Yesterday was Labor Day, the annual fall rite of passage in this country that signals summer vacation is over and schools are back in session. Although it is now celebrated on the first Monday in September, the first Labor Day holiday was observed on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 1882, in New York City.
The U. S. Department of Labor describes Labor Day as, “an annual celebration of the social and economic achievements of American workers,” that recognizes “the many contributions workers have made to America’s strength, prosperity, and well-being.”
However, for me, because Labor Day falls near the beginning of the month, it often results in me having to spend a few minutes of my holiday engaging in personal monthly financial reconciliation of our bank and credit card statements. In other words, a little personal labor before I can relax and enjoy the fruits of my regular labor with a cookout and a beverage or two.
So it was that I found myself on Labor Day at my computers for a bit taking care of just that – how my wife and I are spending the money we get for our laboring. And, as it has for quite some time, one thing stood out in our spending: app purchases for our phones. Or more specifically, Apple purchases.
According to the Pew Research Center, unsurprisingly, 97% of Americans own a mobile phone. That number would be higher if not for those older than 65 – of whom only 94% own cell phones. I still recall getting my first cell phone back in the 1990’s, which replaced a pager (remember those?), and realizing that I was now more-or-less permanently tethered to an electronic device.
Which is how many of us feel these days – our phones are constantly in our possession – and this results in us looking at them on a regular basis. Surveys indicate that we average well over four hours of time each day on our mobile phones. Over 15% of our day.
I’ll admit something that may sound strange, but I’m not a phone person, and especially not for work. I learned an old adage – get it in writing – early in my career, and consequently find it usually wasteful to discuss work on the phone. Put it in writing in an email and then we have something concrete. Talking on the phone is just that: talk.
But, with the advent of smartphones, our mobile phones have gone well beyond just talk. They are now handheld computers we use to do many things other than talk. We do internet searches, we download and listen to music, we access and post to our social media apps, we take photos, we do our shopping, we pay for retail purchases, we track and measure our fitness, we play games, we text each other, we send and receive emails, and on and on.
And for most of those uses we need apps. Which is where Apple comes in.
Another personal admission here: I’m not an Apple fan. In fact, I’m an Apple “hater,” going all the way back to my involvement in the early personal computer industry with their units, the II, IIc, IIe, II+, III, Lisa and Mac. To me they just operated illogically compared to the ways PC-DOS, CP/M and MS-DOS based machines worked. Not to mention that “forbidden fruit” logo with a bite out of it conjures up biblical things for me.
But, as you get older, you learn to put some hateful things aside for the greater good. On my last phone upgrade, I reluctantly got an Apple iPhone because everyone else in our family had one, and it worked better with, you guessed it, some of the apps.
Which brings me back to that thing that stands out in our monthly spending – app purchases for our phones that get paid to Apple.
I’m sad to admit that there were a total of 13 charges to Apple.com on our credit card bill last month. Most for odd amounts of $2.32 or $3.71 or $7.27. I’m guessing that Apple probably doesn’t mind if I hate them, huh? (This is another reminder to myself that I should always buy stock in companies I hate – they seem to do well!)
Here’s the even sadder part – and the harder part to admit – I don’t know what most of those charges are for.
Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you want to look at it, I’m apparently not alone. And how do I know that? A pop-up ad on the one game I play on my phone touted an app that tracks and monitors all your app purchases and subscriptions. The ad touted that most people don’t know how much they pay in subscription services every month.
A quick search on the internet found a consulting firm that had done surveys in 2018 and 2021 which discovered 100% of the people surveyed did not know how much they were spending on subscription services. The firm suggests this is because these services are now ingrained in our daily lives and have become utilities – similar to water and electricity.
All of which, although it made me feel better that I was not alone in this Apple adoration, still sent me in search of answers. Answers I found in the Settings screens on my phone under Subscriptions and Purchase History. That then resulted in some additional labor. But, it was labor that gave me a better grasp on the fruits of my labor – the cookout and beverage – and allowed me to enjoy those fruits better. Maybe you too would benefit from a few minutes of Labor Day app labor?
