A smartphone, like toilet paper, is a disposable item with a limited life expectancy

[jeff127]

I haven't got a smartphone yet and I don't plan to. When I bought a new PC a few months back, a customer came into the shop while I was waiting. They had a problem with their phone - the battery was defective, and they couldn't replace it because the battery is soldered/attached to the phone itself and cannot be swapped out unless the manufacturer fixes it (for a fee). I raised the issue with the technician and he said that smartphones are now disposable items. The "glued-on-battery" problem brings Defective-By-Design (tm) to a new level of absurdity. I sometimes wonder why past workmates have had three different phone numbers within a period of 12 months, and now I know why. If you crack your phone's screen, or have a defective battery or battery charger, you may as well give up and buy a whole new phone.

Another disturbing trend is that these devices are being promoted (in ways) to children and the elderly. Children love phones because they're like soooooooo trendy, and supposedly these phones and tablets are easier for older folks to use. Children will learn nothing from these i-Gadgets, and older people are better off with a larger screen and a proper keyboard. Smartphones are a disgraceful waste of money. I'd rather gift money to FSF. A few smartphone-owners I've met lost their new phone while drunk or walking in the bushes. I don't need a smartphone.

[PaulW2U]

The "glued-on-battery" problem brings Defective-By-Design (tm) to a new level of absurdity. I sometimes wonder why past workmates have had three different phone numbers within a period of 12 months, and now I know why. If you crack your phone's screen, or have a defective battery or battery charger, you may as well give up and buy a whole new phone.

That might be true of some phones although here in the UK, I'm not sure where you are, you don't need to change your number each time you buy a new phone but dealers seem to want to do it that way.


A few smartphone-owners I've met lost their new phone while drunk or walking in the bushes. I don't need a smartphone.

An interesting development here is for smartphones to hold travel tickets, certainly bus and train tickets not sure about anything else. The loss of a smartphone could have a very big impact on what you are able to do immediately after any loss.

My use of smartphones is to use them as mini-PCs. Anything I do on my PC at home I can do on my smartphone although not nearly as well of course. Are my smartphones disposable? No. Both have SIM cards and memory cards that can be changed, as can the batteries. They are not locked to any provider so I can switch quickly and easily.

I always buy smartphones knowing that I may want more than the average user so I buy something that works for me and not something that is *free* with a nice monthly tariff that includes an excessive amount of inclusive "talk" minutes or text messages.

YMMV as they say. ;)

[lisati]

That might be true of some phones although here in the UK, I'm not sure where you are, you don't need to change your number each time you buy a new phone but dealers seem to want to do it that way.

It's pretty much the same here in New Zealand, you don't always need to change phone numbers when you get a new phone. It's often as easy as moving the SIM card from the old phone to the new phone. Even if you change providers, there's number portability which lets you take your number with you.

[buzzingrobot]

What I want is a phone with GPS, mapping, a Siri/Cortana/AskGoogle equivalent, a mail app, a decent display and Qwerty keyboard and zero uninstallable apps. That's it. Nothing more.

At home, I use none of my smartphone's "smarts". I use it to make calls and the odd text. (And to time coffee brewing. That's important.)

I don't like the daily updating of a batch of applications I don't use and cannot delete.

I don't like the size-creep we see in smartphones.

When I travel, I use the phone's GPS and mapping and to tell me where I can get a cup of coffee. I always travel with a tablet, too, so that's used for everything else.

[CharlesA]

What I want is a phone with GPS, mapping, a Siri/Cortana/AskGoogle equivalent, a mail app, a decent display and Qwerty keyboard and zero uninstallable apps. That's it. Nothing more.

That is why I rooted my android phone. So much excess crap gets installed at the factory.

As far as unremovable batteries go, I think the only one I have seen that does that is the iPhone, but that may have changed.

[vq1]

"planned obsolescence"

But if you take good care of your stuff it doesn't happen. Ive had my Samsung galaxy s4 for years now. Works great still. In fact my Motorola atrix before that worked great too, just got a good deal on the s4.

I'm holding out for the next Ubuntu phone (Oct).

[night_sky2]

We have entered an era where people created themselves the need to have smartphones. Gosh, you just see these things everywhere.
When you are at a party, with friends ect and don't have a phone, you look weird. It's almost a social convention now unless you are the kind of solitary, do-my-own-thing person.

Sure these little phone-computers are nice. But when you see people's face glued to their tiny screens all day long, learn more about the e-waste that mass productions of these devices generate, the employees in China working 16 hours-long shifts everyday being exploited by a big compagny like Apple ect. that's when you realize there's a really bad side to this.

[mikodo]

the employees in China working 16 hours-long shifts everyday being exploited by a big compagny like Apple ect. that's when you realize there's a really bad side to this.That is hard to fathom for we in the "western world" now. I spent years of working hard for 15 hour days but, only for 6 days a week. I was young, and had choices and changed my career path. to something easier. I still remember how hard it was though. I'm guessing, these people don't have the choices I had.

That just sucks.

[jeff127]

That might be true of some phones although here in the UK, I'm not sure where you are, you don't need to change your number each time you buy a new phone but dealers seem to want to do it that way.


An interesting development here is for smartphones to hold travel tickets, certainly bus and train tickets not sure about anything else. The loss of a smartphone could have a very big impact on what you are able to do immediately after any loss.

My use of smartphones is to use them as mini-PCs. Anything I do on my PC at home I can do on my smartphone although not nearly as well of course. Are my smartphones disposable? No. Both have SIM cards and memory cards that can be changed, as can the batteries. They are not locked to any provider so I can switch quickly and easily.

Even a temporary loss would mean trouble. A guy I work with dropped his $400 phone a few weeks ago, I suppose the cracked screen isn't that big a deal (it isn't leaking fluid) but if it was worse it'd need a repair and that'd mean no phone for a few days. My flip-top phone has been dropped on concrete multiple times and it still works great!

I can take the sim card out of my phone, though I'm not sure if I can change providers. Everything throughout the phone menus is Vodafone branded. It may be restricted, after all, it was super-cheap.


We have entered an era where people created themselves the need to have smartphones. Gosh, you just see these things everywhere.
When you are at a party, with friends ect and don't have a phone, you look weird. It's almost a social convention now unless you are the kind of solitary, do-my-own-thing person.

Sure these little phone-computers are nice. But when you see people's face glued to their tiny screens all day long, learn more about the e-waste that mass productions of these devices generate, the employees in China working 16 hours-long shifts everyday being exploited by a big compagny like Apple ect. that's when you realize there's a really bad side to this.

I'm a do-my-own-thing person, I'm proud to be free and not a slave of Facebook. In my opinion, Facebook addiction is on par with being addicted to cigarettes. Some folk log in 20+ times a day to clear pointless notifications. While smartphone technology is very good, most users don't have phones for this good old thing called productivity. Phones have become the new entertainment.

[monkeybrain20122]

That, is part of the reason that sales on smart phone is so much bigger than PCs rather than the allegation that "desktop computing is dead" often harped about. I am sure manufacturers have an incentive to promote this myth. I have yet to know a laptop/desktop user who would trade in a laptop or a desktop for a phone or a tablet. There are people who own a phone without a PC (such as my mom) but such people probably were never part of the PC market in the first place.

[buzzingrobot]

That, is part of the reason that sales on smart phone is so much bigger than PCs rather than the allegation that "desktop computing is dead" often harped about. I am sure manufacturers have an incentive to promote this myth. I have yet to know a laptop/desktop user who would trade in a laptop or a desktop for a phone or a tablet. There are people who own a phone without a PC (such as my mom) but such people probably were never part of the PC market in the first place.

Away from our jobs, the primary use of a computing device for most of has always been communication. Phones do that at least as well as a desktop or a laptop, and, obviously, much more conveniently.

You're going to use a phone anyway. If that phone offers all the computing capability you need, why buy a PC?

If you have a specific requirement or preference for a large display, or have large storage requirements, then you're in the market for a PC.

The capabilities and convenience of the smartphone mean that fewer and fewer people will be buying "home computers". The software industry knows that. That's why they're fixated on the mobile market.

[monkeybrain20122]

Away from our jobs, the primary use of a computing device for most of has always been communication. Phones do that at least as well as a desktop or a laptop, and, obviously, much more conveniently.

You're going to use a phone anyway. If that phone offers all the computing capability you need, why buy a PC?

If you have a specific requirement or preference for a large display, or have large storage requirements, then you're in the market for a PC.

The capabilities and convenience of the smartphone mean that fewer and fewer people will be buying "home computers". The software industry knows that. That's why they're fixated on the mobile market.


Actually one primary use of computer is multimedia, entertainment, streaming movies and such. Most people I know in my age group (30 something) or younger would not want a TV or cable. Try to watch a movie on a phone.

Not to mention you get much better value for a computer, which is kind of the point of this thread.

As I said, I have yet to meet any PC user who would get a phone INSTEAD OF a computer, they will have both, but not having mobile to replace the laptop or desktop. People who have only phones likely never have a desktop/laptop computer to begin with. Now I would agree that the desktop is not really that attractive, again no one I know owns a desktop except a few geezers at one end and hard core gamers at the other. But a laptop is very much a must.

The industry fixates on mobile market because it is more lucrative. A reason why it is more lucrative is because it offers less for more and requires more frequent replacement (the point of OP)

[SeijiSensei]

Along with iPhones, the new Samsung Galaxy S6 has a permanent battery, too. My old S3 had a removable one.

That S3 lost a row of pixels some months back and developed some issues with its USB jack not always providing a solid connection to chargers. I decided to give myself a Father's Day present (my first in as long as I can remember) and bought a new LG Stylo from t-mobile (http://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phones/lg-g-stylo.html). It cost just under $300, which I'm paying for in monthly instalments. As a promo for Father's Day, I got an LG tablet as well for another $10/month. I'm really quite happy with both devices. The tablet is nice for reading documents or sites like the NY Times. The phone has an even larger screen than my S3, though the replacement of physical buttons with on-screen ones gives back about 1/2" (1.2 cm) of the screen's length. (This might be a consequence of using Android 5; I haven't explored the differences between the versions enough to know for sure.) Having used the Stylo for a few weeks now, I don't see what I would be gaining by spending nearly double the money for an S6 or iPhone. Most reviewers harp on the camera, which matters little to me, or the older processor the Stylo uses, or its memory size. Many of these reviews concern the memory-starved cheaper version sold by Boost; t-mobile's version has 2 GB of RAM and another 16 GB of ROM. It also accepts a memory card which many new phones do not. I haven't felt a lack of performance except when loading apps.

Typing on the tablet isn't too bad, but I almost always use a PC for anything where extended typing is involved, like responding to this thread.

[jeff127]

These Chinese factory workers are in a hurry to pump out more of this e-waste. A friend told me not long ago that his phone charger overheated to the point that it nearly burned his hand. Another friend who's a CS expert (and former electronics worker) said "it was most likely a bad batch". The production on these phones must surely be faster than PC components - a phone is a complete product which needs to arrive on the market by its deadline.

[mikodo]

If you have a specific requirement or preference for a large display, or have large storage requirements, then you're in the market for a PC..
The idea of Unity 8 and beyond, is to address that with Convergence. That and connectible storage if need be, might be sufficient for some. Taking ones computer in their pocket and docking it at work or wherever, has potential. This "old geezer" lol probably won't, as I have no need for docking my computer anywhere. "The company", can provide what they want us to use, (in fact, they just stopped letting staff bring in phones and other devices... security issues, that I agree with, there).

[lisati]

Away from our jobs, the primary use of a computing device for most of has always been communication. Phones do that at least as well as a desktop or a laptop, and, obviously, much more conveniently.
Agreed.

My motivation for buying my first mobile phone more than 15 years ago was for communication when I'm out and about. It was a basic phone, no apps, no games, no text messaging, just phone calls. Even if I still had it, the phone wouldn't be of much use to me: my provider switched off the network it was connected to back in 2007.

The fact that I can use my current phone to run apps such as texting, email, online banking and maps is a bonus. And yes, I have a working flip phone that's set up as a backup phone!

[fkkroundabout]

yes i've read flip phones sales are growing in japan, lately

on the topic of the title of this post - yes, a smartphone is disposable. but i think because it's a subsector of the technology industry. so by that i mean: i think it's more simply because technology evolves at a too rapid pace for electronics not to be replaced, as oppose to it being a case of 'planned obsolescence' with businesses intentionally doing whatever they can to make customers buy replacements, which can happen in other industries. i can't think of any part of a HTC dream - the first android - except perhaps the screen and keyboard, that you would want to use, because compared to today's phones it is very slow. even the software is likely full of security holes by now.
the speed of consumer technology is also curious because a 5 second delay for one person that affects 500 million people adds up to 16 years, and if that happens every day that's alot of time ! but of course humans aren't robots and so we're all innately a little inefficient. but now this ramble is moving existential if i start writing about what the meaning of having approximately 80 years of time is most efficiently used for, and i hate philosophy. so whatever

back on earth, the only thing you can do about e waste is make phones as recyclable as possible, and make access to this recycling as prevalent as possible
edit: if we could make it so electronics production was done in an as environmentally friendly way as possible, and the products produced by it were 100% recyclable, then the only thing that would be lost in the endless cycle of human consumerism would be human time and energy, as oppose to the deterioration of the natural world to fuel it. and that would be quite something

[user1397]

I haven't got a smartphone yet and I don't plan to. When I bought a new PC a few months back, a customer came into the shop while I was waiting. They had a problem with their phone - the battery was defective, and they couldn't replace it because the battery is soldered/attached to the phone itself and cannot be swapped out unless the manufacturer fixes it (for a fee). I raised the issue with the technician and he said that smartphones are now disposable items. The "glued-on-battery" problem brings Defective-By-Design (tm) to a new level of absurdity. I sometimes wonder why past workmates have had three different phone numbers within a period of 12 months, and now I know why. If you crack your phone's screen, or have a defective battery or battery charger, you may as well give up and buy a whole new phone.

Another disturbing trend is that these devices are being promoted (in ways) to children and the elderly. Children love phones because they're like soooooooo trendy, and supposedly these phones and tablets are easier for older folks to use. Children will learn nothing from these i-Gadgets, and older people are better off with a larger screen and a proper keyboard. Smartphones are a disgraceful waste of money. I'd rather gift money to FSF. A few smartphone-owners I've met lost their new phone while drunk or walking in the bushes. I don't need a smartphone.
as someone who knows a good bit about smartphones, what you said about batteries and other parts is largely untrue. I don't know if that is the way all smartphones will be in the future, but as of right now most smartphone parts are replaceable, even iPhones. I worked at a cell phone repair shop and we constantly fixed androids and iPhones, and replaced screens, batteries, housings, microphones, loudspeakers, proximity sensors, buttons, vibration modules, etc. There are few phones that you can't replace stuff on.

Also you usually don't need to get a new phone number either unless you're quite incompetent. You either insert your old SIM card into the new phone or transfer the number to the new phone if it is a CDMA phone (mostly outdated now with 4G LTE because even CDMA 4G LTE phones use SIM cards).

Now as to your other concern, I do agree that overuse and overemphasis of smartphones especially in children is doing some damage in society. We need better parents who control their kids more and aren't so lax with letting them do whatever they want. A smartphone by itself is not evil...it is an extremely useful tool. It is a computer in your pocket. It has GPS, which just by itself can be a life saver in many situations. Need to look up something for any reason whatsoever? Google is in your pocket. Need to send a message through a million different ways? You can SMS or send a text over data via any number of apps like whatsapp or google hangouts.

I think it's a bit cynical to say smartphones are pointless...

If you must know, not everyone is dumb with their phones either. I don't play any games on my phone (I have chess in case i'm stuck somewhere and really bored) but I mainly use it to google things, message friends and family, GPS once in a while, and occasionally youtube. I don't even use social media and I'm a 24 year old guy

[ssreddy5552]

A smartphone by itself is not evil...it is an extremely useful tool. It is a computer in your pocket. It has GPS, which just by itself can be a life saver in many situations. Need to look up something for any reason whatsoever? Google is in your pocket. Need to send a message through a million different ways? You can SMS or send a text over data via any number of apps like whatsapp or google hangouts. I think it's a bit cynical to say smartphones are pointless... I completely agree with your opinion. For me, it's like a personal assistant, who does whatever I ask to do 24 hours a day. One must thank Apple for having created such a useful contraption in the first place.

[philinux]

I bought the LG G3 6 months after it launched. Bought the phone, no contract Much cheaper almost 40%. Always better to stay behind the curve.

Reasoning for this phone.

1. Comes factory Unlocked so I can put the same sim or any I choose.

2. Removable battery.

3. Custom quickcircle case. Helps prevent damage if dropped too.

4. Ace phone.
Regards

[leclerc65]

It has GPS, which just by itself can be a life saver in many situations.
Yep. I installed Polaroid (free) to help my way back to the car, excellent app for my ailing memory...Now the problem is to remember how to use the app.:p

[buzzingrobot]

Try to watch a movie on a phone.

I've seen plenty of people at airports, on flights, trains, etc., watch video on their phones. I'd rather use a tablet, but that's they're call.

My point, however, is if you can do on your phone and/or tablet everything you do on your desktop or laptop, then the next time desktop/laptop upgrade time rolls around, you will have considerably fewer incentives to buy. I think many. perhaps most, mainstream consumers are in that position.


The industry fixates on mobile market because it is more lucrative. A reason why it is more lucrative is because it offers less for more and requires more frequent replacement (the point of OP)

Margins on PC's are very small, so of course vendors like to sell things with a higher margin. If it's likely that someone who owns a vendor's PC won't buy another PC from that vendor, they'd be wrong not to try find another product to sell to that customer.

Every phone, smart and otherwise, that I've ever owned still works just fine. The latest software may not be available, but what's already there works. If I let the vnedors entice me into buying new hardware that can run software I don't need to run, that's my fault.

People are socially engineered to think their phone has a limited life time.

[monkeybrain20122]

I've seen plenty of people at airports, on flights, trains, etc., watch video on their phones. I'd rather use a tablet, but that's they're call.

That is because they have no access to anything else at airports, flights, trains etc


My point, however, is if you can do on your phone and/or tablet everything you do on your desktop or laptop, then the next time desktop/laptop upgrade time rolls around, you will have considerably fewer incentives to buy. I think many. perhaps most, mainstream consumers are in that position.


My point is that you can't. That's why most people who have a phone also have a PC, it extends it rather than replaces it. As an anecdote this guy got a tablet and thought that he wouldn't need a computer. But it was so frustrating and limiting that finally enough was enough and he got a refurbished laptop for 2/3 of the price and 100 times more powerful. Still uses his tablet when "at airport, on train .." but not when he has access to the laptop.
The mobile platform is much more locked down, not just in terms of hardware, but software as well. Anyone who has used a computer even for simple things would not fail to notice that.


Margins on PC's are very small, so of course vendors like to sell things with a higher margin. If it's likely that someone who owns a vendor's PC won't buy another PC from that vendor, they'd be wrong not to try find another product to sell to that customer.


But that has nothing to do with lack of demand, it is just that the mobile is more lucrative.


Every phone, smart and otherwise, that I've ever owned still works just fine. The latest software may not be available, but what's already there works. If I let the vnedors entice me into buying new hardware that can run software I don't need to run, that's my fault.

People are socially engineered to think their phone has a limited life time

Good for you. But social engineering is real for marketing calculations. The Apple phenomenon is in a large part a story of social engineering. I walk into StarBucks and everyone has a Mac (yes, a Macbook, not an iPhone) and none of them are "creative professionals", just students doing their homework or watching Youtube. Well why would you need to pay $1200 and up to get a only middle tier laptop for word processing, facebooking, movies, music (consuming, not making) and email? It is not a rational decision.

[buzzingrobot]

People buy and use phones and tablets because for almost all of us they provide almost all of the functionality we want from a computing device we aren't getting paid to use. Millions of people have already purchased the last desktop or laptop they will ever have in their home, and billions more will never buy one.

People who buy and use Macs aren't any more socially engineered than people who use Linux because they been conned into thinking it's some kind of independent ideological imperative that's going to save the world. People buy and use Macs because they like the hardware and they like the software. As someone who used Macs for as long as I've used Linux (close to 20 years) I can say there is good reason for that.

Meanwhile, my local Starbuck's hardly seems a haven for clueless dilettantes.

[monkeybrain20122]

People buy and use phones and tablets because for almost all of us they provide almost all of the functionality we want from a computing device we aren't getting paid to use. Millions of people have already purchased the last desktop or laptop they will ever have in their home, and billions more will never buy one.

How did you figure that? Sales of pcs are slow comparing to mobile because for one thing they last a lot longer. It is true that mobile has a lot of functionality bundled together but it does many of those functionality poorly and for too high a price, the only attraction is portability. So it is an additional thing to a real computer, not a replacement (at least for now, with convergence then you may have a point)

How do I know that? About 20 years ago when I was a schoolboy there was already portable TV the size of a pocket calculator. But it never caught on. It was just a novelty for enthusiasts. It was just not the right platform to watch TV. This is the same with the phone. It has the function, but is so poor that you won't pay a penny for it if it is not bundled with something else you find useful (like making calls) That goes with many other functions that come with the phone, it has them, but poor or inadequate except for being very portable. So there is incentive to get something better when portability is not the only consideration (most often it is not, for most people)

My dad has both a smart phone and a laptop. He would use the phone while outside or in the living room. But he would never give up on the laptop "It is so much more comfortable to use the laptop" he said. Guy is not a power user by any stretch of the imagination. He uses his laptop for email, browsing and youtube, but most importantly to organise his big photo collection (which he took with his phone or a camera) The phone, or even a tablet can't cut that.


People who buy and use Macs aren't any more socially engineered than people who use Linux because they been conned into thinking it's some kind of independent ideological imperative that's going to save the world. People buy and use Macs because they like the hardware and they like the software. As someone who used Macs for as long as I've used Linux (close to 20 years) I can say there is good reason for that.

Well socially engineered or not at least people who use Linux don't pay $1500+ to some company for specs that they can get A LOT cheaper elsewhere because of brand recognition. My laptop costs less than $400 and is much faster and can do more than my friend's $1400 macbook (he got an academic discount, which could be more expensive)

[leclerc65]

- I won't read on a phone
- I won't write on a tablet
So I still need a computer. But that may be the last one, unless they (I have several, old and new) self destruct.
Beside I use Garmin Mapsource to program my waypoints, POIEdit to convert GPX to TomTom ov2 - no way to get rid of them, and worse, I have to live with Windows 7 for a while.

[Welly Wu]

The problem extends to mobile and portable devices that are being piled up in the trash or electronic recycling centers worldwide. Notebook PCs in particular are prone to some of the same problems as smart phones. It's not easy for the customer or owner to replace the screen, CPU, GPU, cooling system, or internal sealed batteries without serious damage done to the defective product or hazardous materials and chemicals used to build the product. You can only put a certain amount of apps and data on a tablet or smart phone. A notebook PC is far larger, heavier, and bulkier and it contains a few terabytes of confidential business or personal accounts, information, and data of which must be securely wiped or physically destroyed with a degausser or hammer. This fosters a throw away society that expects to use mobile and portable devices for a few years only to be replaced and disposed or recycled. I don't like notebook PCs as much as I used to because I went through four of them in seven years and my latest one lasted less than 1.5 years before I had to get it repaired at my own costs. I just don't understand why people need devices to stay connected virtually all of the time? Why in the world would you want to go to a beach with your laptop, smart phone, or tablet with family and friends when you can bring a digital camera that gets the same videos and photographs recorded with greater results? I've seen people in restaurants with their smart phones and notebook PCs snapping up pictures of lunch or dinner. For what?

There is keen demand for smart phones, tablets, and notebook PCs which will not disappear soon enough. So long as the demand is strong, the original poster has no say in the design and manufacture of smart phones or other mobile and portable computing devices destined for the trash heap in a few years or less. We rent our time shares at vacation getaways and we rent our media through the Internet and we buy and own devices like smart phones and treat them as rental devices with a short time span.

Get a desktop PC and stay in your office or home to do you computing. Buy a notebook PC if you absolutely must and keep it for at least three years or longer if possible. Just realize that each mobile and portable device that you buy is going to last you a short time period and you'll cycle through newer brands and product models before this or the next decade are up.

Tablets and smart phones are not selling like they used to a few years ago due to oversaturation of the worldwide markets. This is a good thing. People are returning to notebook PCs as the primary computing devices and a few are buying desktop PCs for more features, capabilities, performance, and upgradability. The pendulum is swinging back to the other direction where it should stay put for a time.

[monkeybrain20122]

Why in the world would you want to go to a beach with your laptop, smart phone, or tablet with family and friends when you can bring a digital camera that gets the same videos and photographs recorded with greater results? I've seen people in restaurants with their smart phones and notebook PCs snapping up pictures of lunch or dinner. For what?



+1000. I often wonder. It has become a meme that friends get together around a table and all are fondling their smart phones instead of talking to each other. Connection?! What connection?

[user1397]

As a 24 year old millennial, I hate the position I'm in where I constantly have to defend my generation :(

I too do not understand people taking pictures of food, and anytime I'm in a social situation and someone busts out their phone and ignores you it really ticks me off. That is a simple rule that should be taught now by all parents: "when you're in a social situation with friends or family, keep your phone in your pocket and listen to people talking to you." I can't tell you how frustrating it is to be talking to someone and all of a sudden they are looking at their phone and by the end of your sentence they say sorry what? I was texting...

So here is someone hoping to change the perception of the older generations that we are not all the same. We are not all sheep, not all of us like taking mindless photos of our food every time we eat, and not all of us are constantly plugged in and talking to people on social media.

As far as the smartphone vs PC debate, I will say that for many people nowadays a PC is not necessarily needed with of course some exceptions. I know people that use a smartphone for everything and haven't turned on their laptops in a year. I personally like a bigger screen if I'm gonna be at home anyway so I'd rather do most of my computing on my laptop when I'm home, but I think it is extremely convenient to have a significant percentage of my computing done by a smartphone outside my home. I'll even watch netflix or read an article/essay/book on my phone if the situation arises.

Also, I agree with monkeybrain that Macs are just simply overpriced, and I can concur that most people who buy them just do basic stuff on them. They may be nice, and OS X is unix-based and it is solid and safer than windows in general, but I still don't think any of that can justify the price difference. You can buy a $400 acer laptop and do all the basic stuff no problems. Even windows is easy to maintain even if you're a newbie if you simply google a couple of guides on basic maintenance. And for a geekier person you can always dualboot with linux and save yourself some headaches.

Also another addendum, buzzingrobot you said that "people are socially engineered to think their phone has a limited life time" and although that may be true, I would argue that most if not all manufacturers use planned obsolescence as part of their strategy to get people to buy their products more often. I know sometime you can get lucky and a phone or computer will last you for years but for the most part things break down on purpose.