Originally Posted by
jhodgson
I don't think cost is a barrier.
As I say in the film, people pay 1000 for a phone no problem. Why do bikes have to be $100?
Because phones are an ultra-convenience. iphones made smart phoens a status item to have, a show 'I am well off enough to have this thing' yet it is also a utility that can go anywhere and provide a great deal of functionality. A bike? Less convenient for a majority as right now many live in areas that are not bike friendly either in actual use or locations that they can park that serve actual functions beyond recreation. Phone? That's a thing you pocket and it's out of sight out of mind. Moreover while a bike is better than walking, car beats bike in distance traveled. Biking is seen as a hassle where you'll be sweaty and dirty when you get where you are going.
Now I'm one of those people who has kept a flip phone for the past twenty years (not the SAME phone, just a case of when one breaks get another flip phone) because I don't want the problems associated with an iphone (I have a cheap fifty dollar amazon fire for the distractions, and ebooks. LOTS of ebooks. Love ebooks. Then again I've used fire toolbox to make it feel less like it's constantly funneling me to amazon's ecosystem and more like 'this is my tablet.) My cheapo phone survives drop after drop, has pretty solid battery life measuring in days rather than hours, and if need be i can tether it to another device for internet. Which was handy when moving.
A bike? you have to have proper storage, you have to have a proper lock if you take it out, basic mantinancing, and on and on.
The phone wins out on convenience, and most people don't outright pay a thousand bucks for their newest iphone. Their carriers subsidize that cost so it trickles through on their bill as an invisible expense over a series of years.