People have been leasing phones since at least the mid naughties, they just did it via their carrier. I distinctly remember standing in the Alltel store in 2006-ish, before it got gobbled up by ATT, and wondering if I could afford the extra $15/mo that the new Nokia candybar phone would run me. The only thing that's new is that Apple is offering it directly.

Most people are short-term thinkers if you talk to anyone around you at work, school or at home and if you merely suggest saving and controlling their spending briefly to buy something in the future good luck. I have given up.

I just buy more shares of blue chip companies and let them pay in the future for anything I want to buy.

If leasing a fucking phone isn't a sign of the times then I don't know what is.

People have been leasing and renting phones since the 1930's. I guess you missed out on the Ma Bell century.