Anyone else sort of over the SmartPhone thing?

[Arkaign]

The recent iPhone5 and other phone threads got me thinking :

I'm sure many here like myself have had a huge variety of cell phones over the years, and it was always kind of cool to see new features, better battery life, integration with camera/camcorder features, and so on.

I never thought too much of the Blackberry and Palm products, they always felt a bit clunky to me, even when they were the only game in town and state of the art for their time.

When iPhone and Android phones came along, I knew immediately that this was basically how they were supposed to be the whole time. Good response, great screens, much more flexible and supported with apps, and for the first time handheld phone internet use was truly usable with higher resolution and decent compatibility with web content, even for sites that weren't set for a mobile version.

So I've gone through several models of the iPhone (last one was a 4S from work), and several Androids (last was a Galaxy S3 that I recently sold for about what I paid). I guess I don't have too many complaints, surely nothing original (battery life on some of the androids, iTunes sucking on Windows, stupid pricing for plans from phone companies, etc).

But you know what? I never did become one of those phone zombies I'm sure you've all seen out there. The ones constantly face down at their smartphone, even mid-dinner or mid-conversation with others, or at a traffic light doing whatever they're doing with them (seems rarely to be using them as a device for making actual calls, lol). I played with the apps, I took some pictures and videos, I bluetoothed it with my car, but it never felt essential to me, and certainly not worth the expense. About the only thing I really came to really like about them was the instant mobile email, particularly the ability to control several work accounts, and be able to pop off a quick reply to a pressing issue quickly.

Most of the features feel like a huge compromise anyway. Kind of neat to have, but basically it's just weaker stuff. I have a decent DSLR (EOS 5D/MK3), I have an old iPod touch, I have Navi in my car, I have a respectable home theatre setup, and a decent PC setup for gaming/neffing/etc. So pictures/video/music/navigation/movies/gaming, and even non-email internet use are pretty much meaningless to me in phone form.

So anyway, I'm done caring about fancy new phone models. I've downgraded to a free Galaxy Prevail (basic small android, a little smaller than an i4S), and I've installed literally nothing but my email config on it. I dumped my ludicrously overpriced Sprint everything unlimited data etc plan and gone with Boost, which after a little while will drop to $35/mo total, no fees/taxes/BS to worry over. I don't miss the other stuff at all, not even a tiny bit.

I guess I will be interested in how the $99 and under basically free phone market develops over the next few years (I'd love a phone that was very basic, but had like a 1 week uptime off the charger with moderate usage), but I couldn't possibly care less any more about the trendy expensive smartphones any more. Maybe I'm just getting even more boring in my old age

TLDR : Smartphones overrated/mostly meaningless to you? They are to me.

Note : this is of course just my personal opinion, I know that for lots of folks, these things can be essential if you need more complex apps/etc to work with.

 

[Colt45]

Pretty much. I mostly use my phone for phoning, and sms. Alarm clock. Occasional wifi browsing because I refuse to get up the ass for the privilege of a teeny bit of data.

So reception, hardware buttons, and battery life are most important to me.

I use ancient nokia E series.

 

[Double Trouble]

I'm the same way OP, everyone is going crazy for the latest and greatest phone so the carrier can screw you out of even more money faster (here, use our 4G LTE so you can burn through your measly allowance quicker). I've had a series of smart phones over the years, but ultimately all I need the thing to do is call, text, email and perhaps search for something on the web every few weeks. I'm not going to be in on the latest and greatest cell phone craze, I'm happy with a relatively ancient phone.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Smartphone=personal computer. I can get all my work done on this thing but I'd prefer to do it on a comp. It comes in handy for quick searches and doubles as a gps

 

[Wingznut]

I love my smartphone, and I can't wait to get the next greatest one, this winter.

I'm not a big mobile gamer, I'm not huge into social media (a little FB, no Twitter or anything else), I don't text a lot... Actually, I don't do most of the things my smartphone can do, a lot. But when I want it, it's there.

- Standing in line at the DMV? Surf the AT forums to kill some time.
- At Costco and see a good deal on *whatever*? Hit up the internet and read some reviews, before I purchase it.
- Feel like listening to a podcast in my car? Download whatever interests me at that moment.
- Out with the family and decide to go to dinner and a movie? Check out Yelp and find something new and interesting to eat, maybe even call and make a reservation on the fly. Followed by, checking out movie times and reviews.
-At Home Depot and see some kitchen cabinet handles that I like? Take a picture and send it to my wife to get her opinion.
-Hitting heavy traffic on the way downtown, or don't know how to get there? Open Google Maps and Navigation, and find a good route with less traffic.
-I could go on and on.

My smartphone is my calendar and my phone book. It is my watch and my alarm clock. It hold my lists (shopping, bills to pay, honey do, etc.) Most importantly (to me), it is my 24/7 contact with my family (talk, text, pictures, internet links, etc.)

Sure, there are other ways of doing all that I listed. But there is no one device that can do it all, let alone better.

 

[z1ggy]

They might be annoying to some but they are never going away. The days of laptops and maybe even desktop computers are coming to an end. The mobile devices are just going to get faster and faster and at somepoint, almost every single person will have one. Hell, my 3 year old cousin knows how to use an ipad.

 

[Arkaign]

They might be annoying to some but they are never going away. The days of laptops and maybe even desktop computers are coming to an end. The mobile devices are just going to get faster and faster and at somepoint, almost every single person will have one. Hell, my 3 year old cousin knows how to use an ipad.

True, I know they're not going away, nor would I want them to. I don't find them annoying, but some people can be annoying with them. I make a point not to interrupt someone while they're talking and give them the respect of my attention, phone time can almost always wait.

I do doubt that laptops and desktops are going away anytime soon, at least until the interfaces improve. Certainly smartphones aren't good enough for much meaningful productivity outside of communication, even with excellent voice to text capability.

Tablets are another story, and more robust, but again the input and control is weak compared to even a basic laptop for business use. I think a merging of laptops and tablets, attempted in many failed products, will eventually be the ticket. Something with a tablet format, but with a detachable/remote physical keyboard/mouse and access to all typical desktop software easily.

Ipad w/KB is close, but not quite there yet due to the software not quite being there. Examples can be found in basically any enterprise or business environment. One of my clients is a large litigation firm, and they all use Timeslips for their legal billing and records of time/expenses for each account. Obviously this software is not on iPad. iSlips and Flywire are okay, but not nearly functional enough for their uses.

 

[vi edit]

I'm not over the phones so much as I am shoveling $150+ a month at Verizon/AT&T for the convenience of owning them.

They are certainly interesting gadgets, but damn that's a lot of money. I'm looking to move out stuff over to pre-paid even if it's a step back in access speed and options. But it'll cut that bill almost in half.

 

[BoomerD]

Never had one, never used one.

I need a cell phone to make phone calls. That's about it.

Yes, some are pretty cool...lots of great features and apps, but I don't really need that stuff...and I damned sure don't want to pay the high monthly fees that go along with them.

 

[manimal]

Gps and internet make them essential for me. Yes I dont need much else other than a gps chip, video acceleration, and a big enough screen so I dont throw it across the room.

 

[Anubis]

i have one and like it however i care much less about new phones now then i did in the past. and this is mostly because all of them have gotten good enough to do everything i want, so spec increases to me are meaningless. untill there is some killer new feature/game changer ill just keep on keepin on

 

[bononos]

I love my smartphone, and I can't wait to get the next greatest one, this winter.

I'm not a big mobile gamer, I'm not huge into social media (a little FB, no Twitter or anything else), I don't text a lot... Actually, I don't do most of the things my smartphone can do, a lot. But when I want it, it's there.

- Standing in line at the DMV? Surf the AT forums to kill some time.
- At Costco and see a good deal on *whatever*? Hit up the internet and read some reviews, before I purchase it.
- Feel like listening to a podcast in my car? Download whatever interests me at that moment.
- Out with the family and decide to go to dinner and a movie? Check out Yelp and find something new and interesting to eat, maybe even call and make a reservation on the fly. Followed by, checking out movie times and reviews.
-At Home Depot and see some kitchen cabinet handles that I like? Take a picture and send it to my wife to get her opinion.
-Hitting heavy traffic on the way downtown, or don't know how to get there? Open Google Maps and Navigation, and find a good route with less traffic.
-I could go on and on.

My smartphone is my calendar and my phone book. It is my watch and my alarm clock. It hold my lists (shopping, bills to pay, honey do, etc.) Most importantly (to me), it is my 24/7 contact with my family (talk, text, pictures, internet links, etc.)

Sure, there are other ways of doing all that I listed. But there is no one device that can do it all, let alone better.

Same here, I don't use it for browsing and use the web function minimally mostly for google maps. It replaced the pda (remember that thing?) for notetaking and alarms and the voice recorder is useful for notes. I also use it as an mp3 player for listening to previously downloaded lectures/speeches/news when I have some downtime at the airport or wherever.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

My desktops are so much more powerful than smartphones I can't stand to use them; they're so limited they're more frustrating than useful to me. And I spend so much time in front of a computer that when I can be free from the internet, I enjoy that time.

 

[purbeast0]

They might be annoying to some but they are never going away. The days of laptops and maybe even desktop computers are coming to an end. The mobile devices are just going to get faster and faster and at somepoint, almost every single person will have one. Hell, my 3 year old cousin knows how to use an ipad.

you are insane if you think that.

those tools are necessary to produce the software that you run on your smartphones.

 

[ponyo]

I'm not over the phones so much as I am shoveling $150+ a month at Verizon/AT&T for the convenience of owning them.

They are certainly interesting gadgets, but damn that's a lot of money. I'm looking to move out stuff over to pre-paid even if it's a step back in access speed and options. But it'll cut that bill almost in half.

I hear you. I feel the same way about the postpaid monthly cost. Prepaid is awesome, and I'm going to miss it now I signed up for another 2 years voluntarily jail time. Damn iPhone. But you gotta do whatever to keep the Mrs. happy and if that means iPhone and 2 years of jail, so be it.

 

[Wonderful Pork]

you are insane if you think that.

those tools are necessary to produce the software that you run on your smartphones.

I think desktops certainly and possibly even very high performance laptops will be limited to the folks that need that type of processing power, much like a truck is generally used by folks that need that kind of horsepower and hauling ability.

I have a mac laptop at home, and its really nice, but I don't really do much other than use the browser 90% of the time. I easily get away with using a tablet or smartphone, and other than some minor annoyances (like the inability to download files from the internet) I'd be perfectly fine with surfing + email. For work productivity, its a different story, but honestly I could be OK with a proper Office Suite and bluetooth keyboard & mouse in a pinch. For "real" work, I'd use my workstation with dual monitors, etc, but we're issued laptops anyway, and when I'm working remotely I just have the laptop screen and thats it.

I just went on travel and took my iPad and was able to VPN in for email and it was absolutely fantastic. I did not write any novel length email responses and the iPad was so portable I didn't even notice it was there in my luggage. If I could get away with that even 50% of the time I'd be a happy camper.

 

[crownjules]

I'm done paying $80+ per month for one. I'm moving to one of the $50 for everything plans. Otherwise, yeah they're very handy. I can look up stuff on the web whenever I need. It's a GPS in the car. Games if I'm bored somewhere. And so on.

 

[Ryan]

I don't bury myself in conversations or social media, but I do almost 100% of my banking over my smartphone. I also use it for GPS, Weather (I like to watch the radar screen), streaming music, managing my calendar, and reading news.

 

[1sikbITCH]

I'm not over the phones so much as I am shoveling $150+ a month at Verizon/AT&T for the convenience of owning them.

They are certainly interesting gadgets, but damn that's a lot of money. I'm looking to move out stuff over to pre-paid even if it's a step back in access speed and options. But it'll cut that bill almost in half.

I just did that. My beloved Alias 2 finally died after several years and since I was out of contract I settled on Straight Talk. It's only been two weeks so far but it seems to be working well. I only send or receive an occasional call or text so I won't necessarily notice a problem right away.

It's $45 a month for unlimited everything, but the cheap phone that I bought (LG900G) to get off the ground is limited as far as internet access. You can use Opera Mini on it to read text but it won't play videos. As long as I am comfortable with the service moving forward I will eventually buy a better phone. However I can't see going back to a contract.

 

[lxskllr]

I don't have one, but am interested in getting one. I like the idea of a computer I can carry in my pocket. I don't care about latest/greatest tech. Hackability is more important, so when I do finally get one, that should save me some dough. I probably won't even get a data plan. Just grab wifi where I can.

 

[ponyo]

I think desktops certainly and possibly even very high performance laptops will be limited to the folks that need that type of processing power, much like a truck is generally used by folks that need that kind of horsepower and hauling ability.

I have a mac laptop at home, and its really nice, but I don't really do much other than use the browser 90% of the time. I easily get away with using a tablet or smartphone, and other than some minor annoyances (like the inability to download files from the internet) I'd be perfectly fine with surfing + email. For work productivity, its a different story, but honestly I could be OK with a proper Office Suite and bluetooth keyboard & mouse in a pinch. For "real" work, I'd use my workstation with dual monitors, etc, but we're issued laptops anyway, and when I'm working remotely I just have the laptop screen and thats it.

I just went on travel and took my iPad and was able to VPN in for email and it was absolutely fantastic. I did not write any novel length email responses and the iPad was so portable I didn't even notice it was there in my luggage. If I could get away with that even 50% of the time I'd be a happy camper.

That's the restriction and inability of iOS rather than tablet or smartphone. I can download any files from the internet just fine on my Android devices and open it with a file manager. :whiste: I can even torrent.

 

[BoomerD]

I hear you. I feel the same way about the postpaid monthly cost. Prepaid is awesome, and I'm going to miss it now I signed up for another 2 years voluntarily jail time. Damn iPhone. But you gotta do whatever to keep the Mrs. happy and if that means iPhone and 2 years of jail, so be it.

We threw away our old Motorola flip phones 3 years ago and got rid of the cell phone bill. Our plan at AT&T was about $90/month for both phones...and we rarely used 100 minutes between us. Just didn't make sense.

I've been pushing to get a pre-paid phone and plan for when we're away from the house, and earlier this year, she agreed that it WOULD be handy to have...so we got a cheap Samsung Freeform III and GhettroPCS service. With the phone we picked...we got unlimited calling/texting for $25/month. IMO, for our usage, that's STILL too much, and I'll probably switch to PagePlus Cellular's $80 for 2000 minutes/1 year plan. I need to find a decent used Verizon/CDMA phone...most of them are so over-priced on Craigslist that they MUST be made from solid gold.

 

[wirednuts]

yeah, its pretty crazy how good android is getting. its starting to rival the functionality of a windows desktop...

 

[pelov]

I can't stand the small screen. It's just so damn limiting. Browsing sites is a pain. Reading from it for lengthy periods is a pain. Typing anything lengthy is a pain. The only time I actually use my smartphone for anything "smart" is reading the news while I'm on the throne over WiFi. For everything else I much prefer a laptop

 

[xanis]

I use my iPhone quite a bit now that I spend 2 hours on a train every day. I use it for email/websurfing, news, music, and games. I couldn't imagine NOT having one at this point. I'm not "over" smart phones in general, but I am over having the latest and greatest. I have a 4S and have no desire to get an iPhone 5; I'll be waiting until the next iteration (5S maybe?).