Sometimes I longingly look back at the days before I knew about lifetime value, amortization, and depreciation.

I ruined my mp3 player while I was in Costa Rica. It cost me about $200 in September of 2005, about 16 months ago. Given that I didn't spend any money on the music that I put on there (don't worry, I used only legal downloads and my own CD's), and the fact that I used it constantly for about a year of that time, in accounting terms I should feel like I got my money's worth.

But in real world terms, this baby had probably another year or two of play left in it, and knowing that potential, it's hard to be satisfied with my past use of it.

I do now know the value of electronics though (my cellphone also died on the trip), and will take much better care of them in the future. For now, I don't feel that I deserve (or can afford) to buy a new one, though.