How do you feel about smartphones?

[njosnavelin]

I'm actually a little frightened of all this new technology.

I read a book once that said the worse things to happen to America were automobiles and television.

When you think of air quality, ecological disasters, advertising and obesity, and the misinformed masses all based on these technological wonders, you can see his point. I can't really argue to strongly because I am a product of these things.

Now we have things like smart phones, which in a way equates a diminishing of our own personal intelligence in a way. We build all these devices to make life easier, but really it just seems to make life more complicated. I know I have this flaw as well. My internet went out last week and I had to do things the hard way. I felt frustrated and stressed, which is the default setting for using technology when it fails. I had to go to the university to work on a paper, afterward I felt better because I got off my duff and did something. The walk through the university also did wonders for my stress.

I like and use technology, it is just becoming too much a part of life that we miss things that I think later in the future will come back to bite us in the behind. I work with students, and they will gullibly believe just about anything they read online. I dislike the phrase "Google it" for something that should be common knowledge. We have lost credibility when really anything we usually see on the internet is based on sensationalism and not truth. I don't really have anyone to blame, we have just gotten used to things having flash and no substance. Look at cell phone commercials, instead of valuing what you have, you need to go to extremes to get rid of what you have and get the latest newest shiniest whatsit.

So no, I do not like the smart phone, to be honest I've never had a phone. I am not social so I really don't need a phone to contact anyone. When I am working I am working, not at all concerned about staying connected. If I have to wait I'll have a book handy, or strike up a conversation with someone if the mood strikes. I'm used to keeping my friends at arms length, so not all that worried, I can always contact them later.

Eh, sorry about the rant, the question set me off. To all those that have phones I am glad you enjoy them, to me it's like owning a motorcycle I have no interest in riding.

There is an article I read years ago making the point Google making us dumber. I thought it was a very interesting article essentially your argument above.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/306868/

The counter to this prevailing thought is from the futurist community. They say, “just googling” isn’t bad. What it is doing is letting our minds working on other complicated tasks that our computers can’t solve for us (yet). Computers are form of free mental labor. Economically speaking we don’t need to spend the time or money to pay someone to do a repetitive task. By freeing the labor from doing that one task they are able to do something else more complex than the computer and so on.

[argar]

Not essentially dumber really, just losing a basic skills we used to posses but are losing because of a new tool.

I do think the way I think is completely different than they way these new kids that are growing up with this new technology think. How could it not be? The issue I see with students is, say we completely lose internet, very few of them would be able to go to a library an look for something. Another thing that bother me with this new tech is that we want everything immediately, students are growing up with little to no patience, and little to no attention span sometimes. By and far this new technology is distracting, or used as a distraction. And I won't even go into how texting is costing some students when they have to write a college essay and they decide to use text lingo instead of actual words.

The new world with all it's tech is frightening to me. In case we for some reason can't remember something as basic as keeping our keys in our pocket, now there is an app for opening your house and car. Driving is getting to the point were you just need to sit there. I think in the not to distant future we are going to end up like the people in Wall-E.

[Guest]

I don't have a cell phone at all. I would like a smart phone some day though, so when I am bored and on long car / bus rides I could get on the net. :D

[kelico]

I don't have a smartphone, and I've been totally fine without one this long lol! I love my uhh...whatever it's called. It's got a pull-out QWERTY keyboard and is touchscreen. (I always have it with me, but I rarely look at it! So whooops, people don't like it when I take forever to reply to texts lol.)

Smartphones do seem really useful, I just don't have a huge use for one yet. I like not being tied to communication and the internet non-stop. I love being able to tell my clients that I can't get to their emails right away because I'm out of the house lol. : ) My brother is literally glued to his smartphone...he rarely looks up from it. I might get one sometime soon as they're becoming less expensive, but I don't find it necessary to my life.

[Squirrel Combat]

I don't have one, and I'm not really interested in having one. What I do want is a phone where I don't have to keep buying a new dang time card for it. <_<

[marki]

Galaxy Nexus. It is my friend!

[JohnSC]

I find my android is very good at being multiple alarm clocks in the morning.

[Sally]

There's a real danger to these things: people who walk across the street against the light, not even looking at traffic because they're texting. Less dangerous but annoying: people walking into you on the sidewalk because they're looking at their phones.

[Ultima]

I don't have one, and I'm not really interested in having one. What I do want is a phone where I don't have to keep buying a new dang time card for it. <_<

Depending on how much you talk on a cellphone, you could try Tracfone. I have a Tracfone flip phone, you can buy a 800 minute card with 1 year service for $120. I do not make many calls so at the end of each year I still have at least 200 minutes which carry over to the next year. I just bought another 1 year card and my phone now has 2300 minutes left on it... I don't talk or text much.

So yes, I pay $10 a month for my cellphone service.

[njosnavelin]

Not essentially dumber really, just losing a basic skills we used to posses but are losing because of a new tool.

I do think the way I think is completely different than they way these new kids that are growing up with this new technology think. How could it not be? The issue I see with students is, say we completely lose internet, very few of them would be able to go to a library an look for something. Another thing that bother me with this new tech is that we want everything immediately, students are growing up with little to no patience, and little to no attention span sometimes. By and far this new technology is distracting, or used as a distraction. And I won't even go into how texting is costing some students when they have to write a college essay and they decide to use text lingo instead of actual words.

The new world with all it's tech is frightening to me. In case we for some reason can't remember something as basic as keeping our keys in our pocket, now there is an app for opening your house and car. Driving is getting to the point were you just need to sit there. I think in the not to distant future we are going to end up like the people in Wall-E.

I believe it is all relative. A, “basic task” today is not the same basic task 10 years ago, 50, or 100. Our basic task will continually evolve in time. We choose to spend our brain power, money, and labor some place else. The tools of yesterday aren’t used anymore because a better one has arisen.

You will never see me using text lingo. I choose not to because I don’t think it is adequate communication.

I truly understand your concern. I hear it. I want to believe, but the progression of technology in exponential growth is against us. By all means don’t use Google. I am okay with that. There are tons of other options out there.

[Ultima]

You will never see me using text lingo. I choose not to because I don’t think it is adequate communication.

I agree, although I do like to use some text lingo for fun but never if I am texting something serious. If I am on a computer I use the spelling/grammar checker in Word before sending an email.

[Xavy]

The only reason why I still have a smart phone is because I am required to carry around a work issued one at all times, otherwise I think I would get by just fine without one.

[korik]

I hate my smartphone. It is such a pain in the @$$. I used the wifi capability when I was traveling, but could have just had an ipod type of deal just as well.

I miss my old phone. It actually had better and more useful functions than this piece of crap.

...and every time I turn off my phone and turn it back on, it tells me I have a "new" voice mail... but it's an old one - that I deleted - a year ago!!! There's nothing there. but it insists on telling me there is.

[TheBeatlesPkmnFan42]

I have an LG G2 and I find it to be useful. Huge improvement over my previous phone, which wasn't a smartphone. I hardly ever used my previous phone because I couldn't do much stuff on it, and now that I have a smartphone I sometimes use it to play 2048 or Plague Inc. I don't use my phone very often, a few times a week probably, because I don't really text with anybody. But it's nice to have it around if I ever need to use it for something important.

[Guest]

Smartphone are great.....until they go haywire. I'm fed up with iPhones.

1). They randomly glitch and delete large amounts of text or photo libraries for no reason

2). The home/power buttons go kaput

3). TINY BATTERY

[wrendering]

I have a smartphone (iPhone, bleh Apple but it was a gift) and I guess I find it useful, but I also like just having my old flip-phone as long as I have a full keyboard.. I mean, aside from internet access, there isn't much I couldn't do with an ipod and a flip-phone than I can do now with an iphone and an ipod. The trouble is, they don't sell regular old phones anymore, you pretty much have to get them online and you can't take the sim card out of an iphone easily to switch over. If it weren't offending to those who gifted me the iPhone, I'd still be using my phone from like 5 years ago

[Ultima]

I have a smartphone (iPhone, bleh Apple but it was a gift) and I guess I find it useful, but I also like just having my old flip-phone as long as I have a full keyboard.. I mean, aside from internet access, there isn't much I couldn't do with an ipod and a flip-phone than I can do now with an iphone and an ipod. The trouble is, they don't sell regular old phones anymore, you pretty much have to get them online and you can't take the sim card out of an iphone easily to switch over. If it weren't offending to those who gifted me the iPhone, I'd still be using my phone from like 5 years ago

They still sell flip phones at Wal-Mart and a few other places. Mostly prepaid though, which is fine since that is what I prefer.

[Corretto]

I'm still disappointed my Motorola 'Brick' was rendered redundant!

...but I'm satisfied with my Samsung 'dumb-phone'.

Cia :P

[Schrecken]

IMO they are over-rated and too many people spend way too much time using them. However, I can see where they would be useful in some situations, but I also think that many people have become overly dependent on them. It's sad to see children and even young people sitting there playing with their phones in order to presumably chase away boredom if they have to wait even a few minutes for something or someone. I can't imagine what that must be like - being unable to do anything else to pass the time - read (on paper, not digitally), daydream, talk to people around you, etc. When I was a child you simply had to sit still and wait, like at a restaurant, at church, a dr's office (though some of these places I could read or color or play with small toys, but everything I played with was something real that I could hold in my hand, and there were no batteries to run down), etc.

I am not adverse to getting a smart phone, but if I do, I know for sure that many, if not most, of its features will go unused (probably the only things that would really be of use to me would be maps and being able to look up addresses and phone #s).

[korik]

I have had my smart phone for almost a year, and I am >< this close to downgrading and going back to a real phone. I am so sick of having to reboot my phone every time I want to look at it. I am sick of having to charge my phone almost every day regardless of the fact that I don't even use the damn thing.

Completely worthless!

[drjohnhwatson]

I absolutely hate how short the battery life is for my smartphone, but there have been NUMEROUS times where it has come in handy for me.

Um. I tend to be, er, quite bad with directions and it has 100% been a lifesaver to me when travelling. I've had phones before that just do text, you know, and this has maps and stuff and GPS where I can find myself as a little red point on the map and type in where I need to go and walk and make sure I'm going the right way as I can see the pin moving when I move. Whenever I was in Chicago in July we were trying to find the Natural History Museum and we'd gotten turned around at some point, like, very turned around and apparently passed it at one point and my GPS maps helped us find it.

The same thing happened last year when I was in Philadelphia for the first time and we were trying to find our hotel, a friend and I were. We had gotten turned around, and I proposed that we go basically in the direct opposite of where the hotel was. My friend was fairly certain that was the wrong way and insisted I bring up my maps. A good thing, too, otherwise we would have been even more lost.

When I went back to Philadelphia this May, basically nearly a year to the day of my last trip, I once again had to use my phone to find places I had already been the year before. Again, terrible with directions. .

It's also very handy when I have time to kill. I downloaded the Duolingo app so that practicing languages is more easily accessible and I can practice when I'm out and about but waiting, or when I'm at work and have downtime.....

[japche]

I have an iPhone 5S, and I think I'm a bit too attached to it... As a student it's incredibly useful. I basically use Google Docs a ton (there's been times when I've typed an entire essay on my phone a couple hours before it's due XD) and the Calendars app by Readdle is honestly the only way I can keep track of my schedule. Sure, it may be rather distracting at times, but all in all I think it's probably one of the most useful devices a person can have.

Also, the number of educational apps out there is amazing. Say all you want about smartphones turning young people's brains into mush, but having free Harvard and MIT lectures (plus hundreds of thousands of others) downloadable off iTunes U is pretty cool.

[RoswellValentine]

I got upgraded from a flip phone to a Galaxy S3 Mini, and I don't really use it that much. Even though I said "it is NOT useful" in the poll, I've used the calendar a fair amount to set reminders in addition to a whiteboard and calendar in my apartment (because I'm forgetful sometimes). It also helps when I want to talk with friends and family, especially when I'm out and about.

[Laurenmaru]

I have a regular phone I use to text and call people, but it's mostly for emergencies. I never understood the appeal of smart phones with all the bells and whistles. I feel like having so many options on one phone would be kind of overwhelming.

[Amy Ghost]

I have a regular phone I use to text and call people, but it's mostly for emergencies. I never understood the appeal of smart phones with all the bells and whistles. I feel like having so many options on one phone would be kind of overwhelming.

I'm only glad for it because i can freely use the internet in all options. On my old phone I couldn't. Here I can be on Gr and aven the whole day, and do all I need. And I can also see stuff on the bigger screen better :D

[korik]

My smart phone randomly changed my alarm clock song on it's own, and deleted my playlists sometime during the night. - I couldn't figure out if it was time to get up or if I was still asleep and dreaming or.....

No logical reason for it to make such changes on it's own.

It also refuses to type when I'm online. (but will still type while text messaging.) *shrugs*

[Rising Sun]

Is your smartphone a Samsung ? Mine does the same. The keyboard randomly disappears when I need it.

[drjohnhwatson]

Is your smartphone a Samsung ? Mine does the same. The keyboard randomly disappears when I need it.

Mine says Motorola (I know this isn't directed at me), and what I hate is I'll be swyping or even typing and it'll freeze and take a few moments and then suddenly regurgitate loads of words, like five or six, that it had been holding back. Or it will freeze entirely so I have a keyboard covering half the screen and then I can't move or do anything. This happens a lot. I would say definitely at least once a day. Probably a great deal more, and seemingly always when I'm in a great hurry.

Oh, technology.

:P.

[Amatista]

I like them. They are useful for school and when you need a ride. And it's good when you're bored or anxious. Gives you something to do.

[Araviel]

I have smartphone because I got one for free as a prize for writing 5 windows phone apps.

At first I found it useful for gaming and practicing my C# programming skills, but now I use it only as a mobile phone and I preferred my old Nokia 6100 for that purpose.