enjoy. (Seriously infectonator world dominator is one of THE mobile games of all time. Otherwise all i have on it is toss the turtle and burrito bison. Which are also lower end and recommended if you need something to pass the time cus you're in waiting rooms alot.)

Specifically I need to ask, how long is your current battery life? How long is it compared to when you got it? Do you keep it updated?

 

[Barry Williams]

curious about how motorolas work

I know you didn't ask me, but anecdotally one of my friends swears by Motorola phones because they patented this gesture based shortcut where shaking the phone a couple of times turns the flashlight on. He says that's the handiest thing he's ever seen on a mobile phone and he now only buys Motorolas. Has for as long as I've known him, which is over a decade.

 

[Metamorpho]

Consoom product instead of helping out wife with chores

Also consoom $15 tech demo that should've been free.

How does this even happen? Don’t pay attention to the price since eshop thinks i’m in Australia. But how does the Welcome Tour get to number 3 on the eshop charts?

 

[Soso]

The smartphone maker’s ideal customer is a 30 y/o latina dental assistant with an LV purse. She cares about brand name and status, she’s new to money and wants to enjoy it, she’s willing to enter into payment plans, and she’s not tech savvy and prefers everything to work out of the box.
Every (major) phone is made according to this person’s taste. Phones are enormous because that’s what she can fit in her purse, the cameras are made for social media filming, and Apple can get away with it because she’s buying the phone so she can have a group chat with blue messages. Everyone else lives downstream from the middle class superconsumer and their tastes. (And their willingness to finance their shit- I have seen more and more examples of “starting at $39 a month” advertising instead of prices)
If the rest of us were as eager to repurchase as Rosely from Fresno, CA, phones would be made with audio jacks and buttons. But we aren’t. Whenever I see new tech slop that I don’t understand I try to think of a stereotype of its user and then it clicks.

It's a shame this describes my coworker who is in her forties, and still gets into the blue vs green text bubble bullshit. Minus the fact, she's not Californian or lives somewhere nice, she just bitches about why she can't afford anything she buys a new iphone every time something doesn't work.

I've been curious about how motorolas work do you recommend them over samsung? I was thinking about trying one if I ever get to a point where i'm forced to upgrade. My current phone wasn't really cheap (about $170 USD) but I feel like I got my money's worth out of it cus I've been using it for 6 years and it can even handle the lower end games I enjoy. (Seriously infectonator world dominator is one of THE mobile games of all time. Otherwise all i have on it is toss the turtle and burrito bison. Which are also lower end and recommended if you need something to pass the time cus you're in waiting rooms alot.)

Specifically I need to ask, how long is your current battery life? How long is it compared to when you got it? Do you keep it updated?

It truly depends on what you are looking for. However I will mention the biggest problems of Motorolas is how the updates are handled. I believe they have gotten better (and it depends, I don't have the Razr smartphone), but they are still rather sparse. Used to be rather terrible. I don't game on my phone either, so I cannot give much advice on that. The battery life won for my motorola and it still lasts a long time, but it charges somewhat slower than I believe a samsung would. And I think it's been declining. My battery life lasted an entire day when I first got it, and it took a while for it to degrade as time went on. Now I believe it's like eight to nine hours. The experience differs for many.

It depends what you are going for as well, Razr, Edge or Moto G. I may get a new one soon, but I don't see the purpose of changing it for now. I will say for the updates, they are much to be desired about how they are handled. Not bad as it once was where you got really few, but still needs to be improved. I heard others with a phone like mine bitch about how it heats up, which I have experienced sometimes as well.

If you are like me and only use the phone for music, texting, video calls, and regular phone calls, then it would be fine for you. Gaming wise, and if updates matter to you, I say stick with Samsung. The main dealbreaker I knew for many was the slow updates motos get. I keep it updated, but it rolls out slowly. A good portion of it comes down to preference.

 

[glass_houses]

Planned obsolescence is real but it’s not impossible to work around. Most old technology can be made to work, it’s software that’s the issue- I know someone who uses an iPhone SE from 2015. The software is kneecapped but the phone is perfectly functional. Two battery replacements at home, he’s good to go.

Mine's older than that. I'm a poor so the latest mobile every year isn't an option even if I wanted it. I didn't even want to buy this one, but my former mobile needed a new screen and that would have cost more than getting a new secondhand mobile.

As for alternatives- Nothing phones have a good reputation,

True, but they're full of spyware. Also, the last nothing phone I had would periodically reset itself to Mandarin, which was a huge pain.

 

[Merton J. Dingle]

It's a shame this describes my coworker who is in her forties, and still gets into the blue vs green text bubble bullshit.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Apple's in-group vs out-group bullshit becoming irrelevant because people are moving towards WeChat for group chats?

 

[Soso]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Apple's in-group vs out-group bullshit becoming irrelevant because people are moving towards WeChat for group chats?

I don't know to be fair, where I am, more than likely not. When people get older, I think they just don't care unless you are immature like my coworker is. I don't see any Americans, or well, the people in my state interested in stuff like wechat, whatsapp, telegram etc. Do people still use kik anyways? Some unfortunately may use discord. I think some Chinese in the US may use WeChat though.

 

[Merton J. Dingle]

I don't know to be fair, where I am, more than likely not. When people get older, I think they just don't care unless you are immature like my coworker is. I don't see any Americans, or well, the people in my state interested in stuff like wechat, whatsapp, telegram etc. Do people still use kik anyways? Some unfortunately may use discord. I think some Chinese in the US may use WeChat though.

Sorry, I'm a retard. I meant WhatsApp. I just know that virtually every article that I read about the green bubble blue bubble stuff in recent years has mentioned that Gen Z has moved towards WhatsApp, and I have no idea if that's BS or not.

 

[Dragged Into Sunlight]

The sports card companies must be creaming their pants with how easy it is to get suckers to dump money into their hobby.

Make some cheap card and slap 1/1 on it and addicts will line up to buy $50 boxes like they're playing a fucking slot machine. Even more sad watching them get their kids into it.

 

[The Greatest Kiwifarmer]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Apple's in-group vs out-group bullshit becoming irrelevant because people are moving towards WeChat for group chats?

Sorry, I'm a retard. I meant WhatsApp. I just know that virtually every article that I read about the green bubble blue bubble stuff in recent years has mentioned that Gen Z has moved towards WhatsApp, and I have no idea if that's BS or not.

people still use WhatsApp for communities (ex. church groups or sport teams). i would say that GenZ is moving towards whatsapp and instagram anecdotally. for 1-on-1 conversations you would just use the Green&Blue bubble chat (or whatever its called), instagram, or snapchat.

 

[Soso]

Sorry, I'm a retard. I meant WhatsApp. I just know that virtually every article that I read about the green bubble blue bubble stuff in recent years has mentioned that Gen Z has moved towards WhatsApp, and I have no idea if that's BS or not.

WhatsApp? I haven't heard of anyone using it where I lived, but I wouldn't be surprised if some people were using it more. But like The Greatest Kiwifarmer said, many Gen Z prefer using social media like Instagram, and there's a few stragglers on snapchat, but I haven't used Snapchat since early high school. Whenever I bring up WhatsApp people look at me confused, since I use it for international friends I am curious if more people use it. There is a little reputation that some of those messaging apps, I believe Kik earned that reputation in my location, that some are used for drug deals. For our churches, most use Facebook Messager. Most of this from me is also anecdotal for my part of the United States.

I truly would say it depends on your country and location within your country. I'm a zoomer and I believe that many prefer using Instagram for messaging in my area. I guess some will move to WhatsApp but I wonder if it will happen.

 

[Brenda Holiday]

WhatsApp? I haven't heard of anyone using it where I lived, but I wouldn't be surprised if some people were using it more. But like The Greatest Kiwifarmer said, many Gen Z prefer using social media like Instagram, and there's a few stragglers on snapchat, but I haven't used Snapchat since early high school. Whenever I bring up WhatsApp people look at me confused, since I use it for international friends I am curious if more people use it. There is a little reputation that some of those messaging apps, I believe Kik earned that reputation in my location, that some are used for drug deals. For our churches, most use Facebook Messager. Most of this from me is also anecdotal for my part of the United States.

I truly would say it depends on your country and location within your country. I'm a zoomer and I believe that many prefer using Instagram for messaging in my area. I guess some will move to WhatsApp but I wonder if it will happen.

It must really depend on location because I don't know anyone that uses instagram and nobody knows what whatsapp is, while fb messenger and snapchat are probably the most popular in my area. Kik... oh god... that used to be pedo groomer central like a decade ago. It's still around?

 

[The Real Slim Shady]

Sorry, I'm a retard. I meant WhatsApp. I just know that virtually every article that I read about the green bubble blue bubble stuff in recent years has mentioned that Gen Z has moved towards WhatsApp, and I have no idea if that's BS or not.

WhatsApp is mostly used by 30+ years old people here, but the messenger of choice varies between countries. AFAIK its very popular in india, and its very popular for international messaging.

 

[Soso]

It must really depend on location because I don't know anyone that uses instagram and nobody knows what whatsapp is, while fb messenger and snapchat are probably the most popular in my area. Kik... oh god... that used to be pedo groomer central like a decade ago. It's still around?

Yes, it truly depends! I know very little who use snapchat in my area anymore, and if anyone uses it, they are probably in high school or middle school. There was some incident with snapchat at a local school last year. I think Kik is unfortunately still around, all I remember about it is how everyone briefly used it and forgot about it. Now I guess it's mostly for drugs. I say for my part of the US. It's one to one texting, imessage is preferred but it's not a big deal unless you are a teenager, or an emotionally stunted adult like my coworker. There are some annoyances on both ends, but everyone gets over themselves pretty quickly if mature enough. FB Messager and instagram depend on age and personal taste, I haven't used facebook in forever so Messager is worthless to me. I just tell people to text me regularly or message me on instagram if they have to.

 

[vomitusdeux]

If you are like me and only use the phone for music, texting, video calls, and regular phone calls, then it would be fine for you. Gaming wise, and if updates matter to you, I say stick with Samsung. The main dealbreaker I knew for many was the slow updates motos get. I keep it updated, but it rolls out slowly. A good portion of it comes down to preference.

I think I'm going to stick with samsung, I'm not an avid mobile gamer but I do have a couple I don't want to stop playing cus I have been for about a decade now. Thanks for the information and advice.

 

[56 others]

My buddy worked in a warehouse that happened to distribute Pokemon cards to stores. He said this year that people had probed the website, and figured out how to buy all of the card packs before they had even made it to the warehouse. Who buys these cards, I know plenty of Magic Nerds but I've never met a pokemon player.

 

[Sleazy Car Salesman]

My buddy worked in a warehouse that happened to distribute Pokemon cards to stores. He said this year that people had probed the website, and figured out how to buy all of the card packs before they had even made it to the warehouse. Who buys these cards, I know plenty of Magic Nerds but I've never met a pokemon player.

Pokemon is really hard to stay competitive with as the legal set is rotated annualy.

 

[Skylavijas]

The smartphone maker’s ideal customer is a 30 y/o latina dental assistant with an LV purse. She cares about brand name and status, she’s new to money and wants to enjoy it, she’s willing to enter into payment plans, and she’s not tech savvy and prefers everything to work out of the box.
Every (major) phone is made according to this person’s taste. Phones are enormous because that’s what she can fit in her purse, the cameras are made for social media filming, and Apple can get away with it because she’s buying the phone so she can have a group chat with blue messages. Everyone else lives downstream from the middle class superconsumer and their tastes. (And their willingness to finance their shit- I have seen more and more examples of “starting at $39 a month” advertising instead of prices)
If the rest of us were as eager to repurchase as Rosely from Fresno, CA, phones would be made with audio jacks and buttons. But we aren’t. Whenever I see new tech slop that I don’t understand I try to think of a stereotype of its user and then it clicks.

So basically... Everything is made and marketed towards the heavy spenders... But a lot of us in this thread... maybe in this website in general, don't reflect that demographic at all. A lot of us are poor, grew up poor, or are financially well off, but are in this position due to frugality.

This skit always stuck with me... the idea that there are people out there who take lack of advertisement or recommendation as condescension of them not being able to afford it. That might as well be an alien concept to me, because I find most advertisements highly annoying... "premium" and "best experience" might as well just be synonymous with "you don't fucking need it" for me...

Shit... I did grew up poor, didn't I?

 

[Judge Dredd]

That might as well be an alien concept to me, because I find most advertisements highly annoying... "premium" and "best experience" might as well just be synonymous with "you don't fucking need it" for me...

There is also the idea of making people know they're getting a lesser experience. "You bought the thing, but it's not really the thing. It's the thing with some stuff removed."


Thread tax: Nintendo fans with the Switch 2.

This is one example of many, but don't want to post discord randos.

Context. Nintendo has made a number of high profile fuck up. From physical copies of games where it's just a download code, to suing an indie game Palworld by trying to claim ownership of broad concepts. The major problem is a price hike. The most expensive deluxe oled model of the switch 1 is $100 cheaper than the base switch 2. Games have been upped from $60 to $80, again for base games, not counting deluxe versions.

And yet despite claims that gamers won't take it, the Nintendo fanbase has rushed out to buy buy buy, because Nintendo.

 

[Retarded Weeb]

My buddy worked in a warehouse that happened to distribute Pokemon cards to stores. He said this year that people had probed the website, and figured out how to buy all of the card packs before they had even made it to the warehouse. Who buys these cards, I know plenty of Magic Nerds but I've never met a pokemon player.

I remember that back around around 2019~2020 there were a few big Youtubers who made videos about finding rare Pokemon cards or making money off selling them, with some involvement from grading companies as I recall. It was around the same time old video game prices prices also started rocketing up from people getting into to trying to make money off or invest in them. I think video game prices have cooled off some because the grading companies involved were pretty much revealed as a scam, but from what I've been hearing it sounds like Pokemon cards are still getting it bad with lots of stories of dudes camping out and buying up entire store stocks, stores needing to put in strict limits on buying cards, Nintendo putting out statements about trying to fix supply issues because the target audience of little kids can't buy any cards and whatnot. It's pretty much a combo of dudes who put together $1000 decks for official tournaments, autistic collectors, and investors/scalpers buying up cards to sell to the former groups.