30 Billion’s the Charm

Despite a recent dip in investment, Harvard's endowment is still doing alright at a respectable $30.7 billion. So just how much is 30 billion? Flyby took some time to investigate, and here's what we found:

Americans squandered $30 billion in lost cell phones in 2011. A big chunk of these damages occurred on Christmas and New Years. Happy holidays.

British consumers own £30 billion of unworn clothes. Technically that translates to $46.5 billion in US dollars, but regardless of the currency, that's a whole lot of sartorial waste.

As of June 2012, more than 30 billion apps have been downloaded from the Apple App Store. And so the legacy of Steve Jobs lives on in our collective distraction.

Greece needs another €30 billion in bailout money. Among other things.

An estimated 30 billion songs were illegally downloaded between 2004-2009. Given the coexistence of college students and the internet, we can't really say we're surprised.

It takes 30 billion watts of electricity to power the internet. The numbers aren't yet in on how many of these watts are used to power all the cat videos on YouTube.

It has been suggested that solving the world food crisis would cost $30 billion annually. So stop complaining about HUDS and enjoy your beef fajita fettuccine.