We’ve made it to Friday, fellow money nerds. And as I have all week, I have a handful of stories to share with you about money (and more).
First up, here’s a detailed review of Apple’s new Vision Pro augmented-reality headset, which releases today. Like a lot of Apple fanboys, I’m fascinated by this product. But as a personal-finance dude, there’s no way I’m touching the $3500 price tag. After all, my primary use case for the device would be the same as my iPad: watching movies. Anyhow, we start today with a thorough (and balanced) Vision Pro review.
Apple Vision Pro review: magic, until it’s not. [The Verge] “It sounds amazing, and sometimes it is. But the Vision Pro also represents a series of really big tradeoffs — tradeoffs that are impossible to ignore. Some of those tradeoffs are very tangible: getting all this tech in a headset means there’s a lot of weight on your face, so Apple chose to use an external battery pack connected by a cable. But there are other, more philosophical tradeoffs as well.” [See also: video review from Marques Brownlee]
Questions to ask before moving in with your partner. [The New York Times gift article] — “Talking about money openly makes you better at talking about money. You’ll get to know each other’s abstract beliefs about money and how you want to translate them into concrete actions. Your shared vision as a couple will take on more dimension, and as you get comfortable with each other’s money habits and hangups, you’ll also be more readily able to ask and offer help to other loved ones in your lives.”
How to talk about money as a married couple. [Thomas Kopelman] — “If you ask your parents or someone of the prior generation, they’ll likely tell you that your finances should all be joint and your property becomes your partner’s and vice versa. There is merit to this option, but it may not be right for everyone. I’m going to discuss three separate methods of handling marital financing.”
Finally, in a week full of great videos, here’s an 11-minute segment from Phil Edwards on YouTube in which he explains the Stanley water-bottle craze. How did we get here?
In a way, I can relate to this. Not because of Stanley water bottles. Because of watercolor paints. And not because of artificial manufactured scarcity but actual scarcity.
You see, during the few months that I’ve been painting, I’ve learned that not all paints are the same. Some are better than others. Some are much better than others. In November, I discovered paints from A. Gallo. These paints are handmade in Italy and use a honey-based binder and pigments from across Europe (Icelandic volcanoes!).
A. Gallo is a small company that can only produce so much product. At the end of each month, the open their online store to sell whatever they’ve managed to produce. Their stock sells out in hours. Like I say, it’s similar to the Stanley water bottle craze, but not artificially created.