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Why I Never Sell My Old iPad and Still Buy New Every Year
The annual selling of the old iPad and buying of the new iPad has turned into a tradition for many tech enthusiasts, including our editor Josh Smith.
He told you that it makes financial sense to sell and buy a new iPad each year because this practice costs him only $11-$27 per month for the use of one of the coolest consumer tech devices available today.
You can get decent iPad 2 trade in deals and it makes sense for people who don’t have family or don’t have family that wants their tech toys when they’re done. Since I’m a father of two and married, selling my old iPad makes no sense at all. Instead, I just hand it down.
My wife and two sons like my practice of handing down tech. Two years ago my wife received my Kindle 2 when I bought the first iPad. She wore it out, literally! When iPad 2 came along, she got the first iPad and uses it occasionally sharing it with my sons.
This year, I’m going upgrade to the iPad 3, or iPad HD as it might be called, for a few reasons, a better display, faster internals, hopefully 4G and Siri. Since my wife doesn’t really care about the latest greatest hardware, this time around, I’m likely going to let her hang onto the original iPad and let my boys share my iPad 2. With 64GB, they’ll stock it full of videos, music and games and really enjoy it.
(Read: What to Expect from the iPad 3)
This fall my oldest son starts college. That’s a great time to have an iPad, so he’ll use it during the day at school and his brother will get it at night. The oldest will go to school locally and live with us, so this will work out well. Next year, we will have four iPads in the house because of this practice, one for each family member.
We do this with smartphones as well. I get to buy a new one every year since at least one member of the family has upgrade eligibility and whoever has the oldest phone gets my hand-me-down.
If you have a family like mine, full of people who like tech but don’t love it like we do, then don’t sell your old tech. Hand it down.
My iPad 2 works perfectly. My iPhone 4 functions without issue. So does my MacBook Air, which I’ll be replacing soon. These tech toys last for years and we use them for years saving us money while I still get to enjoy the latest greatest. Everyone’s happy.
Even if you don’t have family to whom you can give your old gear, consider giving it to charity for a tax write-off and for good cheer. Plenty of local groups can make use of these still-working tech toys to help them in their cause.
Image via Yutaka Tsutano on Flickr
bsquarednc
03/03/2012 at 9:35 am
This article is an absolute snoozefest!!! No one cares about your house full of Apple products WE GET IT, YOU LIKE APPLE!!!
Cuhulin AmHairghin
03/03/2012 at 7:09 pm
Actually, I care. I think Kevin’s articles are interesting. If you don’t want to read his articles, no one is forcing you.
Abalone
03/03/2012 at 9:40 am
ipads are lousy for a college student. I see them trying to take notes with them, by typing or with the huge marker pens. They aren’t focused on the lecture, and most notes require more finesse than the ipad is capable of. TabletPCs work much better, or even a plain old notebook and pen/pencil.
Josh Smith
03/03/2012 at 1:53 pm
I agree for notes, but digital textbooks are a nice option.
Michael Anderson
03/03/2012 at 2:02 pm
For a while now I carried both a LiveScribe and an iPad, but more recently I found that I could almost exclusively use my iPad. There are times when I know I will have to draw things and write and do tuff and use the LiveScribe, but that is less than once a week now.
Michael Anderson
03/03/2012 at 9:41 am
I agree Kevin – that is what I said in my comment to Josh’s post. But due to circulation issues touchscreens don’t agree with my wife, so I have no clue if she will use the iPad 2. But it is worth a shot.
Marcus N
03/03/2012 at 1:26 pm
Another page filler. Thought these thing go away with digital publishing
KidDoc
03/03/2012 at 6:53 pm
I hand down a lot, but also sell a lot. It depends on how much you buy, I guess. My family couldn’t absorb all of the tablets and computers that I go through in a typical year.
Mikhail Ratchkovski
03/04/2012 at 11:03 am
How is this news…
Of course everyone with a family member will pass it on, my daughter has been mooching for it every time I put it down.
And everyone without a family will most likely sell it to get the update (unless they can afford to give it away).