Do You Really Need a Smart Phone?

Roblimo writes "My phone is as stupid as a phone can be, but you can drop it or get it wet and it will still work. My cellular cost per month is about $4, on average. I've had a cellular phone longer than most people, and I assure you that a smart phone would not improve my life one bit. You, too, might find that you are just as happy with a stupid phone as with a smart one. If nothing else, you'll save money by dumbing down your phone." I stuck with a dumb phone for a long time, but I admit to loving the versatility of my Android phone, for all its imperfections.

Comments

Sometimes it saves money and frustration

[DMUTPeregrine]

I had a choice: Buy a $200 bagpipe tuner (the cheap chromatic tuners are all equal tempered, and thus don't work for just-tempered instruments like the great highland bagpipe), and a ~$100 GPS and a $100 ipod and a $20 metronome... or buy one android phone, install gStrings, mobile metronome and PowerAmp (under $10 total) and get more total functionality for the same overall price. That's ignoring the phone aspect, obviously. And the camera. And the e-mail. And the text messaging with a full dvorak keyboard. And the mobile web browser...

Needs differ. Duh.

[Dr. Manhattan]

I ride the bus to and from work every day. I could carry a dumb phone, plus an mp3 player, plus a netbook, I suppose... but instead I have an original Droid, and it gets all that done in a much smaller and more convenient package, along with GPS navigation, flash drive file transport, encrypted password wallet, and a cheap camera.

Re:Another way to save money

[BoberFett]

I have an LG Optimus V on Virgin. The phones are $150ish, $25/mo (think it's $35 now for new subscribers) gets 300 min, unlimited text and data. It's not the flashiest phone around but I'm just too cheap to pay $80/mo or more for a phone. I had a dumb phone until April 2011, and now that I've gone to a smartphone I'd hate to go back.