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AIBU?

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Original poster

To notice that..

55 replies

Lanark2 · 15/04/2016 13:23

Just as everything gets cheaper and most entertainment is virtually free..all the wages go down to nothing.

I don't know how I could afford the books and records I used to, or even rent a TV like I used to. Its scary because after it all converges as it will, we will start to be charged..but will have no spare money!!?Shock. What's going on?

OP posts:
capsium · 15/04/2016 16:23

X post Uhtred

pictish · 15/04/2016 16:26

We used to rent a telly!

Anyhoo OP stop being silly. We are consuming more these days, not less.
And I still buy books. Can't get on board with reading a book on a screen. Have tried. It's just not the same.

EverySongbirdSays · 15/04/2016 16:27

"most entertainment is virtually free"

Only if you break the law.

Books are way more expensive than they used to be, particularly i think kids books. You could get a kids book for 50p not so long ago.

Music IS cheaper, compared to when HMV had monopoly and charged £20 for a CD - laughable to think they dared now, but Sky TV has become so ridiculously unaffordable I'm getting rid of it, but there are cheaper options.

The cinema is the biggest pisstake I remember when it was £2.50 and as for refreshments!!!

UhtredRagnorsson · 15/04/2016 16:34

Yes the cinema is one of the most increased in price things. Together with the theatre.

UhtredRagnorsson · 15/04/2016 16:35

It really is ridiculous to say entertainment is free.

Rafflesway · 15/04/2016 16:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

pictish · 15/04/2016 16:51

It's just not quite right. I don't seem to lose myself in it like I do a paperback. Probably because it's not as natural to hold.

BackforGood · 15/04/2016 17:06

Please come back and explain, OP.

what are you ncluding in this "eerything" that has got cheaper, and what entertainment is "virtually free" ? Confused

BoatyMcBoat · 15/04/2016 17:27

In the 80s I rented a 3 bed flat with balcony in Central London - the walk to Waterloo took 5 mins, to Oxford Str about 20. I paid £150 pm. You'd ge lucky to get a parking space for that these days.

Original poster
Lanark2 · 15/04/2016 17:33

I have entertained myself for ages on mumsnet!

OP posts:
UhtredRagnorsson · 15/04/2016 17:34

There's more busking and street theatre I suppose, since the laws on that were changed. That's free.On the other hand there are far fewer free festivals because artists have wised up on what constitutes their most lucrative form of income.

Same for any entertainment event really - I remember going to the Dr Who 20th anniversary thing at longleat in 1983, my (child) ticket cost £2.50, my dad's adult one cost £5. When we went to the 50th anniversary thing at the excel in 2013, the kid's tickets cost something like £30 and the adults about £50. £2.50 in 1983 is worth just under £8 today. Not £30 in 2013.

Most people don't understand the time value of money.

UhtredRagnorsson · 15/04/2016 17:36

OP to entertain yourself on MN you need as a minimum
(a) a device on which to read it (so, a laptop phone or tablet)
(b) a data service which will cost - either 3/4G or LTE or broadband

I don't think modern life is rubbish, I think we are pretty lucky with all the things the internet has opened up for us. But it's not free. The costs are just 'hidden' (though not really, and even if they were it's in plain sight).

BackforGood · 15/04/2016 17:39

Right - so how do you receive the internet without having bought a PC or laptop or tablet or iPad or phone?
How do you receive it without paying for internet ?
How do you receive it without electricity ?

Original poster
Lanark2 · 15/04/2016 17:46

I don't know! It just happens. I think the electricity is quite cheap, and the phone I have neway.

OP posts:
Original poster
Lanark2 · 15/04/2016 17:46

There is a pub downstairs with the cloud.

OP posts:
Original poster
Lanark2 · 15/04/2016 17:48

But you know, iPlayer, YouTube, Facebook, email, online software, photo developing, note taking etc it's all webanoid and free in terms of money.

OP posts:
UhtredRagnorsson · 15/04/2016 17:50

You don't have the phone anyway! You pay for the phone! This is how people get suckered into thinking we have never had it so good and not seeing the true cost of living. Obviously I do it myself, we all do - I'm about to upgrade my girls' phones cos their contracts are now eligible for upgrade. I could easily not upgrade them and let them stagger on with old models, and thus pay 50% less from next month. But I won't. Because 'I'm paying it anyway'. I'm not paying it anyway. I chose to pay it and I'm gonna choose to keep on paying it and it's a real (huge) cost. But it's hidden in plain sight.

And someone is paying for your wifi even if you aren't. The people who buy the booze in the pub are paying. The staff who don't get quite as good wages as they otherwise would are paying. And so on.

UhtredRagnorsson · 15/04/2016 17:54

iplayer is not free it's included in the licence fee. and if you watch it on your telly it's included in the cost of (a) owning a telly (b) sky/virgin/BT. If you watch it on a lappy or tablet then you had to buy that, or someone did. Photo developing certainly isn't free in anyway - if you are printing them at home you are paying for (a) ownership of a printer (b) ink (the pricey bit) (c) the device you took them on (d) possibly internet. If you are getting them printed and posted to you then you pay for that. If you are keeping them on a disc then you are paying possibly through the nose for storage.

I will grant you that appps such as evernote are free but (a) they aren't entertainment and (b) you are paying for the devices you use them on. Plus they carry ads (see also youtube).

dodobookends · 15/04/2016 17:56

Over the last 20 years or so the build quality of electrical goods has changed dramatically, and they last nowhere near as long. Quite a few become obsolete within a couple of years as well.

When you used to buy a fridge, it would probably last 15-20 years minimum. Televisions ditto. Nowadays you are lucky if it manages 3 or 4.

My MIL's microwave is nearly 30 years old and still going strong. Mine on the other hand is about 3, and the buttons on the front are going a bit dodgy already.

KateBeckett · 15/04/2016 18:05

It's not though is it? Because you have to pay for something to view these things on, for the Internet connection, and the electricity required to power your device.

That's not free!!

Jasonandyawegunorts · 15/04/2016 18:23

Rented TV's...
Anyone remember those rented TV's with the coin slot that you stuck 50p in?

Gwenhwyfar · 15/04/2016 18:25

"iplayer is not free it's included in the licence fee. and if you watch it on your telly it's included in the cost of (a) owning a telly (b) sky/virgin/BT. If you watch it on a lappy or tablet then you had to buy that, or someone did. "

You don't have to pay the license fee if you only watch catch up and listen to the radio. This is what I do and I don't have to buy a TV or Internet. Yes, the computer was a cost, but it was bought in 2008 so not a huge cost per year. The main cost is the 30 pounds a month I pay for internet, though I know other providers can be much cheaper.
I don't think the cost per minute of electricity to use the computer would come to that much.

UhtredRagnorsson · 15/04/2016 18:58

You will have to they have changed the rules, coming in this year.

LuisSuarezTeeth · 15/04/2016 19:02

I get what you mean, Lanark. I used to buy cassettes, books, magazines and rent videos. The PC or laptop you initially invested in is used for many things, entertainment being just one of them. There's a huge amount of free, legal material available.

UhtredRagnorsson · 15/04/2016 19:02

The color license fee in 1985 was £58. That's £166 in today's money. Less than 6 months of your internet. And like I said you will have to pay extra for player soon as well. People are just kidding themselves that things are cheaper now, they aren't.