I've just never had a strong enough desire for a smart phone that I was able to overcome the reasoning for not getting one.
Yeah, I'm the same. I just kind of think, "What's the big deal?"
As an example, I am in another city this week where there is a truly excellent outlet mall. My son rather badly needs some new shirts. I was able to photograph and text him what the options were and we figured out what he liked best that way. I scored 7 shirts from Aeropostale for $46 and did not have to guess whether he would actually use them or if they would just sit in the closet. So my smartphone turned out to be a rather handy tool in this case, a tool that my old phone could not have pulled off.
With one teen and one college girl, I do this all the time -- with a dumb phone. I can take pictures (admittedly, not great ones) and send them to the kids. I've found this to be a very useful idea, but it doesn't require a smart phone. In fact, because of the places he goes for his work, my husband requires a phone that DOES NOT have a camera (if he had a camera, security would require him to surrender it, and he'd be without it all day); do you know how hard it is to find a no-camera phone?
I sit in front of a very high end, very powerful Mac computer all day long. That machine makes me money so I am fully vested in it and will be getting another soon. I am rarely away from the computer. I also have an iPad for at night . . .
And when I go out with people and they pull out their phones and start playing with them while in the company of a LIVE person, I hate smart phones even more.
Yes, I share these reasons. I have a computer and an ipad -- I don't need to be connected all the time. And, yes, I see people constantly who are ignoring the "here and now" and playing on their phones constantly.
The average user checks FaceBook 14 times per day
75% of smart phone users sleep with it on and in the same room
25% have phone on and in reach 24hours a day
80% all but an hours or two
a quarter check while driving
almost a third check during meals with others
almost 2/3 check at least once an hour, even if it doesn't ring or vibrate
20% check their phone every 10 minutes
84% said that they could not go a single day without their cellphones
one in three would rather give up sex than go a week without their phones
A third admitted that being without their mobile for even short periods leaves them feeling anxious
Basically, the smart phone is the opium of the 21st century. Although I suppose a good drug addiction can cost a lot more than $160 per month, so I guess its a pretty good deal...
Wow, those are some sad numbers. What's your source? I might turn this into an exercise for my classroom -- most of my students are among the addicted.
I understand that, I really do, but what I've noticed are that those people that are glued to their smartphones are the ones that used to be glued to something else.
Okay, fair enough, but in the case of my high school students, the thing they used to be glued to way . . . other people. Kids used to consider their friends #1, but now they put these electronic gadgets ahead of friends. Yes, it's ironic because they're supposedly using the phones to connect to friends, but somehow the servant has become the master.