I have an “Obamaphone”. It’s a ten dollar Tracphone with 200 minutes a month. Texting is supposed to be a feature but I find that about half the time I don’t receive them like I should. It’s satisfactory for my needs but if I had the money I’d have the smartest damned smartphone I could find and I’d probably be one of those rude people who can’t hold an eye-to-eye conversation because I’m too busy on my fancy phone.
I don’t have one. Have a basic cell phone, a voice-only plan, and no compelling need to replace it. It’s a cool gadget, but I buy things for need, not for coolness.
I have a smart phone but I’m okay with people who don’t with one caveat. I have a friend who is really technophobic. To the point that anytime our group gathers and someone wants to show pictures on the phone, and we pass it around and swipe from picture to picture to see the set and comment on how adorable the new nephew/niece/kitten/puppy/tree seedling is, this friend ends up holding it and saying “I don’t know how to use this!” like a god damn idiot. You put your finger down and SWIPE! It’s not rocket science. But no, she can’t learn this because she doesn’t personally have a smart phone and the technology is too complicated nowadays and she remembers a time when cameras held film and we had floppy disks. :rolleyes: We’re under 30, so it’s not so much about having a personal choice but more to be the special snow flake who doesn’t follow the masses.
But if you don’t go off on a condescending rant about how you’re so much better because you remember the good old days, what you have and don’t have doesn’t concern me!
I have had one for many years - since the iPhone 3G - and as far as “feeling tethered” goes, it’s an addictive rush. In Tolkien terms (since you mentioned palantiri) the better analogy is a Great Ring. I am constantly taking it out and looking at it, fingering it in my pocket, and wondering where it is if I don’t have it on me for some reason.
I’m sure that when Sauron ensnared the Kings of Men who would become Nazgul, it was because the Nine allowed them constant, instant Mordornet access, replete with orc porn and a steady feed of Sauron’s Takei-like musings and post-shares directly into their heads. And oh yeah, the not dying thing (more of a side effect, really, along with the wraithing). Plus the ability to play Bejeweled or Sporcle while on horseback.
As a two-year family plan with AT&T comes to an end, I’m actually moving from a dumb phone in the other direction: back to a wired connection through my ISP, using a 1990’s office phone with a properly-sized handset and a decent ringer.
I found myself unable to justify the cost of even a replacement dumb phone plan, considering that I had recently started leaving my mobile phone at home when I left for the day. As for text messaging, a quick setup of Google Voice has allowed me to continue keeping in touch with people who prefer that method of communication.
I have a simple cell phone that I’ve used only 2 or 3 times, in emergencies. It costs me about 12 bucks a month. I have no use for a phone that does any more than that. Yes, I’m a cave man.
See now that is annoying. I love my tablet for the pictures purpose, actually - it takes about three seconds to get to my google plus account and then can show you my pics! I don’t understand technophobes one bit. We don’t mean for you to take EVERY technology there is. But to shut your mind to ANY new technology just smacks of shooting yourself in the foot.
Our aunts were all ANTI facebook and any kind of online thing. “They can steal your identity! They will kidnap your kids!” Grandma for the longest time didn’t want her grandkids on the interwebs.
Now they have softened up about it. But it drove me crazy when they’d sit around and swap horror stories they heard. People just like to accentuate the negative.
I didn’t have one until Saturday. The change was long overdue.
I have a smartphone, had it for several years, and am seriously considering going back to a dumb phone.
Having the internet and whatever was fun at first, but I honestly don’t have much real use for it. A year or so ago I switched to the lowest data plan T-Mobile offered (200MB/mo), and I don’t even come close to using that. I go several months without using any data at all. I don’t use it for music or GPS or anything else like that (I have an iPod which is a much better music player than my phone, and a GPS already built into my car).
I do like the device itself, if only because I like Swype for texting, which I do a fair amount of, so I would just drop the data altogether, but it’s only costing me an extra $5 a month.
Well, what did you get?
I’d been managing with a dumb phone and an iPod Touch, but I broke down and bought an iPhone this week. The second replacement battery on the 7 year old flip phone I was using died last month and my iPod Touch (sort of smart thingie) can’t be updated any further. The new vehicle I bought a couple of weeks ago tipped the balance since I passed on the expensive navigation system, a smartphone can do pretty much the same thing.
This.
I don’t think of it as a phone at all. I think of it as a portable internet portal and personal digital assistant.
I have two smart phones, one provided by work, and one for myself. I was required to carry the work smart phone, and I got the one for myself so I would have one when I retire and so that I could run the UP app. My other favorite apps are maps and GPS-based navigation, because apparently I have a crappy sense of direction even in the city in which I have lived for 33 years.
My partner has a simple phone, and he can’t even work that very well, He can make and answer calls, but he will not learn how to get his own voicemail or text messages (he doesn’t want to text, but sometimes his customers text him).
On the other hand, he can find his way anywhere and never gets lost or makes a wrong turn. He also has good parking karma. So it’s a tradeoff. We really are a complementary pair.
Roddy
I don’t have one, and I can’t wait to GET A JOB and hopefully be able to afford one. I’m jealous of the rest of the world who has a smart phone, and I feel sort of sad to have my ancient flip phone.
I will probably get a smart phone soon, but haven’t made the switch out of pure laziness. I will soon enough. I don’t have an mp3 player, either; I imagine I’ll just take a long weekend to transition and train myself.
Is she talking about the 3.5 or 5.25 inch floppies? If she’s remembering the latter…that’s pretty bad…
I can get with many of the reasons people don’t need certain tech in this thread, but some stuff rightfully needed to die.
Edit: I’d be curious to know what Skald is glad to see go, on this same subject. 
I have a clamshell, not a smart phone. I have a laptop, not a tablet. I just don’t feel the need to be tethered when I’m out in the world. My cell phone bill is about 25.00/month. If I could find a cheap smart phone with a comparable priced plan I’d change but until then I have no incentive to change.
Again, without a smartphone I can’t judge much, but if I see a phone like this it makes me think that person is a dinosaur, not so much if it’s this kind. Each time I upgrade, the former seems to get rarer and rarer.
I haven’t, but I also don’t own a regular cell phone. I may be getting out regularly now, but I’m still not away often enough to justify the expense. I’m actually planning on getting one of those free phones, which should be enough for emergencies.
But that doesn’t mean I don’t plan on getting one–I just won’t be using it as a phone, so I don’t count that.
Cool idea! Why not start a thread?