The tech budget: what would you cut?
As the increasingly-unpopular George Osborne announces that, as part of the new budget, incapacity benefits will be cut, we wondered: if we at Shiny Shiny had our own emergency tech budget (*shudder*), what would we cut if it came to the crunch (*double shudder*)?
Naturally, it’s a matter of personal taste – we imagine that diehard gamers would ditch even the luxurious iPad in favour of their console of choice. Crackberrys would most likely hold onto their smartphones at all costs, and Apple fanboys would sell their children before parting with their Macbooks (we imagine). But, from our point of view…
For a start, we’d ditch the frivolous app habit. Sites like appcity might offer all the apps your heart desires for a fixed monthly fee – but, at the end of the day, loads of free apps are usually (if not great) adequate enough to meet the essential needs (eg. it’s pretty average, but BigOven does the job for my recipe needs when I’m out and about. And it’s free. Unlike Jamie Oliver’s £3 20 Minute Meals).
Next to go? Cripes. It’s a tough call, but it might well have to be the high-end home audio system. Yes, those Bang and Olufsen speakers create the perfect sonic ambience and are an ideal talking point for those sophisticated candlelit soirees with the neighbours. But, costing the best part of five grand, you can’t afford them right now. And so, until the good times roll again, you’re going to have to make do with a wi fi connection and a Spotify account.
There’s one piece of kit that I could ditch pretty easily, actually – my TV. [Gasp]. Bear with me. In fact, my TV was once broken for a matter of months before I even a) realised, and b) did anything about it. And that’s simply because I watch the majority of my video content online. From iPlayer to YouTube, I find that I actually prefer watching the content I want, when I want, even on a laptop screen. Of course, I watched the England game on a 52″ Sony. But I rather wish I hadn’t bothered.
And I know this is predictable – but the one thing I can’t ditch is my lovely iPhone. Text, calls, emails, news, music, a world of apps… Ah. Dearest gadget, you have never let me down. (Except with your dodgy 3G signal. But that’s all in the past…)
What would you cut in your own tech budget?
