According to Brett Arends of Smart Money, the iPad 2 that I bought actually costs a lot more than its sticker price would have me believe, because I could easily have invested that money instead. Arends argues that the $500 spent he could spend on the iPad 2 now is worth about $2000 to him in 30 years time if he makes the right investments, and that he’ll gladly take the $2000 then over the tablet right now.
Now, I could be snarky about this and announce that I will, henceforth, refrain from buying any apps, toilet paper, or Patrick Jordan action figures because I’ll need the capital later, but that’s just too easy. Instead, I’d like to say that this actually could have been some decent advice, had it not been marinated in Anti-Apple and Anti-Trendiness sauce.
I’ll readily admit that most any Smart Money writer will know more about saving and investing than I do, but, quite frankly, this just generic savings advice. The iPad 2 in this article could easily have been replaced by most any other x-hundred dollar item and still make its point.
I also don’t believe that you can quantify experiences by simply putting a dollar sign beside them, and I bought into the iPad 2 as both a platform and an experience.
[via Daring Fireball]
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