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Comment by feocco | Hacker News Reader

Fair. But, it seems to me that having to choose between Android, iOS, or any other OS is an expression of who you are. For others, there are more properties that express them. /shrug

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So, do tell. What does my choice of an iPhone express about who I am?

People seem to believe they can infer a very weird amount from a smidgen more than 1 bit of information.

I think their point is that lots of people customize the appearance of their phones by adding custom cases, stickers, and other decorations to them, and they want to give you a blank slate to do that rather than force you to either accommodate their branding into your expression or cover it up.

If you are anything like me it says you just want something that works and does the job reliably.

That you make enough money to afford a smartphone plan, plus anywhere from $30 to $50 a month to pay for the phone itself, either up front or as part of the contract.

That you likely don't just own an iPhone, but also an mac laptop (or desktop), as well as at least one Apple TV. (i-devices don't integrate well with non-Apple ecosystems)

It's also likely that you have tens to hundreds of dollars invested in the iTunes and App stores.

In short, it says you have money. A commitment to around $100 a month on a phone, plus the implied other devices and digital purchases, is not a trivial outlay if you're making less than your average individual.

It's also entirely possible that you simply value projecting the impression of money to others enough to justify the outlay of money for the iPhone, but that still relies on the impression of money.

I own an iPhone SE and will continue to do so in the future.

- I'm currently buying a new ThinkPad.

- I have never owned an Apple TV. My iPhone integrates just fine with my Sony TV.

- I have never bought anything in iTunes.

- My phone plan costs 10€ per month.

Seems like stereotypes aren't that simple.

So, you don't have more money than the average person in Europe? Because that's the "stereotype" you're trying to debunk here, the rest are the reasons the stereotype exists.

WRT iPhone integrating with Sony TV - how? Not something I've ever heard of before.

Ah, so money.

And somewhat off. My phone is two generations old, so the amortized per-month cost of the phone is rather lower. Cheap, last-gen macbook Air[1], but no Apple TV. I've bought exactly one album from iTunes, but yes, apps. You've basically caught me mid-migration away from the ecosystem. It takes a while.

[1] At this point, the only things keeping me from switching entirely to Linux are backing up the iPhone and running OmniFocus. And when I have time to noodle with it, I'm liking orgmode.

You don't care about free software.

I have an iPhone, and a mac (two actually,) and an AppleTV, and an Apple Watch. There are a pair of beats headphones sitting next to me on the coffee table.

Somehow, I still manage to write free software that I care about, release it for free, and contribute to other FOSS projects. Caring about free software doesn't mean I have to use ONLY free software.

What you're doing with that argument is called gatekeeping http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Gatekeeping

That's pretty much the opposite of reality.

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