Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I like having information available to me no matter where I am... I am constantly looking up things on google or wikipedia. Or checking news and weather sites.
The other thing I enjoy is being able to have a memory bank right at my hands. I put things that I need to remember but dont want to remember on the notepad of my phone. Example. My Tax ID of my companies. My kids and spouse SSN's. My passwords to all the million sites needed. My Pin numbers of my bank cards since I rarely use ATM's.
I really enjoy having access to my email 24/7. I use my email for business and personal often. And having access to it and being able to read and respond no matter where I am is a huge benefit.
I also have games that I play on the phone which are fun to pass times of waiting at the doctor's or dentis office. while ur car is being serviced. etc...
I also enjoy being able to take photos and videos... and share them immediately with family and friends by sending them a text or email.
Another bonus of the iPhone is the ability to take screen prints. You can easily send somene a screen print of anything on your phone. I use it a lot for business. Especially when I am negotiating with a client and we reach an agreement. I take a screen print of the email or text. It's great for keeping records.
Having GPS system with you at all times is great as well. I dont even use my gps in my vehicles because i like the one of my phone better and its easier to use.
Finallly... the iPod!!! I love not having to carry around a million cd's and dvds like when I was young. me entire music collection is right at my finger tips. I can pull up any song i want at any time. And I can put whatever movie's I want to take with me on a plane ride or car ride right on my phone. It's absolutely amazing!
I don't know about improving the quality of life as that is not the purpose of smarphones. Convenience, yes. The apps I use are
ESPN Sportcenter
Twitter
Email
Maps
Games
Yelp
Flixter
HBO Go
USA Today
Stocks
IMDB
Wikipedia
YouTube/Vevo
iBooks
LinkedIn
Overall, I love smartphones. I love how they have evolved. I just enjoy having information at my finger tips. Knowledge is power. The more information you have the better decisions you can make.
Hope this helps.
Makes me feel like a dinosaur, ok i am a dinosaur as i cant imagine using most of those aps or having access to them 24/7,as yet i'm still trying to find a reason to get a cell phone.. i can only imagine how reliant we'll be on technology 100 years from now,will we still be relevant as humans? or will Artificial intelligence be in control.?
In my personal life, I can live without a smart phone.
At work, it makes life SO much better. All employees are issued one at work and since many people work in the field, it is so great being able to instantly get in touch with them.
We used to have regular cel phone (no text, no email), and when we moved up to Iphones, I just found work to be so much less stressful. So I do love them for that.
Makes me feel like a dinosaur, ok i am a dinosaur as i cant imagine using most of those aps or having access to them 24/7,as yet i'm still trying to find a reason to get a cell phone.. i can only imagine how reliant we'll be on technology 100 years from now,will we still be relevant as humans? or will Artificial intelligence be in control.?
$1900 a year for the average smartphone cost. You don't need one.
$1900 a year for a 2 year plan = $3800.
10 years of smartphone = $19000!
I've started to think - what if people invested this money?
$19000 invested over 10 years would amount to nearly double by the end of that decade. Invest $57000 over 30 years (just for not owning a smartphone) and you can buy 3 vehicles (which would last in at about 10 years each, so you'd be covered), a house in some places (or at least a downpayment), or you'd probably have about $125000 in the bank if you invested.
So don't worry if you don't have one. It's not useful if it's not cost-effective. Too bad many people own one just to check their tire pressure or to find out how to get across town. For those who have significant use, go for it. For those who don't...well, no comment.
Because there's a good chance it's not cost-effective to use it. But that's your own choice and your own evaluation. I'm merely presenting information.
Also, if we condense multiple industries into one what will end up happening is when the infrastructure gets plagued or collapses it will be all the more worse.
Seriously, are you really that dense or am I not being plain enough in my posts? Perhaps you haven't read them.
Let's try again.
I am having problems with math, remembering things (lots of things), tracking where I need to go and when, etc. My smartphone keeps all this, or provides the tool to accomplish what I need. I was a math wiz, never needed notes, read things once and had it. Everything one can learn was easy for me. No longer the case.
And you bring up cost effective.
It's priceless. And if the infrastructure collapses then I'll be where I would be now without it. So every day the infrastructure doesn't collapse is a bonus.
I know you still don't get it so I'll leave you alone now. Maybe you'll understand in a few decades or so. Probably not.
Ludicrous? How is listening to a vehicle for issues ludicrous? The most common thing a mechanic hears is probably "I heard a noise..."
So you're telling me you can tell me the oil pressure, oil temperature, manifold/boost pressure, real-time fuel usage, average fuel-economy, real-time horsepower, real-time torque, fuel range, A/F mixture, and diagnose a CEL code by listening to your car? Yeah, that's ludicrous. No, it's beyond ludicrous, it's deliberate ignorance.
Quote:
Originally Posted by michael_atw
What is ludicrous is someone who hasn't read enough to see that I have said various times that smartphones have utility. Beyond that, someone who hasn't seen that my problem lies with the costs.
As I explained before, getting "traditional" equipment to get real-time data like this easily costs $500-800. Or I can buy a smartphone, OBDII dongle and OBDII data app for roughly 15-20% of that cost. And I can move it from car to car instead of having to spend another $500-800 to have this data available in each car.
Meanwhile, the "costs" article you cite in a subsequent post is way out of date. The price of smart phones and data plans today is a fraction of the numbers quoted in that article.
$1900 a year for the average smartphone cost. You don't need one.
$1900 a year for a 2 year plan = $3800.
10 years of smartphone = $19000!
I've started to think - what if people invested this money?
$19000 invested over 10 years would amount to nearly double by the end of that decade. Invest $57000 over 30 years (just for not owning a smartphone) and you can buy 3 vehicles (which would last in at about 10 years each, so you'd be covered), a house in some places (or at least a downpayment), or you'd probably have about $125000 in the bank if you invested.
So don't worry if you don't have one. It's not useful if it's not cost-effective. Too bad many people own one just to check their tire pressure or to find out how to get across town. For those who have significant use, go for it. For those who don't...well, no comment.
$30/month for smart phone. $55/month for land line I no longer need. Net savings: $300/year.
Good luck michael_atw, I cant bring myself to even look at this thread anymore. Makes me sick that so many people are tied to their "electronic leashes". I was at my sons soccer game this weekend (one of my favorite time during the week). I look around and there are parents standing there playing on the phones the entire game, not even paying attention to the game. This is what society is coming to and I want nothing to do with it. Yes they are tools if you NEED them, but lets face it, these phones have only been out since I think 2006? What were you guys doing prior to 2006? Is that when the life on our planet began? Most of these phones just have gadgets to kill time and thats what is addicting. Your using a single utility or two that you find may be helpful in life just to justify you owning one. Fact is you probably are probably playing angry birds or checking your manifold boost pressure, lol, more than you use the helpful utility. I just got rid of mine this weekend and I am now saving 20 dollars a month. Thats $240 dollars a year I can save and accomplish the same things that you guys with smartphones are.
Before 2006 those of us for whom the soccer game is NOT our favorite time of the week were talking on the cell or to people around us. You can't make all parents parent like you do or enjoy the things you do. The kids are happy to have parents THERE and smart phones help some parents be more mobile to attend these things. You can see it as sickening or as progress, but so can each of us.
Ok, I lied, here I am again. Kids enjoy when there parents cheer for them, kids get excited when they come up and say "did you see me do that Dad?", and you say yeah, im so proud of you. My son is 6, not sure the age of the child you may be referring to, but my kids are #1. I may not like soccer in fact I dont care if I hated soccer, because he is playing I am going to watch every second. Just being there is not enough. There is no phone call, or game of angry birds that is more important...so to me it is sickening. Im am not trying to change this into a soccer thread just one more reason as to why people like these phones...so they can play a game of angry birds instead of watching there children play a sport. I understand what you are saying, I just dont get it.
So you're telling me you can tell me the oil pressure, oil temperature, manifold/boost pressure, real-time fuel usage, average fuel-economy, real-time horsepower, real-time torque, fuel range, A/F mixture, and diagnose a CEL code by listening to your car? Yeah, that's ludicrous. No, it's beyond ludicrous, it's deliberate ignorance.
No, I'm telling you the things you need to know you can hear. None of that stuff is required to be known for daily usage of the vehicle - except what is already gauged by the vehicle itself. I can study moon rocks, it doesn't mean I'm going to spend money on a spaceship to do it. Real time iron content of moon rocks. I can do it, doesn't mean I need to do it. I can get some gauge to measure real-time torque - but obviously, there is nearly nobody who needs to do that on a sparse basis, let alone a regular basis. I should make an app so you can diagnose a refrigerator. Some of you would eat up anything. I'll make another app so you can test flouride levels in your water or the amount of sodium in your Taco Bell taco. If you spent as much time doing something more substantial than measuring your car's diagnostics daily...LOL. I'd hate to drive next to you, toggling away on your phone trying to figure out your oil pressure while an oil gauge actively exists in your car. Whoops.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Drover
As I explained before, getting "traditional" equipment to get real-time data like this easily costs $500-800. Or I can buy a smartphone, OBDII dongle and OBDII data app for roughly 15-20% of that cost. And I can move it from car to car instead of having to spend another $500-800 to have this data available in each car.
Nobody needs to spend that money on either case, period.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Drover
Meanwhile, the "costs" article you cite in a subsequent post is way out of date. The price of smart phones and data plans today is a fraction of the numbers quoted in that article.
Now that sentence is deliberate ignorance. It makes sense you're arguing with me, because at the end when the costs come into play you have no clue. The cost of smartphones themselves is down but the costs of the plans are not down at all. In fact, more reining in on the data plans is driving costs northward, rather than south. And the lack of competition as well.
Last edited by michael_atw; 05-07-2012 at 11:34 AM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
