Do you own a "smart phone"?

I just have a regular cell phone. I'm starting to feel like a dinosaur when all of my friends have iPhones, Blackberries or what have you? I wonder if these things becoming so ubiquituous that soon they'll be the only things on the market?

call them.

:rofl:

Iphone 3g, both my wife and I have them. Since we don't have internet, cable tv or anything like that at home, it's our one little "luxury". Love it. :D

Or remembered to charge it and take it with me. That's about it.

I dread talking to people with iPhones on that disaster known as 3G.

I found a provider in Canada that allows you to keep minutes for an entire year! I haven't had a cell bill in months.

have some fancy functions.

I don't want a smart phone, but it is embarrassing to pull out my phone these days and my phone is pretty modern (Samsung Gravity) just not "smart." My BF makes fun of me all the time but I have internet at home and work, why do I need it on my phone too?


FYI: You can text or call Google for free info about a lot of things including phone numbers, weather, movie times, flight info, driving directions...etc, and t-mobile lets you check yahoo and gmail for free....so....?

wow

but we only use it when we're traveling. It's a recent acquisition.

I got it because of the convenience of having a cell phone, navigation system and MP-3 player all in one device. I actually use it less as a phone and more as just about everything else.

I think for many years yet you'll see regular cell phones on the market and if I wasn't still doing some business travel I might consider downgrading. Some of the navigation features are great though.

didn't really care about the phone as long as it made and received calls and occasional texts. Then I got an iPhone. I don't understand how I ever existed without it before, and how people continue to exist without owning one :)

and I mean that in more than an I can update my FaceBook from my phone way.

Being on the road for business 250 days a year sucked pre-Iphone. My checklist looked like this

MP3 player
MP3 player headphones
Navigation system
Car charger for navigation system
Window-sticker thing for navigation system
Cell phone
Cell phone charger
Work cell phone
Work cell phone charger
Digital camera
Camera charger
Digital camera to PC USB cable

Now it looks like this:

Iphone
Iphone USB cable

I seem to pick up my iPhone about every 15 minutes to either check email, the weather, Huffington Post, the traffic on I-95, take a picture, surf the web, check my grocery list or my goals for the year.

Oh, I can also call or text my friends and family.

I hardly ever use my iBook anymore!

Posting from my iPhone now :hi:

I love the Huffington Post app.

somebody needs to write the DU app :P

but I haven't had a problem navigating the site from Safari, it works just fine

nt

But I haven't had any problem just using the Safari browser to navigate and post to DU.

OMG! I had no idea one could do some of the things I'm reading about re a cell phone!

Posting this post from it right now. It's not so much a phone as it is a minaturized computer with a touch screen.

They're making those phones free if you sign up, but the catch is, on top of the cost of the two-year contract, you have to buy a monthly data and messaging service for $30.

I know I'm being taken to the cleanres. But I do love my iPhone... :evilfrown:

I'm a cheapskate at heart.

People without them will be at a disadvantage for all sorts of things. The pressure will be on to adapt or brave it outside. Such has it always been with technological economics.

On the bright side, the prices are bound to come down, and if we can maintain a push toward more enlightened government (which is far from guaranteed, admittedly), there could be ways to get this technology into the hands of people who can't afford it at affordable prices and rates. There is a lot to recommend this technology, as long as it doesn't abet the widening rift between rich and poor.

there will always be budget and used versions for people who can't afford or won't buy the latest and greatest. You can find old computers on Craigslist (or in newspaper want ads, if you have no Internet access) for cheap, as long as you're fine with a bit older technology.

I don't have any ill feelings towards them but the extra cost not worth it to me.

I have a couple of friends with iPhones, and I have major gadget envy...

but, with a pay cut coming in July and my wife likely to be back to being unemployed around the same time, I won't be getting any kind of smart phone until it won't cost me ridiculous amounts of money for the plan.

Until then, I'll stick with my 3 year old Motorola that has a crappy camera and video, and not much else (and I don't use the camera and video).

waiting eagerly for iPhone HD. I use the apps, maps and iPod on my phone way more than I talk. It's a portable information station.

Sid

This gizmo techno kick sucks a hard cock.


I was texting before it was cool, and that just makes me a big fucking lame dweeb. But at least I caught on a few years ago.

and if you think this is a kick--- then you really have no idea what you are talking about.

Thats what I originally used texting for. But really, who wants to be at work 24/7? Hell, even if I want to interact with people, Ill do it face to face. If I want to explore a town, Ill just start fuckn walking. Thats called life. Its all around you--not in that box in your hand.

But it aint reality...welcome to the 21st century.

I find no necessity or enjoyment in carrying a PDA 24/7.

I get accused of being out of touch when I, too, work with multi-million dollar computer gizmos - when I'm off work I want nothing to do with technology outside of the occasional website....half the time, both my land line and cell phone are OFF

cool for the web, but lacking in third-party apps. would really like to have apps like motionx or shazam. guess i'll have to wait till the cdma version of the iphone is released and hope that sprint picks it up.

No plans to get one, either.

What am I missing? Desktop and notebook computers are diffrerent from handheld ones ... how? I can make calls on the first two as well as the last, so I don't get it.

:)

Personally, I'd rather not piss away vast amounts of money to be able to read Facebook entries at a coffeeshop on an overpriced toy. :shrug:

Well maybe a handful of people would.

However, if you get in a wreck in front of that coffee shop, its nice to be able to call a tow truck.

And the added convineince of being able to report my claim to my insurance agency via my phone, use the white pages on my phone to locate a nearby tow truck service, arrange a rental car with my phone and report the exact street location is juts an added bonus...and why I piss away vast amounts of money on for it.

But I've got better things to do with my cash. I carry a pre-paid cell for that crash. My insurance company arranges that rental car (with a pickup). They also come out to the crash, if in the area.

Again, you get to piss away your money with the toy. I have an insurance company that also saves me TIME *and* money because THEY do all the things you need the toy for.

:shrug:

And I find it worth paying for. If you choose to view smart phones as a device to facilitate FaceBook posting, then you're doing it wrong.

I do the same without monthly charges -- and actually, others do for ME what you have to do yourself, and pay through the nose to do so. On the *who's smarter?* list I think I won.

whatever - like I said. The only smart things about those phones is the profit margins of the carriers. They know people will gladly piss away money because they are *cool*.

:shrug:

I'm getting an iPhone soon.

But I just got an 8gb iPhone 3g refurb for $49 :D

I'm gonna go ahead and get the 3GS, the 8GB refurb is $149. I just have something ahead of the phone on the list of things I want to purchase. :)

faster processor, more ram and native video, good choice ;)

So I figure it's worth the extra money for a "better" phone. :)

I got started on the iphone kick when a friend upgraded from the original version to the latest model last fall and gave me his old iphone. I used it up until a few weeks ago until I finally gave in and ordered the 3g because it was so cheap, but in truth, the old original model was still working perfectly. The only thing was the 2g network was getting pretty slow on the downloads and page loads etc.A new 3gs should be good to go for quite a while ;)

But, the added bonus was, my daughter got an "ipod touch" out of the deal. Even though the phone call functions are no longer there, everything else still works just fine so she can play games without tying up my phone now :D

I said that to someone at work today and got the "seriously? you're like the last person on earth without one." I was really wishing I had one last Friday when I was working on an "off" day. I brought in my CDs from my car and was like "damn, this is why people own iPods." lol :)

I didn't have an ipod or any other pocket mp3 playeruntil I got my iphone. It's great for band practice, when I get the "to learn" list during the week, I load up the tunes, practice with it all week, take it to practice and plug it into the system, no cds to fuss with. And if I forget my guitar tuner, no problem, I have a few different tuners right on my phone :)

I had no clue what one was until about six months ago - I realize, when just yesterday listening to an old CD that has a bloop on one of the tracks, how I need to get my CDs converted so I can have an iPod (or something similar). Not having to buy a whole CD - just download the song that's blooped - would be a real savings. (That is if I understood everything correctly!)

me and wife. Best dammed phone ever had... actually, no, it's not a phone, Tricorder Mk.I

I have had a variety of smartphones in the past years, but this one beats them all to a pulp.

I've ever known, besides Sarah Palin's voice. Fucking people call me all the damn time. I'm sitting here in the quiet, just reading DU or maybe actually doing some work, and that damn thing goes off and scares the living shit out me.

Evil device!

:shrug:

for giving too damn many people your number! For me, it's my folks, my lady, and a relatively few friends, all of which I'm glad to hear from on the one or two calls I get a day.

Nothing I own is particularly that smart.

I just stick my phone cord in my belly button and connect through the plates in my head.

I relented and got it ten years ago, when my father's health was declining, so that my parents could get in touch with me any where, at any time.

But I'm not at all interested in 3G/4G/whateverG phones. I have the eyesight of a 55 year old, and I can't read all of the stuff that they cram onto that tiny screen. The idea of watching video or playing games on that tiny screen makes my head ache. If I wanted a 3G/4G phone, I would need one with a screen the size of an iPad.

So if you're a dinosaur, I must me an amoeba.

I think they'll eventually become the only options, but the prices will need to come down a LOT first.

Love the Droid. I've found it to be more flexible than the iPhone plus the service area is far better than AT&T. I have relatives that love their iPhones but also wound up getting Droids because the calling areas got too limited around here.

Most of the time it is in a drawer turned off. I carry it with me when I leave the farm, in case I have a breakdown or need to call my husband. Sometimes, I take it to the barn in case I need to check the time or find out why the vet or farrier are late for an appointment. But that is a pain since the barn (and most of my farm) is in a blind spot and gets crappy cell phone service. So I have to carry it to the top of the hill where I can see the cell phone tower down the road - that gets me about two bars so I can make and receive calls.

I've never set up voice mail on my phone - if people call my cell, I can check the number to see who called. If they are not in my contacts list, I don't know them and will not return their call. I can do text messaging, but don't. If I want to read text messages, I will pick up my email on my computer!

A fancier device would be a waste of money for me - I seldom leave the farm so it would be like my cell and spend most of the time in a drawer.

Not quite, and I'm too cheap to pay for a data plan, anyway.

But I like the calendar functions, the touch screen, and the music player.

Someday, perhaps I'll trade up to the whole shebang. But not now.

...but they're definitely going to be a much bigger portion of the market as time goes on. The carriers like them because they can sell expensive data plans to people. Regular cell phones will always have a place, either as prepaid / pay-as-you-go phones or contract phones for people who don't want, don't need, or can't afford the data plans. Or for children to whom you don't want to give a free license to surf the internet.

it varies depending on which phone. I have a Nexus one and got it partly because I didn't want a contract or variable monthly bill. It costs me $10 more than my monthly prepaid cell service did, I don't mind that.

I went with an old crappy phone for years, partly to avoid spending money and partly because I didn't want an iPhone (because of the contract). It was a relief to upgrade - being able to look up maps, read mail, check contact info etc. when I'm outside the house saves me a ton of stress. I'm not the most organized person so it's very helpful to be able to use my phone for a lot of those things.

I've had the same phone for four years. I also have a teenage daughter who has wasted all my upgrades over that period of time. I should qualify for a free Iphone but we'll see how that works out.

But if you do please let me know how you got it.

I've never heard of them giving one away, but if they still have them, you can get a 8gb iPhone 3g for $49 :)

You can't even use my cell phone to take pictures. I only use it for making calls when I am away from home. I have no desire to upgrade my cell phone.

Very attached to it.

Went from no mobile phone to a smart phone.

until I got my Blackberry. What an amazingly wonderful piece of technology that little bugger is -- I can't imagine not wanting one now.

& I feel really lucky when the power goes out - the thing acts like a flashlight & mini-laptop all in one ;)

She traded up from a Samsung something or other. She uses hers for business, but I like to take a look at it whenever I can. Super cool stuff.

and last year after paying off my bills, I took the plunge for a smartphone. I love having the power of the Internet in my pocket, I can instantly look up anything I want to know in a matter of minutes; seconds, even.

I don't use my 'usual' email address with the mail application, so when I get an email, I know it's something I want specifically delivered to the phone, such as which wine just went on sale at WineTilItsGone.com. I've picked up some pretty sweet deals on fermented grape juice on that site!

I used a prepaid Virgin Mobile phone for several years, but it was a really crappy phone, and I couldn't really see paying good money for a better prepaid model when I could spend a little more and get an iPhone with LOTS of features.

I debated upgrading for over a year before I finally took the iPhone plunge in December. I'm really glad I did. Not only do I use it for everything (and I mean everything), I also find I'm much more confident making phone calls on it. I feel like I'm finally up to date with 21st century technology.

I hate the monthly charges, but really, I use it so much that I'm definitely getting my money's worth out of it. I don't know how I managed before without my iPhone!

I don't even need the plain old cell phone that I currently have.
I'm a homemaker. If I want to use a computer I fire up my laptop at home.

I use it more than I use my computer. I love the internet access and I have apps so I can read news whenever I want. I also love the GPS and weather apps. It's so nice to have info at my fingertips. Can't imagine not having an iPhone.

Until I got it, I didn't know what I was missing, now that I have it, I don't know what I would do without it. :)

I move around a lot through the week. My home is in Tulsa and my job is in Oklahoma city. I have a small travel trailer I keep close to work during the week. Now I have Internet access everywhere I go :)

I also got a newer iPhone in January and the camera is greatly improved. Plus there's a video camera :)

Faster processor and more ram too . I've got the 3g, they had refurbs for $49 so I jumped on it. I gave my 1st gen original iPhone to my daughter to use as an iPod touch to play games on. It won't make calls anymore, but otherwise still works fine. We download new games when we hit a wifi hot spot .

There was a New York Transit app that told us how to get from anywhere to anywhere else, including schedules. Yelp found us a couple of completely amazing out-of-the-way restaurants.

I'm addicted to CardShark solitare. I listen to audiobooks every day on the way to and from work.

And with wi-fi at home, I don't have to kick the kids off the computer to surf DU.

I only wish the battery lasted longer.

Sid

My phone does drugs and got pregnant at 13. It's kind of a stupid phone.

by yours truly. :-)

I was really close to buying the iPhone 3Gs till I suddenly discovered the droid less than a week before it went on for sale. And I am so, SO GLAD I didn't get the iPhone! I would have had to suffer with lack of service signal around my house, well AT&T does get good signal any further east of my house where all the major roads and towns go but out west, their is no usable signal for atleast 50 miles even though their are many towns and one city half the size of the one I reside by. The Closest AT&T 3G signals are 35 miles north of me in the Hampton Roads area in VA, next closest is a 60 mile drive east to the Outerbanks. Their 3G coverage is pathetic while Verizon's 3G coverage is almost everywhere! Anyways back to the droid, the only downside I can find with the phone the sound quality of the music player. Even with my best set of earphones it sounds like crap while the iPhone blows it out of the water in that catagory, but no biggy, I have a good mp3 player for that purpose being that I'm a total audiophile. Probably the best thing about the droid is the fact that it has the Android OS, completely customizable, you can download apps to do ANYTHING someone can think of and wont be so heavily regulated. And best of all, the Google Navigation, I think it's much better and more accurate than the stand alone off the shelf navigation units out their, it was able to take me through places where I would easily get lost at so it's a complete life saver their! Oh yeah, it's free! No subscription required unlike the other smartphones. Only downside with the Navigator (and I'm sure other phones would have the same problem) is without a signal, it cannot load the maps on the screen.

So having an answering machine is pretty futuristic for me still. Although as of late I have been wanting a smart phone for web on the go.

I'm actually cool because I'm not like everyone and buying an iPhart...I mean iPhone.

:evilgrin:

It has all the apps you could want. What's best, it was just a bit over $200 for an unlocked version... So basically, I got a phone and camera for the price of a phone.

I also bought my daughter the new LG solar phone the LG GD510 for Easter.



I suspect the solar panel will be a common sight in phones soon.

it was free, with 10 minutes already on it. I use about 4 minutes a month. I never go anywhere except taking Kasii to school and doctor's offices. No need for a better phone. I really don't need this one.

can't justify it. I already pay for wired data at home, and pay for wireless voice. The scumbag corporations which act as the gatekeepers won't sell just a data plan for a smartphone, they make you buy both voice and data. What I'd like is to get one with just data, drop my wired data connection at home (use tethering when I'm home), and voip with Skype on said smartphone. As long as these scumbag corporations act like their content providers instead of the dumb pipes they are, my wish will never be realized.

I call people when I'm stuck in the mud! That's it!

that can take pics. I've decided early on that I don't want to be accessible by email via cell phone. (However, if Verizon ever starts carrying the I Phone, I may change my mind. Not for the email, I just love my I Touch and already know how to use it, so I'd most likely love the phone, as well!)

And that's fine with me.

Haven't had it long, and I honestly don't know how I fucking survived without it. Seriously, it's amazing.

I don't talk on the phone enough to warrant the monthly expense of any contracted cell phone. I spend about $100 a YEAR on minutes for my TracFone.

If ATT ever comes out with a data-only plan for the iPod Touch like they're planning for the iPad, though, I'd probably be all over it.