Do you need your smartphone?

I'm having a hard time financially right now and have decided to save 30 dollars a month and go back to a dumb phone. The only things I used my Iphone for was Pandora, and occasionally for the map. I just got screwed over by the insurance company and decided it just wasn't worth it.

So, do you need your smart phone. What are the essential programs that you run on it. What do you use it for the most. Is it worth the 30 dollars a month to you?

Well, technically no, but it's a huge help. When I'm commuting I can check train and bus times, keep track of my appointments, stay on top of news, see what's trending on twitter, find places around me in new areas on so forth. I'm training to be a journalist so these are all useful things to have. Sure, these are all things that were already possible in one form or another, but it's extremely useful having these things in one place. I can't imagine going back.

I don't NEED need my smart phone, I don't use it for much outside of maps, Chrome, and a KenKen app. But I am constantly using it to look things up when I'm out and about, especially stuff like recipes when I'm trying to figure out what to buy at the grocery store. Since I'm always eyeballing the meat section for a good deal, I usually have no idea what protein I'm going to be working with until I get there. With my phone, if I see there's a particularly good deal on ground Italian sausage and some markdown basil and mushrooms because they're about to expire, I can use the internet to cobble together a meal plan and make the necessary purchases.

Also the Steam app comes in handy since I seem to always be out of town when a big Steam sale hits.

You know, there's a lot of things in life you don't "need". A smartphone is one of them. It can be immensely useful, but if you barely use it for anything other than phonecalls and you're also having financial problems, might as well ditch it.

I will admit that I do procrastinate a lot more since getting an iPhone, but the pro's out weight the cons.

Pro's

• Email
• Spotify
• Camera/Photo's
• Calendar
• Maps/Navigation
• (some) Decent games
• Podcasts - Downcast is my App of choice
• Browsing the web - Chrome
• Whatsapp - free messaging across platforms
• iMessage/Facetime/Skype - My parents called me, no charge, today whilst holidaying in Mauritius, to say happy Diwali!

Con's

• Expensive hardware
• Expensive Contracts
• When it breaks you feel as if you lost a limb.

I do sometimes part with my phone so im not staring at it 24/7 but when I need info on something its an amazing bit of technology to have in your hand.

I'm starting to work in sales, and it's pretty essential for stuff like email, usin ta interwebz, other company online functions that I'm pretty sure I shouldn't write about (it's not evil or anything). It's a mini portable computer that makes calls, and it's how to do business these days.

I don't need to eat bacon sandwiches but you'll have to pry it from my cold dead hands before I give them up!

No, throw off your shackles.

I feel like being crotchety and a Luddite today.

Despite doing tech support for them as a job I don't own one or have any desire to own one. I know! I love the irony as well. I just have no need for one. I'm ether at home in front of my computer or at work. When at work you can't use them as they are not allowed on the floor and when I'm home I'm at my PC and can do anything you can do on one ten times better. It's not worth $60 a month for the one or two times it would be useful to call ahead to the pizza place to order a pizza rather then wait 10-15 min when I get there or to check the price of something online when at a store. Those are the only two times in recent memory I have been in a situation in my life where I thought it would have been handy to have one.

If I ever move out on my own I would probably get a cheap one instead of a home phone as it's only another $20-$30 a month for one. Other than that though I don't see me ever buying one.

I need my smartphone. It has helped me out wayyy too many times to count.

It is helpful, but I dont need it. It is basically a calander, email, and twitter machine for me. Also it has been a huge help for maps on numerous occasions, but I could live without it. Still, I wont live without it.

Nope.  
I have my home phone for important calls and my PCs for just getting in touch with friends and family to set up dinner plans or going out or just hanging out.  
The only thing my "Smart" phone is doing right now is.. having the ringtone changed from time to time. 

need is a tricky word.. i mean i need shelter, food and water.

in todays world though yes i need my phone, would give up a lot of other things before my phone. it makes work so much easier, can communicate and read work news anywhere and that's awesome. i use email, text and twitter all for work (there are some surprisingly sophisticated tweets out there, it's not all about what sandwich someone had for lunch). if not for my career though i guess i'd be single and a shut in video game dork so then i wouldn't need it, but i digress.

Nope. I don't have a phone at all (besides a home phone). I plan on keeping it that way.

Need? No. But I can't live without it.

Never even owned one.

I've got a dumb phone, I haven't upgraded because doing so would cost me money. I barely call anyone and have unlimited texting so my phone bill is next to nothing and I'd like to keep it that way. I'd love to have a smart phone just to have something to do when I'm bored at work or whatever, but I can get along without one just fine.

If you need it for work than you need it. But I prefer the Dumbphone+ipodtouch combo.

iphones look sweet, it would combine two devices for me. But those contracts are fully retarded.

Don't even have one and don't feel the need for one. Don't use social sites and I have the patience to wait to get to my pc to check mail and stuff, and not having to to pay all that extra money either is a plus for me.

Nah, though having ready access to the internet can be very useful if you need to look up an address of something. I often consider switching back to my Nokia 8800. It's pretty and small and the battery lasts forever.

I don't really need one, but they are very, very nice to have.

I don't need any phone.

I've never owned one, and feel pretty all right about it. I wouldn't dislike owning one, but I don't personally have any need.

I don't need a smartphone, man. I can quit anytime I want.

I don't need it..... BUT I DO NEED IT.

It makes life easier, like socks.

Technically no. But in all honesty I use the "smart" parts of my smartphone more than I use the "phone" parts of it.

I wouldn't need one if everyone else didn't have one. I was late to the party (finally got one a couple months ago) but I felt like a second class citizen since about 2010.

No, I don't. But it's really handy to have the internet in your pocket. I had the dumb phone and iPod Touch combo up until a year ago and I did just fine.

It's sort of like when I got broadband for the first time. It would really suck not having it.

I like owning a smartphone and it's got me out of a lot of messes:

getting lost,

reminding me of friends birthdays just as I'm about to call them,

allowing me to check wikipedia and show people how full of s*** they really are

So, yeah, it makes my life better, now I don't have to use my brain as much.

Don't need it, I would catch up with my reading on my train commute without it.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but yes, I do. Without my Galaxy S3 I wouldn't handle life in Jerusalem as a new student. I've only had it a month and it's radically changed my life! Radically. That's a big word.

Yup.

Sending files and images for work and projects makes it mandatory.

no, as i have a dumb down phone. i do want to get a smart phone because there have been times where i had nothing to do at work. i just stood around doing nothing.

A smartphone is definitely not a NEED for most people. That said, it is well worth the money for me. I use Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Podcasts and text messages commonly. Other than that, most of the apps I use are only occasional really.

I've got a six year old dumbphone that I barely use. I'd like to get a smartphone for internet stuff but data plans just seem ridiculous to me.

I don't need it, no, but it is helpful at times and I like it. It's a great convenience.

I don't have one. I wish I had one simply to use Grooveshark on the go and mobile internet access would be nice. Also because there are literally no good basic phones available from Verizon anymore.

No. but my daily bus ride would suck without it.

I plant my iPhone in my GF's car and keep track of where she goes through iCloud while i'm working. So hell fucking yes I need it.

I don't have one, so yes.

I don't need it, but I feel like I'm becoming overly dependant on it. I was driving in an unfamiliar city not long ago, and my battery died while I was without a car charger. I almost freaked until I realized I could just stop for directions or buy a map like in the olden days. It was actually pretty refreshing to plot a course the truly analog way.