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Could you live without a smartphone?

mammador

mammador

Platinum Member
If you have one, could you live without it?

for me, nope. haha.... Public wifi is like it's from God himself....good for checking out Facebook or football results on the go...
 
Yes. I left my job last August and turned in my company smartphone and got a personal Samsung S4 to replace it. I work from home and don't use it nearly enough to justify it at this point, but I imagine that if I decide to work from an office again, it will be very useful.
 
I don't think most people use their smartphone for anything but playing games, social media, You Tube and online browsing. It's a powerful tool but most people don't utilize it.

Its like YouTube. There are so many wonderful videos that someone could use to better their life. Instead most people would rather watch let's play and prank videos.
 
I use mine principally as a mobile communication device with a calendar and note taking capability, as well as to aid me in route finding, and in-transit entertainment.

Excepting a quiz app, I have no games installed, but I do watch the occasional youtube video from my few subscriptions.

I also use it as a laptop replacement, because I hate laptops with a passionate fury, and the phone does everything I need to do for private use.
 
Glancing through my apps to see what I use it for:

1. Communication (calling, texting, emailing, and social media)
2. Banking (tracking, banking, credit card, Paypal, Square)
3. Music & audio (Spotify, Downcast podcasts, TED talks, Shazam for ID'ing music)
4. Child entertainment (games & Netflix for long car rides & stuff, interactive books, etc.)
5. Smarthome & security (Wink home automation & Foscam webcam)
6. 2-factor authentication to a bunch of websites for security (Google Authentication app)
7. Work stuff (VPN, RDP, emergency screenshare)
8. Traffic (GPS & Traffic View for traffic cams)
9. Looking stuff up with Google when I have a question
10. Photo camera & video camera (it's my primary camera)
11. Jotting down notes (Evernote)
12. Shopping (Amazon, Craigslist, eBay, grocery store delivery, Red Laser for finding stuff IRL cheaper online)
13. Fitness tracking (hopefully will get more into that with a FitBit-esqe device soon)
14. Entertainment when I'm bored or waiting in line somewhere (games, Youtube, Vimeo)
15. Alarms & scheduling (calendar, morning alarm to wakeup, eating alarm for bodybuilding meals)

Pretty much indispensable...puts everything in one place. I carry a wallet, phone, and keys. With Apple's upcoming payment system & a wallet case for my driver's license, and Viper's SmartStart system for the car (& Wink's home automation system for the front door lock), I could probably get away with just carrying my phone only.
 
I could live without a house too, but what's the point? To impress some uptight hipster with a hatred for technology?
 
_Rick_ said:
I also use it as a laptop replacement, because I hate laptops with a passionate fury, and the phone does everything I need to do for private use.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I vacillate between technologies. I use my phone more than anything these days, and I expect my computers to have the same level of performance, which is why I switched my primary computer to a Chromebook...basically just a more web-focused version of my smartphone. If I need to do any heavy-lifting (which mainly means video editing), we have a family workstation in the kitchen.

Same thing with the HTPC...I like gaming & having the flexibility that an HTPC offers, but I switched out my entire network to Roku 3's & haven't looked back. The only thing I'd like to add at some point is maybe a Raspberry Pi with some retro emulators for the old games we like to play, but I haven't gotten around to setting that up yet.

So overall, it's a fairly effortless system...Apple manages my phone, Google manages my laptop, Roku manages my TV, and we have a desktop (Mac, with Windows in a VM) in the kitchen for major stuff. I don't really ever have to do IT-related stuff at home anymore. I recently started adding a smarthome system (Wink), which is also auto-managed (so far I have some remotes, lights, and a smoke alarm, but you can add garage door openers, door locks, thermostats, etc.) & doesn't require any real kind of geekery to add devices or manage.

Lots more free time (to nef) these days! :thumbsup:
 
I would find it hard to live without Google Now. It tells me how to get everywhere and alerts me of traffic issues constantly. It's like my own R2-D2.
 
yes I could

TBH the only reason I got on in the first place is because VZW was gonna raise the price on the media phones to be the same cost because they "could" use data

a dumb phone plan would cost me the same amount of money as my locked in old as junk company discount smart phone
 
I never had a smartphone until now but it may as well be a dumbphone because I don't have data service on it and i use prepaid minutes.

the phone is also from 2011.

i really have no need for one. sure it might come in handy once in awhile. the biggest issue is cost. i'm not paying ridiculously high fees for something i'd barely use.
 
yes but I don't want to. Well worth the extra $30/mo. Even though I work at home, it's invaluable when I'm out as I can look things up on the fly. Also I typically hate having non-built-in Navigation for a car, but a smartphone is so much quicker for input/search and more updated than the built-in even though I have new discs every year. Of course the other thing is the bluetooth music streamed to the car.
 
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I can, I practically am. I carry 2 of them but barely use them for anything besides talking and texting. Give me a socially acceptable phone that don't do nothing besides talking and texting and the battery lasts a week, and I will trade you anything for that
 
Well yeah, absolutely. I would probably miss most the ability to read the news or e-books while I have a smoke, though.
 
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