Buy them. It's good for the economy. Money circulates and all that.

Besides, you can also use one to make a telephone call ...............

Sherwood

I question the need for Flash on most of the websites...Lots of those applications do add much value and they sure suck up the bandwidth.

Now on the iPad? Yeah, they need to have flash and everything else the web supports. On the iPhone? Websites should be able to tell that someone is using a phone and shuttle you off to an optimized website.

I don't need and can't justify a "data plan". I'm retired, a take my Acer One netbook when I travel.

However, to see what the hype was all about, I bought the latest Gen 4 I-touch.....Love it and can use as a phone via Skype and Google voice when I have a wi-fi connection. I use Skype for long conference calls that would exceed the minutes on my cell plan. Text in Google voice when I exceed the # of texts per month on my plan and can call/text when out of the country....Love it....

I totally understand those that say they wouldn't be w/o a smart phone.......

I guess the issue is, having been a Smart-phone with INTERNET access user since 2004, the hype of the "cool stuff" factor is worn off. How can I use it?

I found my keyboard-less touch screen only phone (HTC HD2) a disappointment. I loved the high speed, the large screen etc. But the on screen keyboard sucked monkey balls.

I'm holding out... still sticking with my Nokia stupid phone.

More is not always better... "data plan" is code for "suck your wallet dry"

However when the Nokia dies... I may get pulled to the dark side.

On the other hand I think the human race is on the verge of sensory overload and the smart phone is leading the way.

YMMV

Yes it's worth it. My blackberry makes my life easier.

Does this discourage cell phone use? From all indications, folks can either choose between the hazard of potential brain cancer and emailing pictures of their tats - they'll choose the latter.

Cell Phone Radiation Danger | Cell Phone Health Risks | EarthCalm

Sherwood

I actually don't use my iPhone4 to talk on the phone much - I use it as a phone to make a call, quickly handle my "business" (e.g., when I am going to meet up with my wife) & then hang up. I don't use it much for long calls. I use it mostly for the other stuff. In fact, it is not the best phone I have had, but it is fantastic for the other stuff.

I have one, but don't really use it's functions. I really just need a phone that goes "ring ring" Hello? I'm retired though, I'm sure that makes a big difference.

Umm... maybe. My iPhone does about everything except make a phone call. Angry Birds, solitaire, and black jack are great diversions. It was great to get email in Europe and keep up with work while on vacation. Phone calls to and from Italy were more reliable than calls within Ohio. But in my office when my iPhone rings I have to get up and take it outside the building to actually hear what the caller is saying. I would blame it on AT&T, except when I had an AT&T Razr I could sit at my desk and talk. I wish my iPhone had all its gee whizz features and could still make a phone call as reliably as my old Razr. It's nice, but I wouldn't call it "top shelf."

Not worth it IMHO unless you are a kid and need it to socialize and hook up with the girls.

G

I am with Scott and Aigel.

I am thankful I don´t have any need to be constantly fixed to the Net.

But have you seen the fluffing app?

As I mentioned the net connectivity and weather app are great, but only part of the picture.

I was always thought texting was stupid. Now I send a couple dozen texts a month max. If you want to get a short message to someone that you don't really need to talk to it is great. I eat lunch with a buddy one a week. I can send a text to confirm that he can make it and we agree on a restaurant. The name of a restaurant, and a time is all it takes. He replies with OK and I know it is on. Done in 15 seconds.

The note app is great. On a regular basis while I am working in my garage I discover I am need something from the parts store. I make a quick note on it and the next time I am at the store I pull up my parts needed list.

The other day in the garage I took pictures of my all of tools with my regular digital camera for insurance proposes. I transfered those to my home computer, then made a 180 MB zip file of all of them, and copied them to my phone. My phone is like a USB thumb drive, I can store any computer file on it, and copy it off to any computer with a wireless network. It is always with me. It is a great music player. I have a few movies on there but I admit I have never watched a full movie on my phone. But anytime I need a Blazing Saddles fix I can whip out my phone and watch a scene or two.

It is way more than just a phone, it is a small computer, music player, digital file storage, GPS & camera and it does make phone calls as a bonus.

One of the many neat apps I have is a free app from my cable company. At any time I can check the TV schedule and set my home DVR to record a show no mater where I am. The other day we were out longer than expected so I set the recorder to record the playoff game. We got home 30 minutes into the game but we caught up with real time by fast forwarding through the commercials. We did not miss any of the game.

I enjoy my iPhone4 a lot. When I traveled to SoCal a few weeks ago, I didn't bother bringing a computer. My iPhone4 did most of the things I needed to do. So, once less thing to muck around with when going through the security lines at the airport. :)

I had an iPhone since it first came out, a BB before that, and recently upgraded to an Atrix. My office is anywhere I have phone, email and internet access. It lets me attend meetings (webex), check up to the minute data, edit and pass information around (citrix) and make decisions while at a Santa Cruz beach, hiking through the mountains in Colorado, visiting my parents in New England farm country or between lap sessions at Laguna Seca instead of sitting in a cubicle. It's priceless to me.

I have only a basic nokia and use prepaid minutes. $100 per year, I don't use all the minutes because we do only use the phone as a phone.

That said, Ruki's I phone was cool...after dinner, we went to the Hilton's parking garage & she made a quick video of the Bullitt Mustang, me pointing to & explaining features. Started it up, did a bit of revving to record the exhaust tone...Cindy afraid hotel security was going to come. Yep, the Bullitt exhaust is kind of loud in a basement parking garage. :D

Pretty amazing technology, all those apps. I recently read there is even an app for calculating a bank shot playing pool. Of course, it doesn't take into account the real world variations caused by speed & spin...but it's close.

As much as it helps you get spare time activities introduced into your work day it also helps work day activities to get introduced into your spare time. It is a bum deal IMHO. In the old days you could enjoy a track day, completely turning off work, family and even news ...

George

"I can't live without it"...."It lets me keep up with work when I'm on vacation"...."It's priceless to me"

Wow...how quickly we all became addicted to these toys. It makes me wonder how the world ever got along up 'till now. Are smart phones convenient? Certainly! Do they make our lives easier? You bet! Are they fun? Sure they are! But are they NECESSARY to life? I hardly think so! Nowadays people can't sit still for 5 minutes without pulling out a phone to play with. Whatever happened to down time? And keeping up with work while you're on vacation...WTF is that all about? I always assumed that one took a vacation to forget about work for a while. I can't help thinking that we're all becoming like the Borg...part organism, part machine. Everyone is plugged into the "Collective" via their mobile devices. I do have a cell phone (not a "smart" one though) and I do use it...but if the whole system vanished tomorrow, I doubt that my life would be very much affected at all. And that's just the way I like it...