Total cost of ownership

So within the last couple of years I've become far more shrewd then anything else.  As I get older I've realized that with the tons of advertising and wiz-bang gadgets out there most folks don't really realize how/why they are getting schooled, and their money is going to huge companies.  So in this post I will outline a good example of total cost of ownership of a smartphone.

So you want to buy a smart phone, ok, it has a lot of nice advantages and I can understand why.  So lets take a look at 2 popular phones: iPhone, & Nexus One.

For all intents and purposes lets say the phones are ~= w/respect to features.  I honestly believe with froyo the nexus one wins, but lets just say they are equal.

So here is where we play the numbers game.  No matter what plan you have when you buy an iPhone (lower bound $99) you will tack on $30 data plan ~ 2 years, then after that point to maintain the smart phone capabilities you will need to add $15 data plan.

Here is where the next one wins, *if you're clever*.  With Android 2.2-froyo the Nexus One ($599) comes with Skype, which means you have the potential to do VOIP and bump down your overall plan. (You can do this with the iPhone as well but saving won't kick in until you change your plan in the 3rd year).  You will need to add the data plan which is $15.  A very conservative WAG on the savings in my case is ~ -$8.70 a month.  So hmm let's wip out the spreadsheet and take a look...

Total cost of ownership

Year	iPhone-Worst Case	iPhone – Best Case	Nexus One
1	459	459	494.6
2	819	819	390.2
3	1179	714.6	285.8
4	1539	610.2	181.4
5	1899	505.8	77

Obviously the numbers would very based upon your current plan, but if you are shrewd you can have your cake and eat it too. 

Cheers,

Tim