Why bother with a smartphone?

[Opeqa16x]

Seriously, I don't understand all of the rage with smartphones.

They can easily cost several hundreds of dollars and their data plans are absolutely ridiculous no matter what kind of plan you choose it will always be expensive. Is it really worth it or are they mostly hype and less substance?

 

[CTA]

text
email
gps (map and place to stop by)
weather

i only found them so useful... but i never like facebook or other social networks as other...


btw... yes date plan is very expensive... :\

 

[BrianHanna]

There is no need for a smartphone unless you are required by business to be prepared at any moment to do just about anything your boss could need.

As for people who buy them to use facebook, you have to be pretty vain or desperate to pay upwards of 50 dollars or more a month to update your feed.

Other than that, some people can afford it, and just like how there are nuts who like to always have the best PC, there are people who want the best Phone possible all the time.

 

[Jake2001]

The bill for my smartphone ain't much different than the one from my regular phone...

Might as well ask why we have nice computers...

Because we can.

 

[Prolab]

There is no need for a smartphone unless you are required by business to be prepared at any moment to do just about anything your boss could need.

As for people who buy them to use facebook, you have to be pretty vain or desperate to pay upwards of 50 dollars or more a month to update your feed.

Other than that, some people can afford it, and just like how there are nuts who like to always have the best PC, there are people who want the best Phone possible all the time.

Might be for you. Not for someone else. I use my smartphone for everything. GPS, video, music, tethering, looking up at things/places/business, text, email, etc. Its an all in one device for me (when im not in my computer) to get what i need. When and where i need it.

I remember when i used the treo 650 when it first came out and everyone else was wondering what are smartphones. Now, they're all over the place.

 

[Synth]

Might be for you. Not for someone else. I use my smartphone for everything. GPS, video, music, tethering, looking up at things/places/business, text, email, etc. Its an all in one device for me (when im not in my computer) to get what i need. When and where i need it.

I remember when i used the treo 650 when it first came out and everyone else was wondering what are smartphones. Now, they're all over the place.

Likewise. I also use it to manage one of my websites (my SquareSpace one), since I can post a journal entry, manage member comments and monitor statistics from my iPhone.

I use my phone more than my PCs - and that's without all the social networking stuff.

 

[Arinoth]

People are hitting the nail on the head on why use a smartphone.

Before the start of this summer i had a standard pay per minute cell phone. Now using a smart phone i see is very large benefits, being able to respond to emails, use the gps, some of the applications are helpful (i'd like to know if its going to rain), etc and its why im buying my own this fall. Notice as well i mention nothing about the social networking as i'm not into that crap. The most social networking i use on a regular basis is MSN and that im not on religiously.

 

[bojangles]

People are hitting the nail on the head on why use a smartphone.

Before the start of this summer i had a standard pay per minute cell phone. Now using a smart phone i see is very large benefits, being able to respond to emails, use the gps, some of the applications are helpful (i'd like to know if its going to rain), etc and its why im buying my own this fall. Notice as well i mention nothing about the social networking as i'm not into that crap. The most social networking i use on a regular basis is MSN and that im not on religiously.

Let me guess: Blackberry social networking is terrible?

By the way, have you use the Torch yet?

 

[omgwtf]

I have a smarthphone but I use it only to text and call :haha: I did not pay for it so it's all good.

 

[Empty_Quarter]

I have a smartphone (iphone) and use it for many reason, social networking not included.

• Phone (duh :bleh
• Lots of texts, and easier to text with a full keyboard (physical or touch)
• internet, never know when you need to find out something on the go!
• email, part of internet bit
• GPS, never get lost
• its an mp3 player too!
• apps of all sorts are a bonus (info, online banking, news, weather, etc...)
• functions as my alarm clock (different times for different days, absolutely LOVE this feature)
• Syncs automatically with my Google contact list and calendar
• In the case of blackberries, BBM, very... erm... nifty

I dont exactly check facebook whatsoever, but if i do get a notification, it updates me nonetheless, so im losing nothing.

All this means to me is convenience, I don't have to be at a computer to perform petty tasks like checking for an email I've been expecting or finding the location/phone number of a store of some sort. I appreciate smartphones for that.

A lot i know, only have a smartphone to text and make calls (texting mostly really..) and they find the usability of full keyboards are very good for that. I'm surprised to see so many pay for data plans and almost never use it, at least im happy to say i take full advantage of my data plan.

The plans used to cost a lot, but its getting better. A plan i used to get a year ago which costed me $90-100 now costs me $60 and I'm getting more out of it, so its slowly dropping.