A lot of friends and one daughter has these.
I just can't justify to myself $60 to $80/month in service fees just so I can do Facebook 24/7.
Honestly I can't think of anything I do on the internet that can't wait until the end of the day. Sometimes when we are in a remote location with no internet I, gasp, go the whole week without it. Somehow I make it through the week. I know it's hard to believe.
In fact, I'm beginning to wonder why I carry the stupid phone in the first place. I do occasionally use it to communicate with my wife when I'm on the road but other than that it's mostly a waste of electrons.
When I have internet in a hotel room then we instant message; it's easier than the what did you say? back and forth.
One justification a friend gave me was he can check his e-mail when waiting to board an airplane. Most of my e-mail is junk. I can read a book or magazine almost for free.
The cellphone is kind of necessary because I don't want to call long distance on the room phone and get a huge bill.
I carried a cellphone for years, but concluded that I not only DIDN'T NEED one (I used it for about two calls a year), I didn't see the logic in paying for it every month. So I s-canned it last year, and I don't miss it one bit.
Loyal
Yeah, it's a social networking thing for a lot of people, especially younger people, and they seem to go way overboard. But I like getting and sending pictures from friends and relatives in real time. When my sister sends a picture from a restaurant in Oregon with her kids and some mutual friends, right then, I just think that's pretty cool...
Sample
I sent this to my sister to let her know I arrived at LAX safe and sound, and to pick me up at the airport.
Just having a little fun...
I am actually smartphone shopping on-line right now.
I'm thinking the Droid 3...I tried the iPhone when it came to Verizon, but had a hard time texting while driving w/o the physical keyboard 😉
Seriously though, as an extremely busy small business owner, I don't think I could live w/o a smartphone. I read/reply to emails all day long...while in the field. Very handy, for me at least. It's almost like having a computer in my pocket (and camera, gps, mp3 player, compass, bubble level, calendar, stock ticker, flashlight, and yes, even a phone).
Aside from the business end, Droid has even made the iPod obsolete. Now I just stream music from youtube (or Pandora, or whatever) through the Bose system...real time...awesome for parties.
I love the Droid 3 and am tempted to get it myself. But the one thing that is holding me back is the lack of 4G and there's no upgrade path for it. So you have to be happy with 3G and willing to stay with it for 2 years when your contract expires and you can get a new phone.
I love my Droid 1 and with recent updates from http://peteralfonso.com, it runs smooth as butter, making it even harder to give it up for a new phone. But I do want to have a phone that has 4G capability eventually.
I definitely agree on the droid - best money I ever spent on a phone.
I use mine mostly for emails and listening to Pandora in the car. For surveying I have a tide app, a UTC time app, a .dwg viewer app and I use a GPS hiking program to collect track and waypoint info when I recon a site.
The hiking program alone makes it invaluable, as I can take a pic of a monument which is tied as an attribute to the location of the mon. And since everything is stored as a .kml or .gpx file, it's very easy to import into CAD.
In this economy, pricing is SO competitive, I'm left to sell service. I funnel my communication with clients to email (that didn't take ANY effort). My android based phone polls my account every 15 minutes.
When I can answer a question or give an update, almost immediately, in the field or not, they appreciate it. In today's world people are used to getting the brush off, what with voicemail and all. My quick response sets me apart.
I heart me some smartphone.
Rick
I carry two of them, an iPhone (personal use, probably could do without) and a Blackberry (company issued). We are not so busy right now so it doesn't get a lot of use but when we are busy it is priceless. I can email files to crews and they can bluetooth said file to data collector. I can attach small files (such as a txt file) to a text and send it to them. They can take pictures of things in the field and send them to me instantly. There are so many things you can do with them.
I have the Samsung Galaxy S (Android), and it does everything you could ask a phone to do.
I find the device distracting, I usually ignore it. I have my hands full of equipment hiking over rough slash covered ground; I am not responding to the device. I'll check it when convenient in case it was my wife or supervisor.
Yeah there's a big newstory here how Jerry Brown wants to take away our cellphones.
I say, take it, wouldn't hurt my feelings. The newspapers keep trying to say we are hanging on to our phones (don't want to turn them in). That doesn't apply to anyone I know. It's mostly middle and upper management that are trying to keep the electronic tether on us.
They did reduce my plan minutes so it is supposed to be for emergencies.
The way the game works in government is the Governor comes out with some Executive Order on one thing or other (hiring freezes are common) to make a big splash in the media. Then all the Departments quietly apply for exemptions most of which are mostly approved. Then the media gets wind of all the exemptions so they write a big hit piece which embarrasses the Governor so he "cracks" down. It's childish silliness which is used to avoid making difficult and rational decisions like which jobs will we backfill when someone retires. The freeze just automatically (but stupidly) takes care of that.
I have the droid 2...i love it.
I can send emails, look at drawings, play weatherman, get directions, take pictures, and of course play angry birds!
> I just can't justify to myself $60 to $80/month in service fees just so I can do Facebook 24/7.
Service fees on my carrier (Credo Mobile) are about $30/month for data plan. Still, I just can't justify another 30 bucks a month for what would be mostly a toy. I understand that others have business arrangements that make web access desirable or necessary, but for my work style the less connected I am the fewer distractions I have in the field. I do carry a cell phone, but I don't give out my number to very many clients.
My wife wanted a data plan badly enough that about a year ago I finally agreed. She posts to Facebook and occasionally checks out other websites, but that's about it. Hardly worth $30/month in my opinion, but it keeps her happy.
Knowing your position on a quad map can be useful surveying. I have set up a layer on goggle maps that shows all of the ngs benchmarks and links to the data sheets. It's more than a toy if you leverage it. Jrl
I guess my smartphone is the smartest...
it has an OFF button.
:party:
Thanks for the link Wendell,
Im trying to research modification to my Moto Droid 2. Im tired of some of the bloatware and hang ups and think its time to dabble in the aftermarket modifications.
Dave,
Smart phones are not for everyone just as coffee is not for everyone. Some like it, some hate it, and some can't live without it. Sounds like you are in no need of anything droid anytime soon. I personally love mine and wont go back. Luckily for me and my wife a 2 for 1 droid offer came along and it only raised our monthly plan 10 bucks. I don't game on it and I may not use it to its fullest capabilities but what I do use it for I consider priceless. Traffic, Instant web queries, email, calendar, shopping price comparisons and just the best phone that I've ever used.;-)
the last time I upgraded my blackberry the 'kid' at the store had fun at my expense. "I've never seen one of these still working!" hahaha Now this time I upgraded to droid. I went with the HTC Evo 4G and it's only $10/month extra for the data stream. the phone was $100 from sprint but a free upgrade (go figure) at radio shack. I did the radio shack upgrade and I'm loving the new phone.
It's bigger than I'd prefer but it sure is powerful!!
If all you're doing is facebook and making calls, it's a waste of money.
Between time management, field email access, rolodex and GPS navigation, I have no problem justifying $100/mo. and know that I'm coming out way ahead. The increase in efficiency is unbeatable.
I sure do rely heavily on mine to stay connected anywhere and everywhere for work....
It is hard to imagine being without it.
Droid X in the left pocket....iPhone in the right.
