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When I use the phone I just need numbers to dial.
When I use Internet I use it in the computer.
Smartphones are more expensive than a laptop and have less processing and storage capabilities.
If it is about games, I have my PC games and a Wii.
I have not found a single game or app that fascinates me.
So I have not found a good reason to have a smartphone, other than being another brick on the wall and being trendy.
What do you think?
I think you've already answered your own question.
Your reasons seem unique to you and you've answered your question.
The reason I'm considering is the ability to keep google in my pocket, the Internet has ruined human memory
I agree with the OP. Why the hell should AR81 have a smart phone? He clearly doesn't deserve one.
Fascist
Agree with the google angle. I miss the time wrecking my head over some name I can't produce to have it pop up unexpectidly though.
Eh, call me addicted or something, but nowadays a good part of my time I spend using my iPhone. Even at home. The only thing I really use a PC for any longer is these forums where typing on a keyboard is just that much easier. Overhere we just went down to one PC (laptop) for both Ronald and I, with a very clear possibility that at one point even that may go/not be replaced. I would miss my PC less I think than my smartphone.
I think you should own a smartphoneQuote:
Originally Posted by ar81
A cheap and/or second-hand android smartphone is cheaper than a laptop, far far more mobile, has much better battery life, wastes fewer resources. It gives constant access to the internet, GPS and map-services, can be used to read e-books on the go, is great for interfacing with centralised planning tools (calendar, to-do-list, etc) and note-gathering tools, can be used to communicate for cheap if not free via the internet, can fulfill most people's everyday camera needs. Wasting money on a feature-phone is a weird bet unless you have a particular need for a feature-phone (eg. due to work-environment, blindness, desire to not be robbed, desire to be extra cool, etc) because the opportunity-cost of buying a feature-phone these days, in any modern society, is a little too high for most people.
If you're worried about becoming trendy just buy the untrendiest smartphone you can find. If you're worried about power-bricks taking over your home, give away one of your other gadgets. You can undoubtedly find at least one electronic item in your home that is less useful than a modern smartphone.
Of course, if the issue is one of finance and availability (of either smartphones or good mobile data plans) then that's another matter entirely.
They're really, really not. Every single one of those applies for me as well, and I'm certainly not the only one. I can maybe see myself using a tablet since I don't particularly care for laptops but smartphones? There is no function that appeals to me that I don't get more comfortably some other way.Quote:
Originally Posted by RandBlade
heh. I agree with Fuzzy.
Price is my biggest issue, for the difference between the price of a smartphone and dumbphone, and the increased monthly costs, I'm happier to support true elistest gaming on real gaming consoles. For me (time wise), its desktop > netbook > 3DS > PSP > Gameboy Color > ipad.
Maybe I'd use the ipad more often if I didn't have all the superior items I spent more time with, or maybe I'd use it more if I could pry it out of my 3 year old's hands, but whatever. I've had a $20 credit sitting in my apple account for damn near a year so far and have had no motivation to spend it.
I think AR81 just....out-SMARTed himself...
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAH.
I have always been amused by the resemblance :mad:Quote:
Originally Posted by LittleFuzzy
Interesting. I just got my first smartphone last week and I don't think AR81/Fuzzy/etc. are entirely wrong. I bought it because the wife was getting one, and if you're already paying for a data plan it's kinda silly not to get a smartphone. I would say that it's a fun and expensive toy, but I honestly haven't been using it all that much. I find text input painful (even with pretty good predictive texting), which means that I'm WAY more productive on a laptop, even for non-work activities.
That being said, it's incredibly useful for two major things. The first is having email access wherever you are; I have often found that frustrating with dumbphones. The second is the GPS/maps functionality, which shouldn't be overlooked. Otherwise, it's largely a pretty (okay, VERY pretty) toy.
My wife has really gotten into the app thing, but most of what I've seen her use is irrelevant for my life. For me, I'll likely just use it for enhanced communication/connectivity on the go, but not for much else.
Oh, there are some other benefits - most of our recipes are electronic (either online or in data files), and keeping your phone near the kitchen is way easier than a laptop. It's somewhat easier to carry around the house to read news (though for e-reading IMO e-ink displays are WAY better than anything else). Mostly, though, it just sits around doing nothing when I'm near a real computer.
And then you find out about the hotspot function. Or how with one touch at your screen you can check your bank balance, or your last credit card transactions. Or how you will never have to bother about printing a boarding card again. Or how when you're bored you can get online and chat with people. Listen to an audiobook, or read an e-book, or a magazine or newspaper. The list goes on and on and on. I don't know exactly what your American plans cost, but for me the deal about a year ago was an iPhone 4, 300 minutes, and 1 GB (both more than enough even if you use voip on your smartphone which gives you incredible rates on international calls - calls to the US are ALWAYS free of charge for me these days) I pay €37,50 a month, which doesn't exactly strike me as something only attainable for rich people. And then I know that people pay less than that for the much fancier phones of today.Quote:
Originally Posted by wiggin
P.S. This post could easily have been twice as long and three times more enthousiastic. All the other gadgets that supposedly fullfill the functions of a smartphone are at risk of disappearing if they are competing with a topnotch smartphone I am certain. Because for all my enthousiasm I still haven't made the jump to that segment.
P.P.S.S. with some programs my iPhone will even alert me if messages have been delivered to my PC. Then I can choose if I want to read them on my phone or on my PC. I also have the possiblity of getting on my phone in the middle of nowhere and do things on my PC back home.
Smart phones are ace and people are only just figuring out the the possibilites of the technology. I used mine the other day to heal a lamb.
:D I have my doubt about the veracity of that second claim.Quote:
Originally Posted by Steely Glint
There's an app.
Having the internet with you wherever you are becomes very addictive. I use it more for the internet than for actual phone calls quite often. Yes you can use the internet on a PC, but then again you can make phone calls from a Landline phone. You might as well ask why have a mobile in the first place?
See, I know about the hotspot function but I don't really need it for my life (and I certainly don't have enough data on my plan to use it frequently). My bank app is slow as hell, and I honestly don't need to check transactionsQuote:
Originally Posted by Hazir
more than once a month (meaning I can do it from the comfort of home/laptop, and far faster). I've seen the boarding pass apps (my wife flies for work a few times a month) and I'm not impressed; they still have a long ways to go (and I don't print boarding passes anyways, that's what the kiosks at the airport are for). I hate the text input, so I'm not going to use it for idle chatter. Audiobooks/ebooks/magazines/newspapers are great, agree, but they eat power and I've already got compact versions of books/periodicals (and my wife has a kindle which is far superior).
My point isn't that smartphones are useless; I recognize my opinions are not universal, and I think I will find my smartphone quite useful. I just think that other options are far superior when it comes to actually using them (I feel the same way about tablets, though even more so). I will use my smartphone when I need to (traveling, etc.) but otherwise it will always be a second tier device behind a laptop.
My wife feels differently; instead of buying her a new laptop, she wants a Surface to watch TV and will keep her iPhone 5 for connectivity. I just use my computer for far more text input/real work than she does.
There are some excellent smartphone-adapted e-books and apps dealing with veterinary medicineQuote:
Originally Posted by Hazir
I had an interesting experience the other day, I was shopping for a Laptop but had misplaced my Credit Card - had enough on the Debit Card though to buy it. I'd picked a model already so went into Manchester to pick it up but while in the shop saw a better but more expensive model. Spur of the moment decided to get it. Got to the checkout and then realised there probably wasn't enough cash in my account. While the shop assistant was processing it, I went on my bank app checked the balance (not enough cash) checked the Savings Account and transferred funds from my Savings to my Current Account.
By the time my card transaction was processed there was now enough funds and it all went through smoothly. Had it not been for my bank app I couldn't have bought it that day.
Yeah? Well where are the fucking lasers then, huh? :mad:Quote:
Originally Posted by Steely Glint
Why would you go to a kiosk to get a boarding card if you can have it delivered to your phone? I check in on my phone, have the boarding card sent to my phone and when at the airport I walk straight to passport controls/security, showing my phone whenever a boarding card is required. As for input; I don't know what phone you are using but have you ever tried swipe on a samsung phone? It sort of solves the problem with the virtual keyboard. Smartphones also are getting better at voice recognition. I have played around with that a bit, and even my cheapo Samsung can translate my spoken TURKISH into written messages, which is a miracle as I have never learned how to pronounce a proper 'r'.Quote:
Originally Posted by wiggin
I am only inches away from thinking that a Samsung Galaxy Note II is the one thing to replace all other internet tools.
Swype, swiftkey and the latest version of the android keyboard all make writing a lot quicker esp if you don't use non-standard words.
If someone gave me a Padfone 2 + padfone station for free I'd be very happy :o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY-I2wf1xK8
Yeah, that is sweet too. Only problem for me is that i need it to be available in Turkey or the GSM fucntionality is lost for me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Aimless
What can one expect from a Norwegian like you?Quote:
Originally Posted by Aimless
Finns and Norwegians make fun of the Svedes, the Svedes make fun of the Finns and the Danes.Quote:
Originally Posted by LittleFuzzy
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hazir
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aimless
Swype is okay, I do like predictive text and the like. It's still way slower than typing. I have yet to see a text input method that is anywhere near the speed of a plain ol' keyboard. Not too useful for Hebrew yet, though there are some okay tools for Hebrew typing as well. I use plenty of non-standard words, though, especially in my technical correspondence. Frankly not worth it unless you need to quick text someone on the run. For any real emails (or other text input), it's always better to use a real computer.