I broke down and bought an iPad Mini for Christmas!
Oh, not for me, instead it’s for my eight (soon to be nine) year old daughter!
As a frugal personal finance blogger that works in technology field, how could I justify the $129 increase in the price of a product that might be considered inferior to the Google Nexus 7? After all, the Google Nexus 7 only cost $199 and is a very beefy, fast system?
An my answer is… I can’t. From a personal finance perspective, the Google Nexus 7 is the more logical smart device to purchase. Shoot, if I were to buy a 7 inch tablet for myself for Christmas, the Google Nexus 7 is what I would buy. The Apple iPad mini is actually 7.9 inches, but that alone doesn’t warrant the 129 dollar price increase.
So again, why in the world would I buy an iPad mini for Christmas to give to my daughter?
The Apple culture and experience!
Yep, I’m buying my daughter the iPad mini, because all of the cool kids (and many adults) love Apple iPad minis (or really any Apple product). I guess it’s the same reason that I bought my son an iPod touch. In fact, he had such a great experience with his iPod touch that it was a no brainer to buy my daughter the iPad mini.
Vanity? Yes to a certain extent, but much, much more too.
Why not buy my daughter an iPod Touch instead, after all I bought one for my son?
Because I can get an iPad mini for just $29 more. Oh sure, the version I’m buying only has a storage capacity of 16G, but the rest of the system is decent enough! Quite honestly, I’m getting the iPad mini for Christmas instead of the iPod touch because it’s a better experience…
Another big reason that I’m buying the iPad mini for Christmas is because of bragging right and for nostalgic reasons. I want both of my kids to look back some day with fond memories 10 or 20 years down the road when the next big thing has replaced Apple from being the dominate smart device supplier that it is today. There are thing in life that if you miss out on by not having such things in an earlier time period, you may never have. Since I want my kids to be future digerati, I want to give them the best exposure to technology.
As for me, I’ve missed the Apple boat a long time ago. I’m an Android guy and that’s a win too!
While we went with an iPad mini, there are definitely other choices that are worth consideration! Look around and compare!
Happy Holidays,
Don
I can appreciate that at the very least you know you are buying a more expensive product which is essentially the same thing rather than justifying it lol
Yeah, I won’t buy one for myself. Way too expensive, but I want my kids to enjoy what is popular today so they can look back tomorrow with fond memories.
If it were me that had the iPad, I’d just look back and think of how I wasted money on it (lol).
Lucky daughter! I would love an iPad but I have an e-reader, a laptop, a desktop and an iPhone so I wouldn’t find much use in it. It’s actually more that it would be difficult to justify.
I have to admit after seeing and using it a bit… I’m kind of envious too, but my android phone makes me happy too, so I’ll cope.
I’m an Android gal, although I am still looking all over for my iPod Nano that I seem to have lost in the last few months. But I can totally understand a parent splurging on a kid. Awwww.
Thanks Crystal.
She loves it! I’m happy that it was so well received by her 🙂
Cool dad! I think it is really awesome that children these days seemed to be so updated on technology. Just make sure that she knows the importance of taking care of it.
Yeah, I already told her that this iPad mini will have to last her at least 2 years. Surprisingly, she thought she would have it forever, but I told her that after 2 years, it’s pretty much obsolete.
Great. I agree that the Android tablets are better, but you’re right all the young kids want the slickest apple products so they can be in the “in” crowd.
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