[quote name='2DMention']Here's my thoughts on smartphones and cell phones.
Cell phones are only useful in the following situations:
-You're meeting friends somewhere and need to find them.
-Your car breaks down in the winter
Texting is useful only in the following situations:
-Your friend/GF works in retail/office and doesn't have enough time/can't talk on the phone.
-You don't want to talk to someone for more than 5 minutes
Smartphones are useful only in the following situations:
-The power goes out and you can't access the Internet
-You want a device that works as MP3 player/GPS/Phone in one
-You're not near a computer with access to the Internet (on vacation)
-You're too cheap/broke to afford a computer, and don't want to hump around with routers, etc.
-You're a serious business person that has to work 24/7, or own a business.
Face it folks, smartphones/cell phones are a luxury. You can get by with land lines just fine.
They advertise the everyliving shit out of these. People will think they need them when they don't. Every show you watch on TV, on every channel, has at least one cell phone/smartphone ad every time an ad is on.
That being said, I own a very simple cell phone myself (it's basically the same price as a landline).[/QUOTE]
I agree with some of what you said, 80% of all people dont need one they just get one because its the cool thing.
I picked a Blackberry because I have clients that want to talk to me, clients I want to talk to and contracts to bid on. Plus in my field at any given time night or day someone could need my skill set. I receive roughly 50 business emails/text a day. Plus GPS is a god send when you are a freelancer.
I laugh at these 16 year old high school kids with 300 dollar smart phones so they can check their facebook and twitter account.
But, that being said, you can always find a deal where they will give you like 5 of them for free. The plan itself is the thing that kills you which has more to do with the provider.