In Defense of Smart Phones
April 28th, 2011 at 09:08 pmA conversation in the forum got me feeling somewhat defensive of my iPhone. I used to think they were a huge extravagance, and I suppose when they first came out and the price was sky high, they were. I think has time has passed, though, the price has dropped dramatically but many people still have the image of them being hundreds of dollars. So when you see someone who may not have a lot of money sporting a smart phone, you might think they are blowing money that could be going to better things.
Assuming you already have a cell phone plan with AT&T, you can get an iPhone for $49 and the cheapest data plan for $15/month. That's hardly a wild purchase for most people, even folks with relatively modest incomes. $180/year for the service isn't likely to make or break anyone's budget.
So why get a smart phone anyway? Here's the list I posted on the discussion thread:
My phone is:
A telephone with free long distance
A computer with full Internet access
A camera for still photos
A video camera
A video game player
A tv and movie viewer
A radio
An mp3 player
A calculator (regular or scientific)
An educational device
A GPS unit
I think that used intelligently, a smart phone could actually eliminate the need for various other devices, thus saving money overall. We don't need GPS in the car - we have our phones. We don't need a video camera - we've got our phones. We don't need iPods - they are built into our phones. You get the idea.
Certainly, if someone is truly struggling, a smart phone remains a luxury item, but if someone is doing basically okay, having or not having a smart phone isn't going to be the deciding factor in whether or not they are making it financially.