I’ve long been over the ridiculously overpriced-ness of idiotic Vertu phones. 300 grand for a dumbphone? Whatever, the stupid rich who spend that stupidly are beyond saving anyway. But Vertu has hit a new low (or high?) with this one: a $US190 Vertu USB cable.
Maaaaaaaybe you can talk me into a $US300,000 phone being worth it (you can’t), like how it’s the perfect combination of technology and jewellery and status or some other bullshit reason like that. Maaaaaaybe. But there is no way in freaking hell that you can convince me that this USB cable is worth $US190. NO WAY! Even if it’s made from the indestructible, dry aged umbilical cord of Megan Fox (ew) or sprinkled in diamond dust so it could be worn like a necklace or lined with God-endorsed electrical wiring, it’s just impossible to justify that price tag, I mean, I think Apple’s 20 bucks for a USB cable is already a rip off. This is just criminal. WHAT STATUS CAN BE FOUND IN A USB 2.0 CABLE.
Also, Nokia (who owns Vertu) is supposedly trying to unload Vertu to some sucker so it can focus on making real phones that work better than Vertu phones with regular USB cables that do the job just as well as Vertu cables. So even the company who owns Vertu doesn’t think Vertu is worth it. Rich people who buy this crap, you scare me. [Vertu via BoingBoing]
Drew
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 9:46 AMRich people buy Vertu phone as a kind of joke, even they don’t take it seriously.
Aliasalpha
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 12:22 PMIts a deeply unethical bit of wallet molestation alright but is it worse than monster cable’s 1.5m perfectly ordinary but somehow magic HDMI cables that sell at 1600 usd?
MotorMouth
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 2:41 PMLet’s be honest, this is just incrementally dumber than what people pay for Apple cables and accessories. Put an iPhone dock onto a stereo and you can charge double.
Gabriel
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 2:46 PM“dry aged umbilical cord of Megan Fox” .. lol
Ozoneocean
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 7:56 PMWell, people are far more likely to by a painting of a bowel of fruit if it costs $750 as opposed to $200… and millions of other examples, etc.
Value is perceived more than real. All you really need is a brand and you can sell the same crap that everyone else does for 10x as much. Think of any junk fashion label (Dole Gabana, Prada, Vercace), any popular artist, premium car brands, watches.
Sure, in that mix there is some real extra value, slightly higher manufacture quality occasionally, rarity, and re-sale value to factor in but not enough to justify the extent of cost difference.
Basically brand + price = status == value.
Stuart
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 9:41 PMhaha “bowel of fruit”. I had that after my first buffet breakfast in Phuket.
Zeruel
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 9:52 PMI see your USB cable and raise you some Audiophile cables.
http://www.addictedtoaudio.com.au/Alo-Audio
I love me some audio kit. I myself own a vacuum tube headphone amplifier. It cost 1200. That isn’t bad if you like cool hardware.
But cables are a sham and it sickens me and there is nothing neat or cool about them.
Heisenburg
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 9:35 AMnot too surprised after the experience of purchasing a HDMI cable a few years back…
David
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 4:03 PMIf that is the cable pictured….it looks like a 50cent cable from ebay/China.
Even the standard cables that come with your iphone/HTC phone look more attractive.