Curiosity about smartphone ownership

[Janx]

I went from a Motorola Razor when those were cool to iPhone 3g, then 4, 5, 6 and 8. Before the 6, you could get the mid-size model for $300 because the carrier subsidized it and sell the prior model for $150-200, making it modestly priced. Upgrade every other year (my wife got the alternate years, 3gs, 4s, etc) and my wallet kept my sanity. Then the 6 came out and subsidizing died and we delayed upgrading until the battery reminded us "hey, I'm not getting younger". That cost me $800 or so for mine and nearly $1K for my wife's 6+ because she needed a bigger screen. Then we rode those horses for 3-4 years until battery issues forced our hand again. She got the XR and I got the 8 because I needed nothing but a tech refresh and new battery that Apple was offering.

In the midst of that, I also had work phones, Blackberry, and two Androids that sucked. As a tech industry guy you'd think I'd love that open crap, but no. All that freedom is risk and confusopoly. iOS does what I need. Heck I hated when they changed the UI because Ives took over because the UI is harder to see controls and dividing lines. Win10's flat look has the same problem.

At my current age, I'm far sighted so using a smart phone without my glasses is impossible, and I'd question if I really need a smartphone. Most of my day job is at a computer. I don't send work emails to my phone or it'd buzz constantly and in an emergency, I should be called and if one existed, I'd need full size monitors to solve the problem anyway. I'd probably waste less time on social media, too.

 

[Ulfgeir]

If I recall correctly 4 (counting those cell-phones I could actually surf on and run apps.). Not counting the ones issued by my work, as they technically are not owned by me. Yes, I carry 2 phones. My work-phone and my private one. Yes, I do use my private one for some work (When entering the serieal number of devices, I often use the camera in my private phone to take a picture, so that I can see the damn number better. My private camera a Huawei P30 has a MUCH better camera than the Iphone 6? I have from work). If I need to take a photo that I need to save and use for something, then I use the work-phone and mail the photo to myself.

 

[pming]

Hiya!

I intentionally chose to not include it, as that option isn't relevant to what I was curious about.

Ahh...it wasn't clear when I read it. Perhaps "Cellphone owners...how many a year?" or something would have been more descriptive.

That said, my mother does have one, and she just got it after her other one was getting too old; she had it for about 3 years or so I think. I have one friend who gets a new one every other year, and another who does it very hap-hazardly (e.g., "whenever"...might go 9 months, might go 9 years).

As I have no horse in this race, I'll leave the rest to those tethered to their digital ball-and-chain.

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[Umbran]

Ahh...it wasn't clear when I read it. Perhaps "Cellphone owners...how many a year?" or something would have been more descriptive.

The question gets at the information I was curious about. Being descriptive wasn't actually a goal.

And a certain amount of armchair quarterbacking the question was expected.

 

[Legatus Legionis]

.

 

[Mad_Jack]

I bought my 1st, and currently only, smartphone 4 years ago, making it my 4th or 5th overall cellphone since 2001. I'm sitting in front of my laptop pretty much all day, so I don't usually feel the need for it.

This is basically my situation as well - a smartphone isn't necessary for my job (although having the ability to text coworkers would be useful, I won't use my personal phone for work without compensation), I don't use it to listen to music at work, and wouldn't have time to take non-emergency calls there anyway, so I keep it in my locker while on the clock.
If I'm not at work, chances are I'm at home, and probably on my computer, so I really don't do any internet stuff on my phone.

 

[Deset Gled]

The thing is, once people knew I had a smartphone, they would ask me to use features dumb phones didn’t have. So my use of smartphones is largely driven by the needs of others.

At a fundamental level, isn't all use of a telephone driven by the needs of others?

Hell, I was in a restaurant the other day where they were no longer using physical menus- their menus were either online or required a QR code. (And I don’t have a QR app.)

Pre-COVID, I hated this kind of thing. Post-COVID, I'm more accepting of it.

FWIW, QR codes are now handled natively by both Android and iPhone. The normal camera app should recognize them. If you have an older phone you might still need an app, but the default assumption for the future is an if you have a smart phone, you can do QR codes.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

FWIW, QR codes are now handled natively by both Android and iPhone. The normal camera app should recognize them. If you have an older phone you might still need an app, but the default assumption for the future is an if you have a smart phone, you can do QR codes.

Really? Learned something!

 

[Zardnaar]

I've only started using QR codes last few months due to the Covid tracing app.

I think McDonalds use them but I very rarely eat that type of fast food so yeah.

Don't really use the phone apps either only a few. Don't at games either as with PS4/Xbox/Switch and his and hers gaming rig PCs it's kinda pointless.

 

[Umbran]

At a fundamental level, isn't all use of a telephone driven by the needs of others?

When you are sick and want to call a doctor, that's not their needs you are meeting.