> Our phones are becoming our remote controls for life.
I feel really freaking old for a 21 year old. I got an Iphone 3gs back in 2009 before going into college. I should have been the target market for most of the tech revolution, right? I only used the thing to watch youtube, read pdfs, browse websites (never write anything), and take really ugly photos and video. I rarely made calls with it and canceled text messages entirely in 3 months. The battery died this summer, and I just got a tracfone just so I can call my grandparents because almost all my vocal communication is done via skype, jabber, or mumble. Maybe most importantly? I not only never paid for an app, I downloaded a total of like 5 in 3 years.
I have a Transformer tablet though, which I still wouldn't call the center of my tech environment, I just use it to read articles, books, and watch video. I don't even do the picture taking with it because its a giant book and it is so obtuse to photograph with it. The high DPI screen makes reading wonderful on it though, which is the main reason I have it. I did get the Transformer + keyboard dock so I had the ability to write when needed.
I don't think I'll ever get a 4 - 6" smartphone again. Anywhere I go I'll just throw my tablet in a backpack and bring it with me if need be, or just carry it. You won't shrink the screen any more and I just prefer the 10" form factor.
I still carry about my dumb phone just because we still live in the stone ages of ubiqutious internet. I don't want to pay $50+ a month for data just to have internet on the go. I already pay way too much to run a DSL signal to my home router.
I dunno, I just feel like the smartphone market is saturated. Modern computers have a very finite limit of influence over the world since they can only impact it through vibrating air, itself, or through emitting electromagnetic radiation in various forms. And I already have all the audiovisual stimulation that I want already, so I won't be adding any more. An RSS feed of all my choice webnews and the front page of reddit and HN for laughs is all the digital media consumption I really need anymore.
Paying 50$ a month for unlimited 3G is just outrageous. Here in Finland you get half a mb a second starting at 5€ a month. The fastest plans go at 15-20€ a month or something like that.
How does Finland treat wireless spectrum? The problem in the US is that the vast majority is partitioned to the military, old tv and radio bands, and as a result only a few specific ranges are available for.. purchase. And then AT&T and Verizon own all the viable long range wireless spectrum, so they take advantage of the duopoly and just keep jacking up prices with no chance at competition.
Agreed: here in Australia I get by on $5/ month on prepaid. The 500MB data credit rolls over & I can't use it fast enough - I now have 3.5GB accumulated.
It's a good idea to research cellphone plans, you can probably find something very affordable that suits your usage.
I feel really freaking old for a 21 year old. I got an Iphone 3gs back in 2009 before going into college. I should have been the target market for most of the tech revolution, right? I only used the thing to watch youtube, read pdfs, browse websites (never write anything), and take really ugly photos and video. I rarely made calls with it and canceled text messages entirely in 3 months. The battery died this summer, and I just got a tracfone just so I can call my grandparents because almost all my vocal communication is done via skype, jabber, or mumble. Maybe most importantly? I not only never paid for an app, I downloaded a total of like 5 in 3 years.
I have a Transformer tablet though, which I still wouldn't call the center of my tech environment, I just use it to read articles, books, and watch video. I don't even do the picture taking with it because its a giant book and it is so obtuse to photograph with it. The high DPI screen makes reading wonderful on it though, which is the main reason I have it. I did get the Transformer + keyboard dock so I had the ability to write when needed.
I don't think I'll ever get a 4 - 6" smartphone again. Anywhere I go I'll just throw my tablet in a backpack and bring it with me if need be, or just carry it. You won't shrink the screen any more and I just prefer the 10" form factor.
I still carry about my dumb phone just because we still live in the stone ages of ubiqutious internet. I don't want to pay $50+ a month for data just to have internet on the go. I already pay way too much to run a DSL signal to my home router.
I dunno, I just feel like the smartphone market is saturated. Modern computers have a very finite limit of influence over the world since they can only impact it through vibrating air, itself, or through emitting electromagnetic radiation in various forms. And I already have all the audiovisual stimulation that I want already, so I won't be adding any more. An RSS feed of all my choice webnews and the front page of reddit and HN for laughs is all the digital media consumption I really need anymore.