It isn’t just the computer users of the world that have this, to me, odd view.

( Note: to any that think I’m just the rich friend of a rich dude – no. Last year for the first time in my life, due to lots of overtime and on call pay, my take home pay reached $30k for the year.I am less likely than Kelly to pay for trial or donation ware simply because I have less money to do so.)

You can see the exact same attitude when reading travel reviews and talking to people about overseas trips. There will be complaints about “okay hotel, but cheaper alternatives”, and one does have to wonder how anyone from the western world who gets a 5 star hotel for under $100 a night can complain about price. Or, when they get a room for $20 a night, they can complain about much of anything as long as the room is clean and the roof doesn’t leak.

People will scream they they are getting ripped off because they were charged 80 pesos for a beer when some other place charges 60. A philippine peso is less than 2 cents, so I have to ask: is 20 cents that big of a deal when you are getting a beer for $1.60 vs $5+ that you are used too?

I believe that it comes from people confusing price/cost with value. We value people based on their paycheck rather than how well they do what they do. We look at getting more ‘stuff’ as ‘better’, so the lower price you pay the more junk you can get and the ‘better’ off you are…

How else to explain the mania among wealthy celebs for 100 room mansions they only live in 12 weeks of the year. They don’t need the room … no it is because a bigger house = better house = better person in common society.

When travel, or purchase something, I have an idea of what I want. And I know how much I can afford. ( Don’t get me wrong, I’d love have a few millions and not even question the cost of airfare, but until the lottery pays off, I accept reality 😉 )

If I get what I want for what I can afford, I’m happy. Here, a cab from the airport costs $50. If I get a cab from the airport for $6, even is that is double the going local rate, I’m going to be happy. I’ll pay more to break up a long flight into stages or so I don’t have to rush connections because to me the most important thing is to enjoy my vacation. Only second to I look to find a cheaper vacation – that I enjoy just as much.

But I do not define value as entirely, or even mostly, based on money. Many, many people do.