You misunderstood my post. I tried to argue that the features of a smartphone will generate bad habits akin to addiction. It is this addiction that weakens character IMO; since I value character, this is the reason smartphones are not worth the money. I guess you dont understand my argument and assume I think smart phones are bad devices. Technology is not inherently good or bad but it can be misused. If you like your smartphone then by all means continue to use it.
I'm not addicted to mine at all, I just needed a pda/calendar and a smartphone is about the only place to get it now, the pda market is pretty much dead. I'm not saying you think smartphones are bad in general, I'm saying your assumptions that they are more fragile than dumb phones is not valid.
I didn't read all 7 pages of this but I wanted to add my two cents. I carry a Blackberry Curve daily and it's hard to imagine life without it. It's instant gratification as far as digital needs go.
Being a somewhat EDC minimalist my smartphone combines several things that used to be in my go bag phone, gps, compass, camera, fm radio etc. That said the terrible battery life renders it useless more often then not, sigh.
i have a samsung vibrant and i have to charge it everyday and sometimes more if i am doing stuff. i used to have a blackberry and the only positive i found with that was great battery life. with smartphone their battery life sucks but theres more stuff you can do with it. basically its a mini computer at the palm of your hand Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk
Not sure if this has been mentioned, but someone else posted this in another thread: http://www.sonimtech.com/ I'm absolutely brutal on my cell phones. So far this week, I've dropped my current phone half a dozen times to have bits and pieces flying across the area. This is what killed my G1. If I can get the money for a Sonim phone, I'm going that route.
I was wanting that new Sanyo Eneloop Stick but it hasn't made it into the US yet and is close to $40 to get from japan. It would fit perfect in one of those Maxpedition EDC Pocket Organizers. But saw a someone mention on CPF http://www.amazon.com/Tekkeon-TekCharge-Mobile-Battery-Charger/dp/B0014KLX9C/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_2 and being 5x cheaper I might just get a couple.
Monochrome: smart phone in a case is as durable as a phone with no other features. And "business men don't use smart phones"?!?!?! Find a CEO/CFO/major businessman that doesn't depend on the quick access to email, calendar connectivity etc of a smart phone. I'll also add that all smart phones have voice dialing, so your example is irrelevant. Chocula: my dad was an alcoholic. Therefore everyone who drinks alcohol is one too. If only all the "people my age" (how old are you again?) valued character enough enough to realize how evil [thing that Chocula misused, which therefore means everyone misuses] is. I weep that I don't have the character to resist the sirens call of something you apparently couldn't handle. I love people who make moral judgments of others based on the projection of their own failings...
To the OP, the point of a cell phone is to connect you with people while on the go. A smart phone does that as well as any phone. It also sends and receives emails and text, give gps guided directions, holds several rolodex's worth of contacts, allows you to carry around not only your calendar but the calendar of a spouse/child/every co-worker on your business server, take pictures (I do building maintenance and being able to email a pic of a failing part to my boss instead of dragging him through the filthy and difficult to reach places things like that tend to be in is priceless), take notes during meetings or when in the field, google fixes for malfunctioning equipment/look up error codes/download obscure manuals for long since discontinued equipment, use it as a bubble level etc etc etc. That says nothing of being able to read hundreds of thousands of free books, listen to live on demand streaming radio tailored to your exact desires, watch videos, play games and on and on and on. Think of everything you use your phone/computer/calendar/address book/gps and probably a few other gadgets for: a smart phone is as good if not better at all of it than the original device with the exception of the computer. But I can't slip a powerful computer into my pocket. Oh wait, I bought an Evo, so yes I can...
Smartphones are totally worth it. I don't know what I would do without my iPhone. I try not to rely on technology too much, but with all this information at my figer tips, it's quite difficult to put my phone down... For example, almost all of my posts on this forum have been made from my phone using an application called "tapatalk".
cant live without my iphone i even have the repair manual for my car on it. The uses for a smartphone are countless, when you have one you realize that you get so use to it that you CAN't leave the house without it.
I eventually dumped mine for two reasons: 1) Smart phone isn't rugged enough for my purposes (heck, most cell phones are rugged enough for me...) 2) The extra fee for data plans wasn't worth it.
1) Smart phone isn't rugged enough for my purposes (heck, most cell phones are rugged enough for me...) Wait now, the iphone is not all smartphones, just because its not rugged doesn't mean others are also not. Smartphones by reputable manufacturers are plenty ruggeded. Mine has passed the toddler test many times.
Your "purposes"? You mentioned that you dropped your phone 1/2 a dozen times already this week. Maybe you just need to be less clumsy? I don't think you can blame the device for that. My pick-up truck is pretty rugged, but if I keep driving it into telephone poles it's not going to hold up too well...so I don't.
I need something like this: http://www.sonimtech.com Nearly every smart phone I had seen up until that link is not rugged enough for me.
"Dropping" isn't my own fault in terms of clumsiness solely. Yes, some are from my own lack of grace. But, when it's bumped by someone else, falls out of a pack, pocket, vehicle, etc. it's not so much my fault. Also, I am tough on phones because of physical activities such as cycling, running, hunting, hiking, remodeling, etc. The last few phones I have don't stand up to moisture very well. I'm not talking rain, etc. I'm talking sweat, steam, etc. Some of us do far more than just sit on our asses and get fat and lazy. Catch my drift?
No, sounds like clumsiness and poor planning. I snowshoe and xc ski all winter, have never damaged a phone. I run with my phone as a MP3, never have harmed it. Everyone I do these things with have phone on them, same story. So you are either exaggerating or the most unlucky person ever. I am guessing it is the former, if it makes you feel better.
I don't just sit and get lazy. Both my smartphones have been dropped, droid has a big scratch on the corner from a sidewalk. The car dock has fallen off the window and kicked the phone out on the floor when off roading. Its been in my pocked with me laying on it under my truck changing the transmission fluid. Its been in a bag on the handlebar of my mountain bike. Again don't assume all smartphones are as fragile as the worst, albeit most popular model. Both my smartphones have outlasted two non smartphones. I had kyopcera that I kept having to replace the front because it was getting bumped and cracked all the time and a samsung flip phone whose hinge broke. Then there was the LG dump phone whose battery vented.
