Extra phone lines cost almost nothing and free smartphones are a thing again. They practically throw low end iPhones and pixels at you to try for a new contract. I can understand spending $10/mo for peace of mind from the bus stop to school. I have a home phone again (cell phone) because it cost nothing extra. YMMV by country and region.
I don't think the destruction of a few objects is really a big deal. Personally, this commercial is a metaphor for what big tech companies have done to culture and society in general. They have undermined the diversity of human experiences by creating a sterile product that is economically superior despite lacking soul. In the same way AI will undermine humanity, not by being superior but by being cheaper and 'close enough'.
That is Europe vs the US. Europe has almost 800million people, US less than 350million. On a per capital basis the average American has outspent the average European by a significant margin.
EU != Europe. EU has a population of just under 450 million. To get even close to an 800 million number you have to include all of both Russian and all the former Soviet states, which in this scenario would be rather misleading, given the geopolitics of the events under discussion.
