A tipping point is where “momentum for change becomes unstoppable” according to Malcolm Gladwell, who wrote a book titled “The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference”.
Just 2 weeks ago, my sis got herself a new car and I got myself a new mobile phone. She has been putting off getting the car and I have been putting off getting the phone. For me it was a small thing. I just wanted my last phone to make it to 3 full years of use before relegating it to the junk bin. For my sis, buying a new car mean a small chunk of money down plus many months to pay off the loan.
But, the old banger that she was using is reaching past useful life both economically and reliability. You would never know when it need emergency resuscitation on the roadside. Being an old car means repairs and fuel economy suffers and so too the wallet. With the new car, the money she spends on fuel drop nearly a third! After factoring in the repairs and time lost waiting to be rescued when the car breaks down, the extra money she spend each month is not a whole lot more. Which brings me to the tipping point.
In anything you spend money on, eventually it will reach a point where it no longer is financially feasible to hang on to it. It makes sense to pay attention to the tipping point so that you know when to get rid of something.
How about my mobile phone? Similar thing but instead of money, some of the keys were getting stuck, making me frustrated to try to get the keys working sometimes. So getting a new phone increase my level of enjoyment. So too the new car for my sis. There is what money is for after all, isn’t it? To solve problems, make life more pleasant, to achieve an outcome, to do our bidding.
Enjoy it at the appropriate time.
By the way, the book tipping point is here The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
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Personally speaking, I never think that spending money on handphone is a waste. To me, it is the most productive tools to invest in.
I have changed phones twice this year. The first time is in July when I sold my Dopod M700 PDA phone, and bought a used first generation iPhone. In November, I bought a new 3G iPhone and sold the previous one.
We bring our cell phone everywhere, and use it almost all the time – taking picture, emailing, blogging, surfing internet, reading news, talking to clients, networking at Facebook.
It gets more things done in a shorter period of time – more productive. You should definitely invest in your phone.
KCLau “more things done in a shorter period of time – more productive” Maybe and maybe not. I do agree with new tech especially a everything in one handphone do allow most of us to do more, however sometimes more does not equal productive.
It depends on how we use it. Example my phone has a pretty decent camera, not great but decent. On the productive side, it helps me to capture stuff I usually write down on a piece of paper or somewhere. On the other hand, I find myself keeping and managing all sorts of photos that probably won’t mean anything to anyone, anytime soon or ever.
Then we have to spend time to update & maintain facebook, friendfeed, twitter, myspace, a blog & whatever else which can be quite unproductive. On the other hand, if you are using it to network, then it can be productive.
Tools – depend on how you use it.