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Post by sekhmet on Apr 16, 2015 18:48:46 GMT -5
It's okay billiam. It's okay to love inanimate objects. I think you might consider a goldfish though. My phone has a calendar which I ignore. I don't care when anything is. I admit to lusting after an iPhone. I'm pretending it's about the camera but it's not. It's the appleness of the bloody thing. Even though I have an obsolete iPad One. It was obsolete about a year after I bought it. Bloody Apple.
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Post by drlj on Apr 16, 2015 18:51:39 GMT -5
It's a Mayan calendar, but, ya know... It's pretty high-tech. It memorizes phone numbers and everything! I can change the sound it makes when it rings! Wow. Next thing you know you will have a remote for the TV.
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Post by RickW on Apr 16, 2015 20:05:45 GMT -5
I have a Samsung galaxy four. I'm with Marshall in that I use it a lot, but not worried about cost justification. I have music training apps, a fantastic tuner. Nice little recorder for catching ideas. I use the maps. I have rdio, and with Bluetooth, that's what I listen to in the car. I communicate with various folks via text and Facebook. I have my home email and my work email, which I need as I do off hours support. I set up and monitor tv recordings. My calendar syncs with work and my iPad. And I take pictures.
I really love my iPad. Easier than a laptop, and it has my recording studio.
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Post by sekhmet on Apr 16, 2015 21:00:07 GMT -5
I still use the iPad for Netflix and reading books. I use my ASUS Memo10 for everything else. I use my ASUS laptop for all the heavy lifting.
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Post by billhammond on Apr 16, 2015 21:13:41 GMT -5
I still use the iPad for Netflix and reading books. I use my ASUS Memo10 for everything else. I use my ASUS laptop for all the heavy lifting. See, dahling? We have that in common.
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Post by Village Idiot on Apr 16, 2015 21:28:53 GMT -5
One thing I get from people that have smart phones that I don't get from people with non-smart phones: Calls from purses, from pockets, shirt pockets, back pockets. I answer and all I hear is a bunch of people talking, or purse rumaging, not not a "hello".
Smart phones ain't so smart when it comes to butt dials.
And if you have a smart phone, why carry it around in your back pocket? Couldn't that damage your phone? But many people do.
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Post by sekhmet on Apr 16, 2015 21:29:25 GMT -5
We have lots in common. Like panty hose.
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Post by Cosmic Wonder on Apr 16, 2015 22:08:37 GMT -5
Do we have to wait for four more pages before we talk about phone nazis?
Mike
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Post by Marshall on Apr 17, 2015 7:49:26 GMT -5
One thing I get from people that have smart phones that I don't get from people with non-smart phones: Calls from purses, from pockets, shirt pockets, back pockets. I answer and all I hear is a bunch of people talking, or purse rumaging, not not a "hello". Smart phones ain't so smart when it comes to butt dials. And if you have a smart phone, why carry it around in your back pocket? Couldn't that damage your phone? But many people do. Let's face it Todd, people's asses just love you. You should feel proud. (And a little em bare assed.)
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Post by david on Apr 17, 2015 18:18:11 GMT -5
I use my smart phone for: Listening to books on Audible, driving directions, learning about local restaurants and reviews of said restaurants, learning of movies that are playing and reviews of those movies, taking credit card payments from clients, oddly, dictating texts to clients (some of my clients prefer texts to calls or emails and I hate to type on my smartphone, so google will convert dictation to text for me), checking email, Taking pictures, sharing pictures with friends, checking scores of sporting events, setting alarms, calendaring appointments (my calendar is on google cloud so I always have my work calendar with me and I can create appointments by dictation to my phone), getting the weather forecast, doing price comparisons while at the store or at a garage sale, checking flight schedules, listening to music, telling time and making phone calls. My phone cost $300 and does most of the stuff of the $650 iPhone and high end Androids. I use very little data because I am usually connected via wifi
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Post by Fingerplucked on Apr 17, 2015 19:30:42 GMT -5
I use my smart phone for: Listening to books on Audible, driving directions, learning about local restaurants and reviews of said restaurants, learning of movies that are playing and reviews of those movies, taking credit card payments from clients, oddly, dictating texts to clients (some of my clients prefer texts to calls or emails and I hate to type on my smartphone, so google will convert dictation to text for me), checking email, Taking pictures, sharing pictures with friends, checking scores of sporting events, setting alarms, calendaring appointments (my calendar is on google cloud so I always have my work calendar with me and I can create appointments by dictation to my phone), getting the weather forecast, doing price comparisons while at the store or at a garage sale, checking flight schedules, listening to music, telling time and making phone calls. My phone cost $300 and does most of the stuff of the $650 iPhone and high end Androids. I use very little data because I am usually connected via wifi Listening to Audible books. The list could stop right there and it'd be good enough reason to have a smartphone. I do a lot of the same things with mine, David. Also, I play Risk on it. I used to play Monopoly, but Risk is more fun. And my Fitbit synchs to my iPhone. And then there's MyFitnessPal for tracking calories & nutrition. MapMyRide for bike riding and weightlifting. A Kindle app and the Chicago Tribune. My bank account to which I deposit checks remotely using the phone's camera. Podcasts from select authors and scientists. An Excel-like spreadsheet. In short, there's no reason to get a smartphone. There's no reason why you'd ever need one. But if you do get one, there's no going back. Ever. Because once you get one, you realize life is not "out there." Life is in the palm of your hand. Life is . . . . I'll have to finish later. The guy behind me is honking.
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Post by majorminor on Apr 17, 2015 20:53:21 GMT -5
I actually rarely use my smartphone as a phone unless I'm traveling. I would say it spends the most time playing music, being a camera, and being used to send and receive biz e mails. I use the camera constantly - damaged shipments or poor quality materials, field walk throughs for door jobs, sourcing parts or communicating to machinery techs. I do all the other stuff above like hands free phone calls while driving and gps etc. I also have an app call Pro Tab Tools or something like that that not only is a guitar tuner but has a zillion or so tabbed songs and lyrics grouped by artist.
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Post by Marshall on Apr 18, 2015 8:30:36 GMT -5
I use my smart phone for: Listening to books on Audible, Listening to Audible books. Yeah, I've been surprised. I have an ipad with Kindle software to read books. So I got the Kindle AP on my phone. And a numberof times, I find myself on a train or in a waiting room with time to kill. So I can pull out my phone pull up the Kindle AP and the book I'm reading. It'll ask me if I "Want to go to the furthest page read?" And BAM, I'm right there reading along for a half hour or so.
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Post by Cosmic Wonder on Apr 18, 2015 8:33:00 GMT -5
Sekh, just saw on the interwebs they are working on a 52 megapixel camera for phones.
Mike
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Post by Hobson on Apr 18, 2015 9:30:41 GMT -5
The main reason that I have ever considered getting a smartphone is to have something that would work as a phone outside the U.S. and Canada. I only have the need for that 2 to 4 weeks out of the year, so it's hard to justify. I know that not just any smartphone would work for this. You have to be able to unlock it and swap out the SIM card and you have to pay for service. We end up sending emails and using Skype. We also have bought phone cards and used pay phones a few times.
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Post by Marshall on Apr 18, 2015 16:56:01 GMT -5
You can talk to your carrier when you go out of the US and they will rent you a phone to work in the other country for the trip. Or at least they used to. back 20 years ago we went to Europe and I got a cell phone from AT&T that would work over there. I "sat in" on a conference call on a bench outside of Windsor Castle with Beefeaters strutting back and forth while Sue and the kids toured the castle. Strange but kind of cool.
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Post by jdd2 on Apr 19, 2015 5:25:19 GMT -5
The main reason that I have ever considered getting a smartphone is to have something that would work as a phone outside the U.S. and Canada. ... Younger daughter is just finishing a year in Vancouver. She had her iphone from here (japan) put on "pause" (turned off, from the carrier's POV), and has been using it there as a wifi only device, I guess like an iPod touch/pad. Little does she know that I'm going to pounce when she gets back, and suggest that she can do without a phone contract here, too.
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Post by Hobson on Apr 23, 2015 12:16:17 GMT -5
Well, wadya know? The whole game may be changing for international calls. I'd be very tempted if not for the over $600 cost of the required Nexus 6 phone. Project Fi from Google. No annual contract. Pay for only the data you use. A reasonable monthly fee. fi.google.com/about/faq/#international-usage"Unlimited international texts are included in your plan. If you're using cell coverage, calls cost 20c per minute. If you're calling over Wi-Fi, per-minute costs vary based on which country you're calling and you're charged only for outbound calls." Marshall, thanks. Yes, we have tried to rent or buy a phone that will work outside of the U.S. Such a thing might be available in larger U.S. cities and it is available on line. There is still the problem of high roaming fees.
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Dub
Administrator
I'm gettin' so the past is the only thing I can remember.
Posts: 19,875
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Post by Dub on Apr 23, 2015 12:35:54 GMT -5
Anybody use Vonage? I use them to maintain a land line in Cedar Rapids. They have an iPhone app that lets me answer that phone from anywhere. They also offer low cost international calls (VoIP) and I can use that service from my iPhone too.
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