[swashmebuckle]

I have considered grabbing an Android phone a couple times over the past few years just because they are so ubiquitous, but smart phone penetration is over 95% among people I actually hang out with IRL so there are very few circumstances where it would make sense for me to have one of my own. Maybe if the rates they charge for data become less ludicrous and someone releases one with decent game controls.

[Flipside]

Good grief, I feel old, when I was in my teens, you had to find a phone box if you wanted to call anyone. We still managed to function through all that hardship

From my perspective, a Smartphone is just a phone with a load of stuff I never use bolted onto it, but then my age gives me an excuse somewhat

[Luis Dias]

Yeah, definitely.  Just as one example, I'm still using what has to be a 7-year-old dumb phone, because I have no interest in or need for a smartphone.  Just about anything I could do on one could be done far better on my (also ancient) PC.  But I'm obviously in the small minority on this when compared to the general public.

This is easily the worst argument to not get a smartphone I've ever seen. For this to be even somewhat credible you'd need to literally never leave your home. If you did, you'd need to tell me that smartphones are not worth the money. Yes, they're expensive, and it's totally legit to not want to get one because you don't think you'd get your money's worth out of it. But telling me that smartphones are unnecessary because you have your PC? Total bull****. You're not going to carry your computer to the grocery store so you can look up a replacement when they don't have tamarind paste, and you're probably not going to pull out your laptop for that either (this is all assuming you can find wifi, or have some sort of expensive cellular dataplan for your PC anyway, obviously). And for the people who prefer to carry around physical books, you're not going to lug around a 20 volume encyclopedia on the bus or keep it in your trunk so you can look something up on a whim (forgetting the fact that when you leave home you're almost never doing nothing but sitting in your car or on the bus).

Nah, you missed their point. Their point is "why do you want to go to the internet when you are in the grocery store? You are SOOOOO urgy and addicted to this stuff I'm so awesome and superior, I can wait till I get home! You losers!"

And then they come in with their dumb phones as an example on how they aren't urgy and addicted to social stuff. It's hilariously ridiculous.

[Flipside]

To be honest, if that were the argument being made here, and I'm not certain it is, the simple fact we are having it on a forum for a computer game that is over a decade old would be the ultimate combo-breaker anyway

[Kon]

The funny thing is that our grandparent's generation would all laugh hysterically at the notion of a guy "just" having a dumb phone in his pocket as some kind of evidence of being "not urgy" or "addicted" to social gathering.

I don't have a smartphone because I can't afford a mobile data plan that costs almost as much as my home internet connection. I don't think I use my phone enough to justify it being my most expensive bill (aside from rent).

All the same, it's never a good idea to bring up "our grandparents' generation" when it comes to discussing the merits of new technology. If I could afford one, I'd definitely have a smartphone just for those times when it actually would come in handy.

[Scotty]

I think it's amusing how apparently at least more than one person in this thread has taken personal offense to the fact that people still don't use smartphones.

[BloodEagle]

I think it's amusing how apparently at least more than one person in this thread has taken personal offense to the fact that people still don't use smartphones.

I find it more disturbing than amusing.  It makes you wonder if there's some kind of subliminal influence at work.

[swashmebuckle]

High tech nightmare!

[Lorric]

Nah, you missed their point. Their point is "why do you want to go to the internet when you are in the grocery store? You are SOOOOO urgy and addicted to this stuff I'm so awesome and superior, I can wait till I get home! You losers!"

And then they come in with their dumb phones as an example on how they aren't urgy and addicted to social stuff. It's hilariously ridiculous.

Luis, I really think you have taken this the wrong way. All this is about is people making choices to suit their own needs and desires, which are different in different people, pointing out that one person's World does not necessarily rotate on the same axis as another person's.

I think Spoon was just saying because he's not all over social media, he doesn't need a smartphone, not trying to say others who are are bad because of it. If you enjoy social media, good for you. But I have no interest in it. I was watching the people with their smartphones when I was out today. On the bus back the girl sat next to me was on Facebook with hers. But I have no interest in Facebook.

To be honest, if that were the argument being made here, and I'm not certain it is, the simple fact we are having it on a forum for a computer game that is over a decade old would be the ultimate combo-breaker anyway

Oh yes, I had been wondering if there would be a chance to work that in here somehow.

I think it's amusing how apparently at least more than one person in this thread has taken personal offense to the fact that people still don't use smartphones.

I find it more disturbing than amusing.  It makes you wonder if there's some kind of subliminal influence at work.

What disturbs me is when people take offence at other people making life choices that do not harm anyone. I find it incomprehensible. I will never look down on someone no matter what they are doing, if it does not harm anyone. Live and let live.

[BloodEagle]

I will never look down on someone no matter what they are doing, if it does not harm anyone. [...]

Challenge accepted! 

[Polpolion]

Nah, you missed their point. Their point is "why do you want to go to the internet when you are in the grocery store? You are SOOOOO urgy and addicted to this stuff I'm so awesome and superior, I can wait till I get home! You losers!"

And then they come in with their dumb phones as an example on how they aren't urgy and addicted to social stuff. It's hilariously ridiculous.

Just as one example, I'm still using what has to be a 7-year-old dumb phone, because I have no interest in or need for a smartphone.  Just about anything I could do on one could be done far better on my (also ancient) PC.

My interpreteation of Mongoose's post probably was too glib. What is he saying, if not that the reason he has no interest in smartphones is the fact that his PC does everything that it can do better?

edit: I'm not offended because I have a hardon for smartphones (I don't even have one), I'm offended because the reasoning that I'm apparently imagining here fallaciously implies the obsolescence of every specialty computing device.

[TwentyPercentCooler]

Yeah, it didn't come across to me as "I'm better than you because you're a pathetic addict and I'm not," just a "I would not use the primary features of a smartphone so having one would be a waste of money."

[Lorric]

Perhaps it's something akin to me, I can take care of anything I might use the smartphone for at home. I am happy to use the time sat on the bus or waiting somewhere in a chair with my nose in a good book. I don't ever think to myself Now if I had a smartphone right now, I could do X! I simply do not want or need one.

[esarai]

I think the real issue here is many have misinterpreted personal statements as global generalizations.  Mongoose was saying 'for me personally a smartphone is obsolete,' not 'smartphones are entirely obsolete I don't see why people fool themselves into buying them.'

[Luis Dias]

Mongoose wasn't the one bringing up addiction and urge for those ev1l social apps as reasons for having smartphones, and I agree that what he said is mostly fair for himself.

[Spoon]

I think the real issue here is many have misinterpreted personal statements as global generalizations.  Mongoose was saying 'for me personally a smartphone is obsolete,' not 'smartphones are entirely obsolete I don't see why people fool themselves into buying them.'

Exactly.

Mongoose wasn't the one bringing up addiction and urge for those ev1l social apps as reasons for having smartphones, and I agree that what he said is mostly fair for himself.

You seem really mad about this.
Are you often told by people that you are addicted to social media? Is that why you snap at this?

[Mongoose]

Exactly.  I'm not saying anything at all about other people using smartphones, just that I personally have little to no use for one.  Case in point:

Of course that anything you can do on a smartphone you can do on a pc. Doh.

That's like saying one has no need for a car because the lorry you have on your garage does the same ****.

Can you carry your pc in your pocket though? Can you skim twitter whenever and wherever you are with just a touch on a screen rather than having to turn on your pc and wait several minutes till you get to open your browser at home?

I unequivocally loathe Twitter, and while I do use Facebook, I can't think of any reason why I'd feel so urgent of a need to post that I'd do it on the go.  I'm fine with waiting until I get home to post a status update or read what people are doing.  Lord knows I spend enough time on my PC during my average day, so I have plenty of opportunities to do so.

This is easily the worst argument to not get a smartphone I've ever seen. For this to be even somewhat credible you'd need to literally never leave your home. If you did, you'd need to tell me that smartphones are not worth the money. Yes, they're expensive, and it's totally legit to not want to get one because you don't think you'd get your money's worth out of it. But telling me that smartphones are unnecessary because you have your PC? Total bull****. You're not going to carry your computer to the grocery store so you can look up a replacement when they don't have tamarind paste, and you're probably not going to pull out your laptop for that either (this is all assuming you can find wifi, or have some sort of expensive cellular dataplan for your PC anyway, obviously). And for the people who prefer to carry around physical books, you're not going to lug around a 20 volume encyclopedia on the bus or keep it in your trunk so you can look something up on a whim (forgetting the fact that when you leave home you're almost never doing nothing but sitting in your car or on the bus).

Quite honestly, I don't leave my home all that many times during my average week.  I'm only working part-time right now, and that work is done via PC, so I'm always here to look up info.  When I do go out, I'm almost always the one driving, so the only thing I can do then is listen to music, which I have covered via radio or MP3 player.  I can't think of any time when I've needed to double-check some piece of esoteric info while out and about...I generally don't go shopping without having a clear idea of what I'm buying first, and I'm not exactly enough of a chef to require the sorts of things that a grocery store could possibly run out of.

The one universal statement I will make about smartphones is that I find touchscreens to be a pretty godawful user interface option, particularly at such small screen sizes, unless one is using a stylus.  And I'd like to see the mobile browser that could handle having a few dozen forum tabs open at once.

[Polpolion]

Mongoose wasn't the one bringing up addiction and urge for those ev1l social apps as reasons for having smartphones, and I agree that what he said is mostly fair for himself.

You seem really mad about this.
Are you often told by people that you are addicted to social media? Is that why you snap at this?

What are you smoking? Judging by our posts Luis Dias is as cool as a cucumber; I'm the mad one here. This should be totally obvious.

Quite honestly, I don't leave my home all that many times during my average week.  I'm only working part-time right now, and that work is done via PC, so I'm always here to look up info.  When I do go out, I'm almost always the one driving, so the only thing I can do then is listen to music, which I have covered via radio or MP3 player.  I can't think of any time when I've needed to double-check some piece of esoteric info while out and about...I generally don't go shopping without having a clear idea of what I'm buying first, and I'm not exactly enough of a chef to require the sorts of things that a grocery store could possibly run out of.

This totally reasonable. When I read your post it seemed like you were saying things more generally than you meant. Never being in a position to use a smartphone when you couldn't use a PC says nothing for people who do find themselves in that situation, of course.

[Spoon]

Does this post:

Nah, you missed their point. Their point is "why do you want to go to the internet when you are in the grocery store? You are SOOOOO urgy and addicted to this stuff I'm so awesome and superior, I can wait till I get home! You losers!"

And then they come in with their dumb phones as an example on how they aren't urgy and addicted to social stuff. It's hilariously ridiculous.

Seem like it was made in all 'coolness' to you? Cause if it is, I gotta ask what are you smoking. Cause it reads as 'slightly upset' to me.
But yeah, that fact that you are mad aswell was very obvious, though. Cool down, bro.

Exactly.  I'm not saying anything at all about other people using smartphones, just that I personally have little to no use for one.  Case in point:

I unequivocally loathe Twitter, and while I do use Facebook, I can't think of any reason why I'd feel so urgent of a need to post that I'd do it on the go.  I'm fine with waiting until I get home to post a status update or read what people are doing.  Lord knows I spend enough time on my PC during my average day, so I have plenty of opportunities to do so.

Quite honestly, I don't leave my home all that many times during my average week.  I'm only working part-time right now, and that work is done via PC, so I'm always here to look up info.  When I do go out, I'm almost always the one driving, so the only thing I can do then is listen to music, which I have covered via radio or MP3 player.  I can't think of any time when I've needed to double-check some piece of esoteric info while out and about...I generally don't go shopping without having a clear idea of what I'm buying first, and I'm not exactly enough of a chef to require the sorts of things that a grocery store could possibly run out of.

The one universal statement I will make about smartphones is that I find touchscreens to be a pretty godawful user interface option, particularly at such small screen sizes, unless one is using a stylus.  And I'd like to see the mobile browser that could handle having a few dozen forum tabs open at once.

This pretty much mimics my take on the subject (Though I dont use facebook either)

[Scotty]

Spoon, I'd really appreciate it if you could drop the insistence that Luis is mad.  It contributes exactly zero to the discussion.