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View Full Version : Are smartphones a luxury when excluding integrated camera and google maps?



John_Patrick_Mason
December 17th, 2016, 08:48 AM
Please explain why some people are perfectly willing to spend a $1200 on the latest Iphone, yet can't be bothered to upgrade their 6-year old desktop -- which if they did, would have superior specs.

QIII
December 17th, 2016, 08:51 AM
Hard to carry your 6 year old desktop on the commuter train and talk to your aging mother on it?

John_Patrick_Mason
December 17th, 2016, 08:55 AM
Maybe, but a regular flip phone can do the same job for cheaper.

QIII
December 17th, 2016, 08:56 AM
And?

John_Patrick_Mason
December 17th, 2016, 08:58 AM
Just saying I don't get why some people would be willing to spend that much on a tiny device.

QIII
December 17th, 2016, 09:00 AM
Because maybe they want to talk to their aged mother while on the commuter train and take a picture once in a while to send to her. It's their choice, not ours.

John_Patrick_Mason
December 17th, 2016, 09:03 AM
For the record, I too own a smartphone, though I got it as a gift. Just wondering if other people thought it was a luxury.

wildmanne39
December 17th, 2016, 09:07 AM
For the record, I too own a smartphone, though I got it as a gift. Just wondering if other people thought it was a luxury.

Not anymore almost everyone can have a smart phone these days since cell companies let people pay them out a few dollars a month now. For between 5 and 25 a month you can get a nice one.

But we have no idea what people do or why they do it.

John_Patrick_Mason
December 17th, 2016, 09:14 AM
It's not so much the price of the phone itself that bothers me, though some smartphones are overpriced, it's the fact that I have to pay for a data plan on top of paying for minutes that bothers me. What particularly worries me is the move towards Apple Pay and Android Pay when everybody will have to pay for data just to be able to pay at the register when shopping. Seems like an unnecessary added expense.

sudodus
December 17th, 2016, 09:22 AM
I think that people in general are turning away from desktop and laptop computers, and focus on mobile phones and other hand-held devices.

-o-

The schools in my town use an application for communication with the parents, that push people into using Windows, MacIntosh or brand new smartphones. Otherwise it will not work, not with android 4.4.4 (which is what I have in a not too old smartphone), not with Firefox ...

Most people buy the latest and greatest to comply with the 'demands' of the modern society. I complain and try to make them change the system to be more inclusive, but those responsible (for that application for communication with the parents) think that I am a PITA. And I am, for them :-P

lisati
December 17th, 2016, 09:25 AM
I don't see the need to spend megabucks on a smartphone. Mrs Lisati's current smartphone cost us $NZ20 during a promotion, and I managed to pick up another for $NZ10 through a Facebook auction. Both are good basic smartphones, and do the job for making calls, text messaging, checking the bank through the bank's app, and the occasional photo. And yes, we have a flip phone in the bedroom.

John_Patrick_Mason
December 17th, 2016, 09:31 AM
Yeah, the phone I have is an older 4.4.2. "Most people buy the latest and greatest to comply with the 'demands' of the modern society." I think you hit the nail on the head, but I don't necessarily agree that people are moving away from laptops/desktop computers, at least not anyone who's currently in high school/college. Case in point, try typing a 12 point 10-page scientific paper on a tablet/smartphone it's almost impossible. And that obviously excludes PC gamers, all kinds of artists, such as professional photographers and graphic designers, most scientists, etc, etc...

John_Patrick_Mason
December 17th, 2016, 09:51 AM
"And yes, we have a flip phone in the bedroom." I commend you for still owning one. If I hadn't been given a smartphone I would still be using a regular phone.

sudodus
December 17th, 2016, 10:07 AM
Yeah, the phone I have is an older 4.4.2. "Most people buy the latest and greatest to comply with the 'demands' of the modern society." I think you hit the nail on the head, but I don't necessarily agree that people are moving away from laptops/desktop computers, at least not anyone who's currently in high school/college. Case in point, try typing a 12 point 10-page scientific paper on a tablet/smartphone it's almost impossible. And that obviously excludes PC gamers, all kinds of artists, such as professional photographers and graphic designers, most scientists, etc, etc...

You are right, but most people are neither scientists nor artists nor other professionals who need a pc. A fair amount of young people are gamers, that's true, and they need a powerful computer.

qyot27
December 18th, 2016, 04:13 AM
It's not so much the price of the phone itself that bothers me, though some smartphones are overpriced, it's the fact that I have to pay for a data plan on top of paying for minutes that bothers me. What particularly worries me is the move towards Apple Pay and Android Pay when everybody will have to pay for data just to be able to pay at the register when shopping. Seems like an unnecessary added expense.
Usually you have a minutes/text/data bundled plan or just a data plan (which are mostly intended for tablets). Granted, the vast bulk of that bundled cost is the data, as minutes and texts are so inexpensive now that carriers can afford to make them unlimited on even some of the cheapest monthly plans, but they have to have something that pulls in more money - hence the integrated data pricing. Only way to get around that is to do postpaid plans.

And I'm pretty sure you don't need a data plan to use the digital wallets on smartphones - Apple, Samsung, and Android Pay are all NFC-based, so you could probably even have no phone plan at all and it'd still work. The $100 phone I bought in 2015 is just a bit too old and lower-market for it to have that feature (it's an LG Volt 2), but it's still more than enough power for the other things I need it for. I will admit to salivating over the LG V20, though - now that is definitely something I'd consider a luxury item in comparison; if I had a job that paid me enough to afford an $800 phone and the need to actually replace mine, then sure. I'd just swap it into my existing phone plan and still only pay between $6-15 a month depending on usage.

Sableyes
December 18th, 2016, 02:42 PM
Yeah, the phone I have is an older 4.4.2. "Most people buy the latest and greatest to comply with the 'demands' of the modern society." I think you hit the nail on the head, but I don't necessarily agree that people are moving away from laptops/desktop computers, at least not anyone who's currently in high school/college. Case in point, try typing a 12 point 10-page scientific paper on a tablet/smartphone it's almost impossible. And that obviously excludes PC gamers, all kinds of artists, such as professional photographers and graphic designers, most scientists, etc, etc...

Kingsoft Office works as good as Libre Office on a linux desktop. Add any bluetooth keyboard, of which there are many, and its easy as pie to write a 12 page report on a tablet.

My tablets and phones can also use my HP scanner scanner and plug in port SD card readers, so that makes art, graphic design and photography also easier for me. I earn money from all 3 and I use an Ultra 6 for a lot of my work (£115 Octa core, 2 or 3gb of ram, 5.5 inch screen tabletphone). I can also touch things up with a stylus which is nice.

I still use a laptop for vector art, but in all truth, look at how far software and hardware wise tablets and phones have come in 10 years. I cannot imagine it will take long for someone to release some sort of vector art app for Android, if they haven't already.