Are Smartphones the future ???...I will find out

[barryd]

Barry (and others), do you think the laptop will replace the desktop PC?

Compared to a desk top set up, cost has always been a problem, but with miniaturisation and online processing power, the laptop can just become a slim light I/O device with little onboard storage or power, but the space and cost dedicated to graphics and communication chips.

I think it is to a certain extent. In the past two or three years I have sold and setup more laptops for clients than every before. There are two reasons for this. Firstly they have come down in price to pretty much the same as a desktop PC and secondly people need to be more mobile yet still have all their IT stuff and access to a computer where ever they go.

I have even kitted out entire networks in offices with laptops where traditionally people in offices have desktop workstations. Sadly everyone takes work home these days or seems to think they have to answer emails or send reports from motorway service stations and the like!

John. I know what you mean. Mrs D still has one of my old Nokias from ten years ago and refuses to upgrade it despite us having several more modern phones around the house. I still believe however that the main reason for people buying all the latest gadgets, smart phones etc is because they like new toys. Look at the iPhone contracts when they came out. £40 with Vodafone when you could get the same contract sim only or with a normal phone for £15. They signed up like there was no tomorrow just to have an iPhone to show off with.

Apple were the first company that managed to instigate tech snobbery. Even the poncy advert with Hugh Grant says it all. "If you dont have an iPhone, well you dont have an iPhone" like your somehow inferior and a bit of a pleb if you dont have one!! Same with the iPad. Its like kids with the latest trainers bullying the poor ones with ones off the market.

Bonkers if you ask me but I suspect my opinions are in the minority and I shouldnt complain as its important for me that people always want the latest gear even if they have no real need for it.

 

[NicknClair]

"Apple were the first company that managed to instigate tech snobbery. Even the poncy advert with Hugh Grant says it all. "If you dont have an iPhone, well you dont have an iPhone" like your somehow inferior and a bit of a pleb if you dont have one!! Same with the iPad. Its like kids with the latest trainers bullying the poor ones with ones off the market."

And on that principle, I do not have a Ipad/Iphone personally. The only apple products in the house are ipods, because I cannot carry all my CD's in the van when we are away.
The wife got given from work an iPad (please note we didn't pay for it and had the option of a netbook), what a pile off junked up poo. In the camper, we've gone back to using the Blackberry as a modem (as got a very good deal on internet usage) connected to the laptop. The iPad is just a bigger Touch and typing/printing/programs non apple are a pain. She since has submitted a request to return the Pad and get a new netbook, as there is alot of typing involved and netbooks are easier to sync into her work servers and our house server.

As for the original question are Smartphones the future??? Well they are if you cannot be bothered to talk to your friends and family and you are under the age of 20 and have 3856 friends on your Facebook profile!!
To the normal person a Smartphone is a tool, not a way of life. Sure it means that your PC's are not turned on as often as before (as email access, bank balances, status updates are easier to access), but like hell am I spending ages on a tiny keybook, writing to my family in the US on how the last 6 months has been. I manage my bank accounts with a full screen, I like the fact that all operating platforms work on the PC/Netbooks and most of all, I like the fact that I do not have to worry about storage capacity.
As for the Music, I have to admit defeat in that the Ipod as minimalised our storage of CD's, with all the music stored on the pods BUT to have all that on a phone, Nah I want the battery life for making/recieving calls and emails, leave the music to another device. With a total of 600 days of music, the iPod does do the job well.

Problem is that it's all about the way they have marketed the product and unfortunately................... a large majority have fell for it (including business).

 

[whitevanwoman]

I've replaced my desktop with a laptop, about 3 years ago and haven't regretted it once. The main reason was financial (I would have had to spend twice the cost to get the same spec desktop with flat screen monitor etc), and also space saving. My desktop was very out of date (new in approx 2002 when XP was the latest big thing) and in technological standards was a dinosaur.

I can do far more with the laptop than I ever could with the desktop and no additional hardware to clutter up a small living room. I use the laptop like a desktop, it's connected to my HD TV, and tends to stay in one place on my desk in living room with a wireless keyboard and mouse for when I want to sit on the sofa instead of at the desk - wifi router means that I can use it in bedroom, kitchen etc if I want to, though I rarely do especially now that I've got an android phone, and my wi-fi printer and stationery is upstairs out of the way in my junk room (aka spare room / craft studio wannabe).

I don't even think my laptop is particularly high spec - I got it for under £300 in Argos sale 3 years ago and apart from upgrading from 1GB Ram to 2GB, it completely meets my needs and whilst I'm not a proper techie, I use it daily for working from home, running various websites and blogs, watching DVDs, listening to radio & music, using all Office 03 apps, photo editing with Photoshop and various other tasks.

I do use the cloud for alot of stuff but have a 1TB external HDD as I'd hate to lose all my photos and work so aswell as everything else the laptop is permanently on auto backup to that. Plus a recordable Tv means that I don't have to pay extra for a Sky+ contract and if I don't get a chance to watch a BBC programme within the 30 days before it self-destructs on Iplayer, it's saved on the HDD for ever and in easy to watch MP4 format so no messing around having to convert the format.

I suspect that if I was to upgrade to a better processor (either desktop or laptop) I would probably be blown away by the improved speed particularly when using several different programmes at once (ie listening to online radio whilst using word/photoshop with outlook and WC forum/facebook/twitter open in the background) but you don't miss what you've never had and anyway I'm disadvantaged by having a slow broadband connection (no more than 1.2Mg on a good day) so there's no guarantees that better hardware would make any difference to my browsing speed.

I can't see myself ever going back to a desktop at home now, unless it is simply a new desktop processor which I can have wired up to my tv but then I'd lose the flexibility of being able to watch TV whilst being online. And I'd still keep the laptop or a replacement netbook / tablet for when I'm away from home or in bed etc.

My big decision at the moment is whether to upgrade from my "on it's last legs" netbook to an android tablet for when I'm away from home - but it's not about collecting gadgets, it's about minimising the amount of hardware but still being able to access emails / internet, watch DVDs, listen to music, watch TV, listen to radio, see & edit photos etc all through one piece of easy to charge equipment instead of having to take several different pieces of hardware and having to figure out ways of keeping them charged up.

 

[whitevanwoman]

they are if you cannot be bothered to talk to your friends and family and you are under the age of 20 and have 3856 friends on your Facebook profile!!
To the normal person a Smartphone is a tool, not a way of life.

Beware generalisations and assumptions, my closest family member lives 100 miles from me, the others are in China and Oz, and living where I do, my friends are all long distance friendships. And I wish I was under 20. I'm very select about my Facebook friends and try to keep it to a select handful (approx 40) so that I'm not telling people I barely know personal info about my life. I use FB alot to communicate as it's cheaper and quicker and more inclusive than individual phone calls.

I know I'm not normal, I do have long term mental health problems but apart from finding it difficult to use the phone when I'm not well, I don't think that using and enjoying using my Smart phone makes me abnormal. But my android phone has changed my life - I can access services through it that because of my illness and living where I do and the lack of a reliable broadband connection, would sometimes be difficult or impossible or would involve a 25 or 40 mile return trip to one of my 2 closest towns.

It's all down to personal circumstances and personal preferences and that's why we are all individuals. In my opinion, the more choice the better. We are not obliged to allow ourselves to be conned by marketing and I certainly don't rush out and buy the latest gadget for the sake of it - I use my older gadgets (3 year old laptop) to take time to research, read reviews, talk to people I know for their opinions, to make a decision about whether or not a new technological advance would be useful and advantageous to me - that's why I haven't rushed out to buy an android tablet but am asking around for people's opinions. And if in doubt, I wait and make do with what I've got or do without.

And all my technology (laptop, HD TV, android mobile) have been purchased a good while after they first came out, in sales, when I've been able to get good deals because that particular model is now considered out of date because a more up to date version has been released to coincide with the Christmas / back to school / January sales marketing ploys.

 

[Viktor]

I don't agree that the iPhone is crap. You can make it crap by adding silly apps, however if you use it in the following manner, as a portable organiser, alarm centre, internet bank connection, email monitor, GPS, free call phone (Skype or similar), music storage device, book storage device, mathematical converter, language teacher, and use it for quick interactivity to check, monitor, or update the word processing files of your hobby or business when you are unable to do so using a conventional laptop or desktop computer; then it is a useful additional tool which makes your life easier to organise and manage, especially if you can connect in areas of poorer internet signals by using the 3G style of connection.

(That must be the longest sentence I've posted in years lol).

 

[Firefox]

Facebook strategy is interesting. I tend to invite anyone I've met onto Facebook as well as I have a few from the States that I've never met who played Farmville. As a result I tend to accumulate FB friends at the rate of 50 a year or so. But then again I don't post much personal stuff about what I am doing that day etc. I can't see myself ever having 3000 on there but maybe a few hundred.

I guess if you are a real FB addict you would need a smart phone or similar. I was at Yo Sushi at St Pancras yesterday and a woman there was fretting her battery had run out and she couldn't post on FB. No matter, she pestered her friend who eventually lent hers and then she spent the next hour ignoring her friend while frantically typing in FB messages. That's what friends are for, though I can't imagine she kept RL ones for long!

 

[Channa]

For me, acquiring a smartphone;was always about having a tool that is capable of multi tasking,ratherthan invest in dedicated appliances that combined cost more,and take up more space,

knackered laptop;satnav and mobile being the driving factor

space or lack of is a consideration when home is 5,5 metre camper,

i felt a premium was paid for the apple,windows driven machines not as well catered for has android driven,

channa

 

[Firefox]

You pay a premium for anything Apple. I personally would not invest in anything made by them now, the company has always looked shaky without Jobs in charge.

 

[Northerner]

The best thing about modern technology and 'cloud' computing is that everything is safe. If my house burned down I'd lose all my essential documentation such as passports, insurance valuations, birth certificates etc.

Now I scan everything. If I buy a new item, or have a receipt for anything from a vehicle service to a new pair of specs, I scan the document and then shred it. My filing cabinet was in danger of collapsing through the floor as it had so much stuff in it. The only hard copies I keep now are the obvious ones, vehicle V5s, birth certificates, share certificates etc. but even these are scanned and filed in appropriate folders so I can find them quickly.

Once a week I upload the whole master file to Google Docs and, whatever happens, wherever I am in the world, I can access anything.

If my 'van was stolen for instance then presumably all the documents would go with it. If that happens I whip out my smartphone and can download copies of the V5, the insurance certificate etc. etc.

There was a lovely example in the news just recently. A man travelling from Canada into the U.S. lost his passport but he was able to show them a scanned copy of it on his iPad and they let him in!

Control freak? Yes, I probably am, but it's my business training I suppose. When you stand or fall by your own wits and are in a very competitive business then the efficient and organised ones will outlast their sloppier rivals.

The cloud and smartphones are brilliant tools and those that deride them now are the same people who, many years ago, said they'd never have one of those new-fangled computers or mobile telephones!

 

[whitevanwoman]

Facebook strategy is interesting. I tend to invite anyone I've met onto Facebook as well as I have a few from the States that I've never met who played Farmville. As a result I tend to accumulate FB friends at the rate of 50 a year or so. But then again I don't post much personal stuff about what I am doing that day etc. I can't see myself ever having 3000 on there but maybe a few hundred.

I guess if you are a real FB addict you would need a smart phone or similar. I was at Yo Sushi at St Pancras yesterday and a woman there was fretting her battery had run out and she couldn't post on FB. No matter, she pestered her friend who eventually lent hers and then she spent the next hour ignoring her friend while frantically typing in FB messages. That's what friends are for, though I can't imagine she kept RL ones for long!

I've been quite upset when having driven 70 miles to see a friend, she has virtually ignored me whilst chatting on FB on her mobile saying to me "I'm not being ignorant, I just want to reply to this text / FB message etc". " Well, you are being ignorant" thinks I. And now I don't bother making the 140 mile round trip to see her.

I would most certainly not put FB/text interaction (nor indeed talking on the phone) as a priority over talking to someone face to face especially if they have made an effort to meet with me in person - that's just downright rude.

Obviously sometimes we all have emergency situations where we do have respond to a call / text immediately but in the grand scheme of things, how often are these real emergencies? And having managed for the first 30 odd years of my life without a mobile or computer, I know that if necessary (ie flat battery) I can manage quite well without.

But saying that as society moves towards the point where mobiles are an essential tool in everyday life and traditional resources like phone boxes, communicating by paper etc are becoming obsolete, we will as a society reach a point where anyone who doesn't use technology will become seriously disadvantaged. This isn't a problem for anyone under the age of 30ish, but I do feel that there is going to be an older generation for whom life will be more lonely, expensive and restricted as they have not had the benefit of being educated in using technology as a way of life.

I would love to do what Northerner does and get rid of 99% of my paperwork but the backlog of scanning and uploading would take so much time to do that I don't think for me it will ever be possible. But I am gradually moving towards that and starting to keep my photos and music collection online and as I interact more online, I am finding that I am generating less paperwork. However as someone who loves having a pencil and a piece of paper to write down my thoughts or do quick sketches etc, I could never give up the habit of having bits of paper strewn around the place.

 

[Canalsman]

There still remains a need to keep the originals of many documents.

Not least HM Revenue and Customs who can insist on seeing the originals - not scanned copies ...

 

[whitevanwoman]

There still remains a need to keep the originals of many documents.

Not least HM Revenue and Customs who can insist on seeing the originals - not scanned copies ...

True, but HMRC has a bad habit of making up their own rules as and when it suits them. And with online tax returns even they are now moving towards paperwork reduction.