At this point I only use Facebook for two things. One, scheduled events, and two, groups.

You can learn a lot of real-world bits of information by following different groups. Among others, I follow both groups for Android users and Apple users.

This morning I happened upon a message that surprised me in one of the Android groups.

One of the commenters said he wanted to buy the new Google Pixel 9, but was concerned about the charger, because apparently you need a special one for that phone, and it's sold separately.

I was like, "what?"

But wait because it gets worse.

Another guy replied in the comments and he said: "yes, you do need the correct charger as no other charger will work. But no worries, you can get it from Amazon and it's cheaper."

So I was like, "what da fuq?"

Back in the olden days, you'd buy a phone, and you'd get a charger, and sometimes you'd get wired headphones in the box too.

Then, citing the inevitable 'environmental concerns', Apple was the first to ditch the headphones, and then the audio jack, and then the charger.

Now, you need to buy a phone, and then you need to buy a charger separately, and then you need headphones, and we're being duped into buying wireless ones.

Let's face it, they work better, they're easier to use, but they're also expensive.

And remember when Apple priced its iPhone at $499 and everyone thought it was crazy? Then they all did it.

Then Apple priced its phone at $999 and then over $1,000, and again everyone thought it was crazy. And then they all did it.

So let's recap.

We've gone from buying phones that cost less than $500, which came with chargers and headphones, to buying phones that costs $1,000 or even $2,000 in some cases, and we still need to buy expensive chargers and headphones on top of that.

It's madness. But we clearly love being 'scammed', because these companies sell more phones and make more money than ever before.

They keep breaking records, year on year.

So it's our fault really.