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Why Dumbphones Still Dominate, For Now

Posted by timothy on from the dumbbells-are-everywhere dept.

Velcroman1 writes "Androids are awesome, iPhones impressive ... but dumbphones still dominate. Of the 234 million cell phone users in America last year, a dominating 73 percent own traditional (aka non-smart) devices, according to market researcher comScore. Despite their more popular mindshare, intelligent devices like the Apple iPhone and phones based on Google's Android operating system own barely a quarter of the market."

27 of 618 comments (clear)

  1. Smart people by Kokuyo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Some people are smart enough to realise (and have the restraint) that you don't need to be connected all the time; that it's actually healthier not to be.

    Alas, I'm not one of them.

    1. Re:Smart people by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I have a $320 MSI netbook and a cheap data plan that does a lot more than I could with any smart phone. It only weighs maybe 2 pounds more and I can easily carry it in my satchel.

      So, basically, I could buy a $200 more expensive phone and lose a lot of functionality to gain a small bit of convenience, or I could just keep using the netbook to do remote work when I need it.

      Smartphones are toys, and at their current cost, they're not compelling toys for more people. They either need to increase their functionality to match netbooks and laptops or they need to drop in price to be more commensurate with their actual usefulness before they become widely accepted as the norm.

    2. Re:Smart people by drunkennewfiemidget · · Score: 5, Informative

      It's not a satchel, it's a purse.

    3. Re:Smart people by SpeedyDX · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I switched from a smart phone plan to a "dumb phone" plan because I found it too distracting to be connected all the time. To each their own, however.

      Incidentally, I've found social interactions (particularly lunch, coffee, or interactions that take a while) with people who don't have smart phones to be more pleasant. Not to say anything about inherent social personalities of smart phone and dumb phone users, but dumb phone users simply don't check their phones as much. It's nice to be able to talk to someone at lunch without them constantly checking their email or twitbook each time there's a natural lull in the flow of conversation. It breaks attention and train of thought. Their social facial and body cues are sometimes missing from the conversation, so it makes the other party feel like they're disengaged.

    4. Re:Smart people by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      its a European Shoulder Bag...

    5. Re:Smart people by gstoddart · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Some people are smart enough to realise (and have the restraint) that you don't need to be connected all the time; that it's actually healthier not to be.

      And, as much as I have no desire to be connected all of the time and don't have a smart phone ... cost is also a big factor.

      My wife and I have two land lines, long distance plans, two fairly basic cell phones, digital TV, internet, plus the rental of my wife's PVR. Adding two smart phones to that would take our bill of close to $300 to close to $400 every month.

      I'm just not willing to pay what it costs to have a smart phone. The gouge me enough for all of the other services already.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    6. Re:Smart people by DrgnDancer · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I carried a 10 pound $800 lap top on my vacation to Boston a couple of months ago. I also carried my iPhone. Guess which one got used, and which one isn't going with me next time. This isn't an advertisement for iPhone either, everything I did with it I could have done on an Android, Nokia, or WebOS device. Phone apps helped me navigate the subway system, find fun things to do, walk where I wanted to without getting lost, keep in touch with the people I was visiting if we had to separate (My wife is living up there and had to go in to work a few of the days I was up), keep in touch with the people taking care of my dog back home, use the web to look up some more information about some of the stuff I saw...

      One of the advantages of phones over netbooks is precisely that they aren't "real" computers. No one writes an app for Windows or stock Linux that helps you find the nearest T-station. Why would they? How many people are going to be wandering around with a full computer trying to find a T-station? Lots of people use phones for it though, or at least I have to guess they do given the 7 or 8 apps I had to chose from. The thing is that there are very few things you can do on a full sized computers that you can't do on a phone. There are some things they can't really do: I wouldn't want to edit photography on a phone for sure; and other things are definitely a bit more trouble: SSH works on my phone, but it's not exactly a ton of fun to use. None the less they *can* do almost everything that a computer can do, and do it adequately for most purposes in an emergency. They can also do lots of things most computers can't which are really nice while on the move (GPS, apps which just make more sense for a purely portable platform, etc)

      --
      I don't need a million points of light, just two points of multi-mode fiber and a 10 Gig-E router.
    7. Re:Smart people by peragrin · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I am connected all the time but I have self control too.

      That means I don't whip out my phone and check my email, text, or even answer the phone just because it goes off. I can ignore it and live quite happily. I rarely respond immediately to text messages, so my friends know that the best way is to leave a message and wait.

      Of course I don't have a twitter account because I am not a twit, nor am I narcissistic enough for facebook.

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    8. Re:Smart people by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      It is about cost. Some people do not see spending an extra 30 a month on top of each phone they own. In some families it can be as many as 4 phones. 4*30 + 100. A 200+ phone bill is not exactly sustainable. That is ~2600 a year. Average family income is ~55k, or about 40k after taxes. That is 6% of your income to just pay for phones. Most people can not swing that. After paying for food/car/house/gas/electric.

      So yes the 'el cheapo' as the 'geezers' call them does make sense.

      They are cool and all. But 200 bucks a month cool?

      When the dataplans come down in price you will see many more people use them. Right now it is in the 'fad' stage and the phone companies are taking advantage of that. But in 3-5 years that will have worn off and they will be wanting to convert 'el cheapos' to paying something for a dataplan. You will start seeing it when people start dumping their cool shiny phones for elcheapo again. I am borderline on that myself. I used the hell out of it at first. Now its just a phone again.

      Its funny per byte SMS is still more expensive...

    9. Re:Smart people by stewbacca · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Some people may realize they THEMSELVES don't need to be connected all the time, but truly smart people don't think everyone else is just like them.

    10. Re:Smart people by jbengt · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I just call mine a bag.

    11. Re:Smart people by xSauronx · · Score: 3, Interesting

      i call mine a book bag...and when i get out of school, ill call it a laptop bag. it has lots of stuff in it: cat5e patch cable (and coupler, and crossover adapter, and loopback adapter), phone patch cable, leatherman surge, flashlight, various bootable flash drives, digicam, 11.6" laptop w/ charger, 2 or 3 different usb cables, pens and pencils, tylenol/aspirin, school/work related folders.

        i usually keep it in the car, or take it in to work or class, but i dont actively carry it unless i need it, or expect to.

      i always carry my android phone.i treat it like a PDA and a comm device mostly. calendar/agenda, emails, IMs, phone calls. sometimes pandora, navigation/gps, internet browsing or games to kill time here and there. also i used to carry a notepad...but its so hard to keep up with paper, to keep it in good shape, and to organize and search a notepad. its all on my phone now.

      the laptop doesnt get used super often, but its so small and light that its always in my bag. i can use it for real work or media consumption, its got a core i3 1.2ghz, so its not super powerful, but i can get enough done on it for it to be worth having, and i use it in classes to take notes (again, i dont use paper)

      digital lifestyle: i love it. /also loves being prepared for all sorts things at a moments notice. the trunk of my car is never empty.

      --
      By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth. -- George Carlin
    12. Re:Smart people by AntEater · · Score: 3, Funny

      So on the half-hour bus ride to and from work, how do you recommend that someone start a conversation with a stranger without causing a major faux pas?

      Pass them a beer? It's a great conversation opener. You must not ride the bus often.

      --
      Alex, I'll take keybindings not used by Emacs for $400....
    13. Re:Smart people by Tharsman · · Score: 3, Funny

      I have a $320 MSI netbook and a cheap data plan that does a lot more than I could with any smart phone. It only weighs maybe 2 pounds more and I can easily carry it in my satchel.

      So, basically, I could buy a $200 more expensive phone and lose a lot of functionality to gain a small bit of convenience, or I could just keep using the netbook to do remote work when I need it.

      Smartphones are toys, and at their current cost, they're not compelling toys for more people. They either need to increase their functionality to match netbooks and laptops or they need to drop in price to be more commensurate with their actual usefulness before they become widely accepted as the norm.

      Opening up the netbook and using it as a GPS while driving has to be super fun! And I cant imagine the envy eyes in the subway when people see me take out a netbook to browse the web! And opening up the computer in the middle of a BestBuy to browse for potentially lower prices for stuff you just saw, all the tekkies there will drool at the sight of my super netbook!!! Man, I was such a fool getting myself a smartphone, I should had bought a netbook with a dataplan!!!

  2. Just don't need one. by ckblackm · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I use the phone to make calls and send texts. I don't have a need for the added features of the "smart" phone, and can't justify the extra expense for the new toy or it's higher cost data plan.

    1. Re:Just don't need one. by Anrego · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Exactly.

      There is no middle ground (from my perspective). You either go “dumb phone” or all out.

      I imagine there are a lot of people like myself, who have no desire to be connected every moment of the day. I have a computer at home, and a computer at work... no need for a computer between those points.

      I’d love to be able to quickly look something up or use GPS/google maps on the odd occasion, but wouldn’t use it often enough to justify $70 a month, which here in Canada seems to generally be the minimum. That’s just too much money for something I might use once or twice a month.

      As for the whole status symbol thing... good grief. Maybe in certain parts of the population or certain ages but even when I was in school I don’t remember any of this status symbol garbage. People got popular by other means (what music they listened to, doing and selling drugs, etc). And if your out of school.. get a life!

    2. Re:Just don't need one. by CraftyJack · · Score: 3

      You had the best phone ever, until I realized that you were referring to what I would call a "flashlight".

  3. Price by eldavojohn · · Score: 4, Insightful

    “And they certainly don’t want the additional monthly bill,” which can cost upwards of $30-50 extra, depending on the web service.

    That's it. I held out until a year ago. I preferred my candy bar Nokia with $24/mo. Now I'm on a DROID with $77/mo cost. And that's with a 25% discount from my employer! Trust me, if I lost my job or found myself in hard times this would be the first thing to go. Unfortunately I'm in a two year contract -- yet another aspect that should scare you.

    I predict dumbphones will continue to dominate until the major carriers stop this ridiculous pricing model. In my eyes, my DROID is waste -- albeit enjoyable and convenient. It's very hard to convince me that there is a $50 dollar per month difference in what these devices do on the carrier's network.

    --
    My work here is dung.
  4. smart or dumb? by cyfer2000 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    “I have always wished that my computer would be as easy to use as my telephone. My wish has come true. I no longer know how to use my telephone.” - Bjarne Stroustrup, the designer and original implementer of C++

    --
    There is a spark in every single flame bait point.
    1. Re:smart or dumb? by Anubis+IV · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Seriously? Have you ever actually heard him talk about his work?

      He's a professor here at my university, and though I haven't taken any of the classes he teaches, quite a few of my friends and colleagues have, and they all come back with stellar reports about the wealth of information he has and the interest he has in sharing it with students at both the grad and undergrad level. I have attended a few of his outside-of-class lectures, and it was always clear to me that the guy cared deeply about his work and had really wrestled through all of the different aspects involved with it, since he had good answers to explain precisely why he had decided on every little detail that you might consider.

      If your opinion of him is that he doesn't spend enough time thinking about programming languages, I would take that to mean that either you don't understand them at all, or else that you don't understand his goals in designing them. Disagree with him or his goals if you want, but don't suggest that he doesn't think about these things thoroughly.

  5. How about: by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Because it costs less than a few hundred to replace?
    There isn't a massive 4" touch screen just waiting to crack.
    Without said screen they're much smaller.
    They don't need charged daily.

    My Nokia 1100 was hands down the best phone I ever owned. Very tiny, nearly indestructible, easy to read screen, T9 prediction was pretty good and it had the best 'feature' on any phone, an actual LED flashlight, I think I charged it once or twice a week.

    Now that I'm on Verizon, I wish they had made a CDMA version.

  6. I'll tell you why dumb phones dominate... by Eggplant62 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Smart phone: $200 to $700
    Data capable plan: $120 to $250 monthly

    Dumb phone: $50 to $100
    Simple plan: $40 to $80 monthly.

    Um, what the fuck, do these phone companies think we're all multimillionaires?

  7. preference != (smart || restraint) by mschaffer · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Honestly. Many people simply do not have the need, desire, temperament, or extra money required to purchase something other than a "dumbphone". Also, "dumbphones" make phone calls just as well as the so-called "smartphones".
    It has nothing to do with being smart enough to realize you don't need one.

    1. Re:preference != (smart || restraint) by Buelldozer · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It's not the $20 up front that is "too expensive" it's the monthly reoccurring $20 (minimum!) that is ridiculous!

      With Verizon and a new Smartphone under contract that number actually balloons to something like $40 PER MONTH PER LINE for JUST the data service!

      So with four lines I'd have $160 for data, $80 for voice, and $20 for texting. Why, exactly, does my cell phone bill need to be $260 per month? Answer: It doesn't!

      Oh, and without the data plan a smartphone is really no better than a dumb one. Maybe some better games and some additional PDA functionality but that's about it.

      The simple truth is that until data prices come down smartphones are too expensive for many people to justify no matter how much they want them.

  8. I'm a geek by Zingledot · · Score: 4, Interesting

    So under peer pressure from my fellow geeks, I joined the smartphone revolution and bought an HTC EVO. What do I do on my new smart phone? Call people, receive calls, check voicemail, and text. What is harder to do on a smart phone? Call people, receive calls, check voicemail, and text. What do I not do with my smart phone? Read my e-mail, shop, get directions, remote into my PC, sling video, watch TV, play MP3s, tether, control my TV, play games, etc. I regret my smart phone move, and fact is, there will always be a segment of people who will have no desire to use their phone for anything but communicating with people in a space and energy efficient manner.

  9. People are funny. by kryliss · · Score: 5, Interesting

    As with many people, I work in a building with an elevator. Have you ever noticed that these days, the first thing people do when they get into an elevator is reach for their phone to look at something... anything other than making eye contact or talking with people in the elevator? Especially the younger generation (18 - ~25). it's funny to watch them read through messages that they've already read just so they don't have to socially interact face to face with someone they really don't know.. Of course.. I like to push them out of their "comfort zone" and talk to them. :)

    --
    --- If the bible proves the existence of God, then Superman comics prove the existence of Superman.
    1. Re:People are funny. by DerekLyons · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Have you ever noticed that these days, the first thing people do when they get into an elevator is reach for their phone to look at something... anything other than making eye contact or talking with people in the elevator?

      Since people in elevators have been avoiding eye contact or talking with the others in the elevator since roughly forever... your point would be, what exactly?