It's a bit different in the UK. I pad something like £450 for my phone. That's more than a week's wages to the average worker, but if you take call charges into account works out less over two years because I buy phone credit off-contract because I don't make that many outbound calls.

We have a high percentage of Pay As You Go customers; you buy a SIM of your network choice and buy phones to suit your needs/wants/budget. More and more people seem to be going this way either because of poor credit status or because they want freedom and choice.

For contract deals new phones tend to go with one carrier initially. I think iphone was only available on 02 when launched(?) and may customers were locked in to long contracts with little promise of an early upgrade when the next model came out.

Status and image are very important to many people. Showing off the latest phone is de rigeur and very fashion-driven. I don't personally know many people who bought a phone for its features - they just wanted it because they perceived it as 'cool'

Like it or not, Apple is 'cool' right now.

Going back to the OP, that may be where the guy in the canteen came in. He may well have bought the phone because he perceived it as being 'the best' or 'cool from his perspective.

That is his right and who are we to knock him? At least he's not one of the people who come on this forum to blame others for their decision and show no interest in looking for a solution or waiting for developments.