smartphones...they may be smart but they're still just phones.

I use my phone more than I use my PC.
I don't expect my battery to last all day, that's why I charge it frequently.

 

Not much more to It. They are amazing things and if I have to charge them frequently it's never a problem.

 

I agree. I've said many times that smartphones are computers, and if you unplug your laptop its battery won't last all day either.

 

some of us.. just like to complain.

give me an inch.. i want the mile.
give me the mile.. I want the planet.

 

It's not good we have to root to gain admin rights of our own phones. It is quite odd that anyone can buy a computer, but phones have all these restrictions. I guess it's because they're truly mobile & can fall into the wrong hands, or be used inappropriately. Surely then, the same could be said for laptops? So why not have 'root' access at least on the sim-free unlocked handsets?

Regarding the OP, we can use them as computers. We play video, listen to music, do email, internet communications, organize our time, etc. We're just limited to what we can get in a small package. There is no disc drive, screen is quite small... compare that to what many people do on their desktops - internet & messaging is all some people do! .

I actually think the days of desktop PCs are coming to an end. For home I would have some small box like a mac mini (or other company) connected to my TV & HiFi. Things will evolve into new shapes imo. Maybe somebody (blackberry!?) will put a touchscreen or small qwerty keyboard onto a TV remote. My remote is bigger than my phone, & for the most part is quite hollow!

 

I love my tablet and phone - I truly do.

But until the devices offer the same level of ease of use as a PC (wither it be Windows, Linux, Apple etc.) e.g. pointing, data entry, speed, reliability to name but a few, they have a long way to go.

 

I agree. Its pretty ridiculous that so many people don't understand the concept of demanding applications come at the cost of battery life.

So you are telling me that you were using your phone and the battery dies a lot faster? You don't say!

 

Oh, totally . What I neglected to say when talking of root is that we get to open up more options to save battery over the very conservative stock set up. We should all be allowed this.

 

Same here. I have 2 extended batteries and usually have a charger with me.

That depends on your laptop. My Cr-48 can go 8 hours of use unplugged, and my Windows 7 netbook is almost as good. I agree most laptops can't do this though.

 

Why not?

I rent a vacation condo on the beach every year. They have a nice stereo but lousy radio reception, so I listen to all my fave stations, streaming on my phone. Or I listen to Rhapsody to pick any songs I want.

I'm a football fan but I don't have cable TV - it's OK on the weekends because most games are broadcast, but for Monday and Thursday nights games I use VCAST on my phone - not exactly HD but perfectly adequate.

So what? Battery technology and power consumption keep improving, so this will become less and less of an issue, and meanwhile I carry a backup battery if I need it. Or connect it to a charger - today almost all smartphones take a standard USB port - I can use the same USB charger for my SIII, my DInc, and my iPhone. besides I can't do those things all day on my laptop without killing the battery either.

So what? What's the big deal? The fact that I can carry something that can do all those things in my pocket is cool.

Can you imagine if we appeared on the deck of the original Starship Enterprise (Kirk, Spock, et al) with our modern smartphones? They would take one look at our SIII's and iPhones and another look at their primitive, klunky "communicators" and think WE were the ones from the advanced civilization!

Says who?? They are multifunctional devices - ONE of those functions is making phone calls. But many people, especially many young people, hardly ever make phone calls - they text or use Facetime or tweet, etc.

Sounds like someone was cranky when they got out of bed this morning!

 

I think smart phones are great in terms of doing most common tasks a PC can do such as internet browsing, listening to music, watching video on the go, email, light gaming etc.

They excel at certain tasks a PC or laptop don't such as navigating while driving with an app such as google maps.

However PC excel in other aspects such as doing anything that requires typing more than a paragraph. And looking at large amounts of data.

Of course there are things that smartphones can't do that PCs can, such as software development.

In my opinion, smartphones aren't even that great at being a phone. Looking back at my flip phone, it was easy to dial a number via speed dial. Because of the shape of it while opened, the phone fit perfectly against the side of my head. However my smartphone feels like I'm holding a light brick up to my face. Plus I have to look at the screen to dial since there are no physical buttons to feel.

For people that travel a lot, such as myself, being able to connect my laptop to the internet without USB internet dongle is great. With my phone all I have to do is toggle hotspot on, and my laptop connects via wifi.

Overall, I think smartphones are excellent for mobility and acting as a digital assistant plus media center. Although with the lack of storage on phones, movies saved on the phone is very limited. But I think they will never beat the convenience of a laptop in terms of productivity because of the large screen, full sized keyboard, powerful processor, high end gaming, and mass storage.

 

But a smartphone isn't just a phone. Claiming that those who's charge is lasting more than 2 days are those who use it "AS ITS INTENDED FOR" is wrong IMO. I'd label them instead as those "who'd be as happy with a dumbphone as with a smartphone."

Take this point: A dumbphone nowadays constitutes either Nokia Asha, and korean dumbphones like the Samsung champ. These phones have basic apps like Facebook, Twitter, Angry Birds, Cut the Rope, small productivity apps like email, to-do and memo apps etc. They may not have the level of sophistication of smartphone apps nor are they capable of handling such even if you give them a quad core processor, but they still let you do a lot. I personally know a lot of people whose usage patterns would fit into one of these dumbphones without the need to go Android or iOS (but own such devices), and these dumbphones last a couple of days or more without the need for charge. Although I agree at times the distinction between more recent dumbphones and smartphones are starting to blur, there is still an inherent difference in the level of capability the comparable apps in them are able to do.

The statement you offered is wrong by my book because a smartphone is indeed intended to bring your data/information to you. That's why there was the need for a smartphone in the first place. It is a marriage of the PDA and phone concept. The PDA was there to let you know your appointments, have your emails, view and edit your files, get you on the internet and visit your favorite website, watch your videos, basically your PC in your pocket. That's why it was first called the Mobile PC. A smartphone basically IS a mobile PC with the ability to call. So yes, people who stream their data and videos, is on their phone for hours chatting with friends online, viewing websites and all that ARE USING THE PHONE AS INTENDED.

If you're telling smartphone users to stop using the phone as its intended to be used, as a mobile PC, and treat it as just a phone, there is a mistake. Because that tantamounts to telling them to not get a smartphone at all, and get a regular dumbphone instead. The main issue with people complaining about smartphone battery life is not because they are using it too much, but because they are comparing it to dumbphones. They can't seem to understand the inherent differences between systems. All the see is two different phone models and don't understand why a Samsung Champ can last a week (well 5 days) on a single charge, but a Samsung Galaxy Y can't, but they appear very similar (same size etc). Not all people are tech knowledgeable, and as such they just need a little educating.

 

The scene - Alteros IV. Captain James T Kirk is on his own facing a hoard of violent green VingerBeasts - any one of them capable of killing him.

KIRK: Beam me up Scotty - now!

(Kirk looks at his communicator and wacks it on his other hand before bringing it back to his mouth.)

K: Scotty? Beam me up!

(The VingerBeasts get closer and closer, howling as they do. Kirk shakes his communicator violently. C/U on the communicator - we can see it has just crashed and is rebooting)

K: Oh sh*t.

Fade to black.

 

i remember the predecessors to the smartphones, or what would be a template at least- the Palmpilot, Apple Newton, RIM 900, and the buggy pocketPC generation. i was an unlucky buyer of all of them. all of them overall sucked in trying to compare with a laptop. when 'smart'phones came out, i could only be reminded of my old HP Jornada with a CompactFlash Wifi that was only good as a glorified GPS. i still had a Nokia 5110 that did me just fine. and they have come a long way and are more usable than the old days. i do wish however that keyboards would be standard. i never can get used to a touch screen keyboard for my life. when in a remote area without wifi access, using the 3G to tap out a status update on Facebook can take half an hour what with all the errors i make.

EDIT: complaints about battery life. be thankful you didn't have the few HOURS STANDBY time my old 5110 had! and that because it had a low signal.

 

I had an old Palm III and remember once connecting it up to my LG dumb phone, going online and reading an email for the very first time, all while in the middle of nowhere on I39 in IL.

Now I get peeved if Google maps doesn't work properly while on the same journey. My how things have changed.

 

i remember the amount of external gadgets that was needed to turn my HP Jornada to a GPS. i'm so thankful i need only tap 'Google Maps' and go!

 

I think that's the least of what these are made for. Maybe 1% of the hardware/software/functionality of smartphones is dedicated to making/receiving phone calls.
These are micro-computers, PDA's, that you just happen to be able to make phone calls with as well.

 

I’m typing this on my PC because it’s a lot easier than on my droid. But I could type it on my droid, and send it from there, and that pretty much proves to me that it’s more like a PC than just a phone.

 

Voice call abilities will soon be just part of the data plan. Still phones, but different...