I like some of the features of a smartphone but am not willing to pay for a data plan, so I've been using a simple cellphone for calls and an iPod Touch for smartphone features, which requires having a WiFi connection. You can actually do the same thing with an iPhone, a Nokia E71, or other smartphone that allows you to use WiFi -- just get a voice-only plan and use WiFi connections for your smartphone applications. The disadvantage of course is that WiFi is frequently unavailable and often costs money.
I just came back from a trip to Washington DC, where 80% of the population appears to be using smartphones, mostly Blackberries and iPhones. It was amusing and a little creepy to stand on a Metro platform and see all these people staring down at their phones and tapping away, oblivious to the world around them.
To me, the chief advantage of a smartphone is also its chief drawback: not only are you always available by phone, but by email as well. It can be helpful if you are traveling in the midst of a busy time at work and need to keep up with your email, but it can also lead to a lack of "down" time and it encourages employers and colleagues to expect you to be available 24/7.
I do find a smartphone useful in daily life: the iPod/iPhone has an app that shows me when the next bus will be passing by at the top of my street, and tells me how frequently the Metro trains are running on my line. I love the mapping capabilities -- even the iPod Touch, which doesn't have GPS, can use triangulation of known WiFi spots to show you where you are. It's remarkably accurate. Once it knows your location you can just type in a word like "pizza" and it'll populate the map with all pizza places in your area, and you can tap on any one to get the phone number (with the iPhone you can make a call as well). You can also use the iPod Touch to get turn-by-turn mapped directions that work even when you're out of range of WiFi (you have to use the Maps app to map out your route when you're connected to WiFi, but it saves the directions and you can follow them all the way home without being connected. It's not quite like GPS, more like a printout of Google Maps directions, but I've used it on several trips and it's great.
Data plans are far cheaper and more generous in the US than in Canada, so I'm boycotting data plans here; I'd rather not support overpriced plans and can use WiFi to meet my needs until/unless the rates come dow.
I just came back from a trip to Washington DC, where 80% of the population appears to be using smartphones, mostly Blackberries and iPhones. It was amusing and a little creepy to stand on a Metro platform and see all these people staring down at their phones and tapping away, oblivious to the world around them.
To me, the chief advantage of a smartphone is also its chief drawback: not only are you always available by phone, but by email as well. It can be helpful if you are traveling in the midst of a busy time at work and need to keep up with your email, but it can also lead to a lack of "down" time and it encourages employers and colleagues to expect you to be available 24/7.
I do find a smartphone useful in daily life: the iPod/iPhone has an app that shows me when the next bus will be passing by at the top of my street, and tells me how frequently the Metro trains are running on my line. I love the mapping capabilities -- even the iPod Touch, which doesn't have GPS, can use triangulation of known WiFi spots to show you where you are. It's remarkably accurate. Once it knows your location you can just type in a word like "pizza" and it'll populate the map with all pizza places in your area, and you can tap on any one to get the phone number (with the iPhone you can make a call as well). You can also use the iPod Touch to get turn-by-turn mapped directions that work even when you're out of range of WiFi (you have to use the Maps app to map out your route when you're connected to WiFi, but it saves the directions and you can follow them all the way home without being connected. It's not quite like GPS, more like a printout of Google Maps directions, but I've used it on several trips and it's great.
Data plans are far cheaper and more generous in the US than in Canada, so I'm boycotting data plans here; I'd rather not support overpriced plans and can use WiFi to meet my needs until/unless the rates come dow.
