I use a tablet for work and my phone is my backup. Are you kidding?? I've got room full of filing cabinets in my pocket. This combo helps me schedule, research, do my admin and accounting, and give presentations, for pete's sake! I use it as two backup cameras when I'm doing some run and gun street photography on my lunch hour, and I take it traveling instead of a bulky laptop. Are you kidding me??? The only other things I carry in my bag are a rechargeable hand-fan, my little tank of a camera Canon G10, and - a backup charger, lol. The only thing I use my computer for any more is photoshop or video productivity. Also, the screen is a little gentler on the eyes for long periods. Watching the next generation play their phones like a piano - or a monkey in a Skinner box - I know they will not think twice about the people left behind by their technophilia. And it's not just phones; the bots are here too, if you haven't noticed yet, and only getting more prevalent. In photography there is definitely an appeal of dead-simple mechanical button dials that give you instant access to your camera settings; rather than using screens and menus, especially when seconds count in getting a shot. With phones, there's a lot of people who only want the call or text function - and for them, you can definitely see where an old flip phone built like a tank just makes more sense than some fragile, skittish razzle dazzle device. Not to mention the Big Brother factor, where it's not just the government activating your camera and mic at will, but it's also commercial and private app developers, and hackers - and of course, future data-shadowers who will be able to profile your entire use history from databases for whatever purposes. But look, it's shiny! Just for the record, there was a time when the human race survived just fine without cell phones, cheap 3rd world manufacture, or an ever-present, panoptic Observer Effect over their internetwork profile. And there was such a thing as privacy. I hesitate to think, sometimes, what the powers that be are grooming the human race to become. "Unquestioningly dependent upon their solutions," comes to mind. "Unquestioningly identified with the political and commercial appropriation of their cultural heritage." I hesitate to think how easily some can discard their own liberty. "Meh." Yes, meh indeed. We worried about the implanting of microchips in individuals and what that totalitarianism signified; but you know, in a data-immersive world, the same results can likely be had non-invasively; voluntarily; unquestioningly. And as for security, it has now stretched to accommodate not only the lowest behavior in one's community, but capable of the entire human race worldwide. "Meh."
For planned stuff, absolutely. Even though my DSLR is almost 10 years old and only does 10mp. The sensors in phone cameras aren't as good, despite my phone having a 16mp camera, the DSLR is still superior. Still, it's nice to have something to take quick pics & vids with that's already in my pocket.
Given my S6 is the best part of two years old, I was surprised the other day when I did an update and it's now Android 7.0.
Call me technophob, but I don’t want to be forced to buy an i-phone just to be able to see the videos my favorite actor does. He is famous and rich and always can afford the newest toys. I can’t and I don’t want to. I see no reason for paying an added monthly fee on top of what I already pay for internet. Some years ago he did videos via Twitter and everything was fine. I was able to watch them with the laptop. Then he switched to Periscope. You only could watch those when you had an i-phone or i-pad. I felt left out. I once even went to my neighbor to be able to watch a video everyone was talking about before it expired after 24 hours. Later they added an Android app for this Periscope thing but still I was left out – as were those with older Android phones. I even installed a program that promised to play Android apps at the PC but it never worked. Now he does these videos via Facebook and I am thankful the chapter Periscope is over. You never know when the next big thing hits though. Equally I can’t upload pictures to Instagram from the PC. Apparently there used to be a way but it got closed down. So no, I won’t take crappy pictures with a phone just so I can upload them to Instagram. I prefer doing my action figure pictures with a good camera in good quality. It’s art, not a quick snap. And what do I hear about them soon making printed train tickets obsolete, the doors just scan your phone when you get in and out and money gets automatically drawn? All the elderly people won’t be able to take the train anymore? Last example: Last year, my bank office had closed its usually open doors at 6 PM during the winter time. I was not able to get inside to draw money from the cash machine. There was a helpful sign at the door where the next office with a machine with street access was. Only, it was just an QR code. One of those pixel things that you scan with your phone. How hard would it have been to actually write the street address on this sign?
One would assume not very, but scanning the QR Code would then show where it was on a map with directions on Google maps one would assume.
I would have not minded if the QR code had been there as an additional information for those who can use it. I objected to it being the ONLY information. Short of asking a strange man on the street to scan it for me, there was no way for me to get money that Friday. I actually had to wait till Monday morning. And that is not okay.
I would have just used my card in the nearest ATM, I'm surprised the bank didn't have one outside it.
I love the convenience of being able to look up information, make purchases, and mindlessly surf the web while riding the bus or whatever, as well as using the navigation, and also being able to take photos and share them with people. I actually prefer texting rather than talking on the phone, as I can respond at my leisure without disturbing anyone around me with audible conversation. I don't like the idea that Google knows where i am all the time. Kor
Ah but you pay a fee when you use the "wrong" ATM. There are not many that I can use. Probably, even if there had been an address, it would have been far away. This is a room that is before the actual office which usually only is closed but the room is accessible. They only closed it so homeless people wouldn't sleep in there. They later changed it to 10 PM.
I definitely like the ability to use my iPhone to deposit checks. My bank has an excellent app that allows me to do this. (I think most decent banks do, nowadays.) So I hardly ever need to visit an actual bank branch - unless I need to get cash, which is rare. And also there's Apple Pay... One of the greatest advances of the 21st century.
I'm 37, soon to be 38, so we're not too far off in age. Don't think of it so much as a phone but more like a mini-tablet with phone capability. It's a utility tool. I find it useful to check up something online on the spot, take pictures on the spot, and it makes for a better GPS than the piece of shit I have that actually is a GPS.
I have no problem with smart phones but with smart phone culture. Yes, there is a distinction. And, yes, it is a serious issue.
Not long ago husband and I were in a restaurant. A young family came in and sat at the table across from us. After making sure their little girl was secure in her high chair, the parents sat down, whipped out their phones and started scrolling. The little girl watched them for a moment and then declared to anyone who could hear "BAD MOMMY! BAD DADDY!" It was all we could do to keep from laughing out loud.
Great idea! I was just searching for a less annoying alert. The Google knows...and it's really annoying.
I miss a tactile keyboard. I loved my old Razr V3 which was a flip phone, but it had a crappy battery life and had to be charged almost every 2nd day. I only make phone calls or send text message so really don't need failbook or such. If I want that I have a PC. I'd love to get a nice modern phone with a proper tactile keyboard, plus that would be easier to see. Also we have 3g and 4g here in Australia so that new Nokia won't work as it's only 2g. What idiot thought that was a good idea to redesign it and not have at least 3g coverage on it? My ringtone used to be the Airwolf theme but then I found "not happy Jan" and that one has stuck and I like it because people pop their heads up when my phone rings thinking Jan is somewhere.
I think some bad reactions we can have to seeing someone buried in a smart phones is that it looks like someone is looking at themselves in a mirror. Though the smart phone can give you more info than a newspaper--the 'paper looks expansive--as if to say--I'm part of a larger world. The cell phone seems base in comparison--narrow..more rude somehow. Body cues. The newspaper is the person who stands by your side and talks--instead of looking down when they are in front of you. The paper blocks eye contact. The cell phone makes you avert eye contact--it looks like you are ignoring someone who is more open