I have not.
I can afford one. But I don’t want to be that connected, frankly. There are apps I found useful for work, true enough, but I can use those efficiently on my tablet. I really don’t want to be able to receive email on my phone. My cheap little flip has enough capacity to keep me happy without feeling I’ve a virtual tether around my neck.
Anybody with me? Or, for that matter, anybody want to convince me I’m wrong to reject smartphones?
I resisted for a while, more on the basis of the monthly fee than anything else. The cost is easily affordable for me, but I still had trouble pulling the trigger. Then grandchildren started arriving, and the ability to send and receive pictures and videos on my phone became irresistible.
If the grandchildren inducement doesn’t apply, how about the internet in your pocket?
No recipe?
Not willing to pay for it/can barely afford. Also, they’re huge and I’m low on pocket space, not sure how people manage (been meaning to start a thread). I have an Android tablet so I can use most of those features. I’d take one if given and paid for (ahem).
ETA: I change feature phones about every 2 years. The last several ones could all send/receive/take photos, and at least most of them video.
I have a smart phone (Motorola Photon) but don’t pay for a data plan.
Me! : raises hand : I am exactly in the position as the OP. I’ve got my tablet and I don’t ever want to be that connected. I don’t want anyone to actually call me, and I think my cell phone is just for ME, not for anyone else. If I want someone to call me on it, that’s for ME. I don’t want my coworkers to call me on it.
And cell phones grant an urgency to things that weren’t there before. I caught myself almost falling in the trap of answering the phone when my coworkers would call over the weekend. I decided I wasn’t going to do that, not unless I was actually responsible for something. I let it go to VM a couple of times and they realized pretty quick that I wasn’t reachable.
My job is not so vital it can’t wait until Monday! I love my tablet, it has all of the fun things, that’s enough.
On a fairly regular basis, I’ll search for something using my phone, find where I can get it, and load the address into maps so that I can see how long it will take to get there. Then I’ll use navigation to get there. And the phone is smaller than my tablet.
Haven’t yet seen a need for me to own one. Everything I need to do now is done by my dumb phone. I have not yet been in a situation where I said ‘This would be easier/ cheaper/ faster if I had a smart phone!’ but I am open to the idea that this may change.
I tend towards Ludditism when it comes to electronics.
If you’ve got a tablet, you’ve already bypassed cell phones and moved on to the Next Great Thing.
You don’t count as a Luddite, since tablets and phones are essentially the same except in size. So in fact, you’re one of Them.
Phone is tiny, yes - which is not an advantage to me! I carry a purse anyway so I put the tablet in it. I have the Nexus 7 and I think the screen is still a mite too small…but that’s Ok.
I do the same thing with my tablet - search for something, find where I can get it. And my tablet has a voice activation option. Just the other day I used it while driving home to see if a certain store was in the town I was in.
I just haven’t seen any reason to get a smartphone. My dumbphone even has a keyboard to text, and has very minimal internet capability (enough to look up a phone number or an address). I say it’s a dumbphone that thinks it’s a smartphone, but in the end, it’s still just an LG on the TracFone plan.
I love having the internet in my pocket, able to look anything up that tickles my curiosity on the tiniest whim. It’s addicting. I also appreciate being able to send texts, as there was no way in hell I was going to do it back when I had no proper keyboard. (How the fuck anyone did it back then is beyond me.)
But hey, you wanna kick it old school, no problems here.
The internet in my pocket is the reason I DON’T want a smart phone.
Three kids, no grandkids, which is good as the oldest of the kids is 19 months and grandchildren would thus be either miraculous or an issue for Child Protective Services. I’m happy to take pics and video with a dedicated camera, though even my cheap flip phone can take video.
I’m a Luddite,of course, but I don’t see much need to send pictures of my kids via phone. The computer seems accessible enough.
I actually like talking on the phone, and text messages are useful. But I’ve never seen the appeal of playing video games.
I suspect I have an easier time finding directions on my tablet. And I refuse to use any GPS system other than one mounted in the dashboard. I don’t make calls while driving and I’m not gonna use a handheld GPS while driving either.
I don’t really want all my devices integrated, frankly.
This is exactly how I feel, plus I save the $69 a month and receive no phone calls too. It’s like swing points in a football game if I spend the $69 a month for a smart phone it would cost me $69 somewhere else in my budget.
Then again if I had a smart phone with Wi-Fi I could save the $20 land line cost and the $10 netzero dial up internet cost making the plan cost only $39 a month.
Does anyone know if the bill (Verizon for me) is really only $69 a month for unlimited or do they add on dumb little things like lineman retirement fee’s, cross over the highway and it cost $1 more, disposal of old telephone post, phone book delivery charges etc.? 
I haven’t. I have a three-year-old flip phone that works great and a four-year-old ipod touch that no longer supports new apps/games but that’s okay as long as it supports my crosswords and Word Warp. If I need to access the internet on it, which is rare, I find a wifi hotspot. I only ever text with one person and she has a flip phone as well.
What **Mika **said.
Rysler, you’re right that smart phones and tablets are essentially the same thing. But the practical difference is that smart phones, being so much smaller, present a greater temptation to be over-connected and detached from the world. I don’t like the way a lot of people zone out using their cell phones, becoming detached from the world around them. The greater size of the tablet makes that less likely while also making it easier to use.
I migrated to a smart phone just about a year ago.
Part of my justification is that I was already using an iPod Touch as a sort of PDA for contacts, appointments, etc. That iPod either needed a new battery or I needed a replacement for it. The smart phone was a nice upgrade from the Touch, and promised a way to sync those contacts and appointments over the cellular data plan.
Since then, I’ve also discovered that the iPhone eliminates my need for a separate GPS for driving directions. So it’s like having three or four devices all in one package.
But… I consider a smart phone a luxury item. I not only understand not having one, but would encourage not having one. (In fact, parents who buy a $700 phone for a 12-year-old are operating on a level I can’t even understand, but that’s a topic for its own thread.)
I HATE this. I really don’t like cellphones and never have. Yes, they add convenience, but they are frankly horrible to talk on, and they do cause this distraction. I can’t stand people who are checking their cellphones in the middle of a conversation, and yet this is considered de riguer now! And I am in the wrong for thinking you should focus solely on the conversation!
I remember chatting with someone once and my phone started ringing. Without checking it - as I was not expecting any important calls - I reached into my pocket and rejected the call. You should have seen her shocked face!
And that doesn’t count people who have their noses in them everywhere they go.
I am not a Luddite. Far from it. I loooove technology and I love gadgets. I just don’t love cellphones. And you know what? That’s OK. I don’t have to.
Pretty much my feelings. I love being able to research anything at a whim (“who’s that actress again?” “I wonder what the score of the Raiders game is” “Is there a good Thai place nearby?”, etc.) I also make sure to get one with a physical keyboard, though I my last non-smartphone also had one. And I enjoy being able to play games which are a bit more exciting than say, Solitaire.
That said, I try not to get too connected. I don’t use Twitter or Facebook. I don’t connect it to my email accounts. I leave it in the other room during dinner, and try not to spend all my time outside on it. (Though I’ve certainly spent plenty of time in groups of people where everyone else is on their phone!)
A smart phone is indeed a luxury for us.
We have a smartphone but don’t buy anything.
The 56.00 plan we have for 2 phones is just fine for our budget.
I do have smartphone envy though, and feel out of touch with others when everyone is talking about texting, internet, quick directions, quick info.
I was resistant until I got my first one, but now I’m a big fan. Yeah there’s a lot of unnecessary crap, but you only have to install the things you need.
Unlike you I have kids, so I’d have least looked at the number to see if it was my wife; there’s always the potential for an emergency. I always answer the phone if it’s my wife, because she knows not to call during work hours unless it’s something that’s important, and also she has a workaround so she can leave me a voicemail without causing my phone to ring.
But yeah. I hate people who answer the phone while in the midst of another conversation. I recently delivered a verbal smackdown on one of my team managers who was using his phone during a meeting. Jerkish of me, I know.