I have one but have mixed feelings about them. I’d rather use my lap top for the internet where I can actually read the screen. I hate texting but do once in awhile. I use it as a telephone every now and then but not that often. Have a dedicated GPS so don’t use the phone for this. Has a few features that come in handy - flashlight, calculator, calendar, etc. For the most part a simple basic cell phone would probably serve my needs just fine. I can understand how they might be handy for some business people’s needs but for the most part I’ll bet they’re mostly a toy to many users. I see young people constantly on them. Was in a restaurant and saw four young people all sitting at a table and not conversing with each other. Instead they were texting.
They’re awfully handy when you’re traveling, for one thing. You can search for restaurants or bars, check the reviews, and get directions. My wife and I have done this while underway, checking towns ahead for good places to stop.
For traveling light, I download a half dozen books on the Kindle app, which saves the space and wright of carrying books. I have a few favorite magazines and news sources, too, and will browse them whenever I’m waiting around for an appointment or something.
I had mechanical issues with the car once, and had to pull over. Was able to do a quick search and get a few basic answers on some basic troubleshooting before calling for a tow.
I’ve done the “show rooming” thing, before, checking for online prices before buying something.
Lastly, Google Translate. I’ve used it at work a few times to communicate with patients. I’ve used it for French, German and Swedish so far. Didn’t get the idea to download the app until after I had some trouble communicating with a Hindi-speaking patient, and figured there must be a better way.
I had a conversation today with a Vietnamese man via google translate. I probably use that app once per week in the trauma center.
Epocrates, UpToDate, Sanford antibiotic guide, all the things we would have stuffed our white coats with ten years ago are now at our fingertips. Immensely useful in the clinical setting.
Reminds me: I’ve got a regular app for first aid, and also have a book on wilderness first aid on Kindle.
I’ve used the phone as a bubble level a bunch of times - faster than going out to the workshop and finding one.
Run Keeper is a good way to measure the distance of my runs, or to allow me to retrace my steps if I’m running somewhere unfamiliar.
I have a shortcut to my Netflix queue, so whenever someone suggests a movie I haven’t seen, I can add it.
I have the USAA app, so I can do my banking securely when I’m away from home - including the ability to deposit checks by photographing them.
I have an iTunes remote control app, so I can control my music from anywhere in the house. (The computer plays over remote speakers in three rooms.)
Evernote is useful for maintaining a joint grocery list with my wife.
I use the calendar app to keep track of all of my appointments. I work every other weekend, and can look ahead to any weekend of any month or year and see whether I’m free.
Finally, the simple Post-It Note app is great for shopping lists, ideas, or nearly anything.
BREAKING NEWS: While I was typing this post, my brand new Moto X arrived at my door. (My first-generation Droid X has been starting to slow down, and besides, the interface for controlling music and navigation while driving was a little lacking.) Am looking forward to making use of all of the voice-controlled features.
I almost never use my phone, but I’m on email and texting all day. I work from home as a consultant. Having my email with me allows me to have much more flexibility in my day, since I can answer my clients’ questions from anywhere. I use texting for keeping in touch with my kids. Even though I have a Blackberry (without lots of apps to choose from), I use the weather, traffic and news apps almost every day. Very useful tool, IMO.
I have one but have mixed feelings about them. I’d rather use my lap top for the internet where I can actually read the screen. I hate texting but do once in awhile. I use it as a telephone every now and then but not that often. Have a dedicated GPS so don’t use the phone for this. Has a few features that come in handy - flashlight, calculator, calendar, etc. For the most part a simple basic cell phone would probably serve my needs just fine. I can understand how they might be handy for some business people’s needs but for the most part I’ll bet they’re mostly a toy to many users. I see young people constantly on them. Was in a restaurant and saw four young people all sitting at a table and not conversing with each other. Instead they were texting.
Silly little toys or genuine purpose items?
That’s because you’re older then the dinosaurs =).
I think they are incredibly handy. I use mine for business purposes all the time, and as a toy. Why have several different gagets when you can have one that does it all?
As for the second point, I’m a stickler for cell phone etiquette. I HATE it when people whip them out at restaurants. BCtrigirl does this frequently and I always call her on it.
iphone and iPad has spreadsheet app that I use to create test reports on site. All of my paperwork is done on the iPad or iPhone and they are synced so changes on one show up on the other.
I use several other apps for work. I also use it for weather, tides and swell forecasting.
I agree with everything you’ve posted. My problem is that I’m probably not familiar enough with it to take advantage of all it could offer. Guess I should investigate a bit more.
–alarm clock
–white noise during bed time
–using real-time GPS direction based on traffic
–weather
–writing notes to myself, sometimes scheduling the alarm to remind me of a note I wrote
–out of town, finding bars, restaurants, coffee shops, etc, including reviews
–and of course, the all-important ability to settle debates at any time, anywhere with a quick google search
I couldn’t imagine not having my smart phone with me. I could certainly get by without one, but it makes so many things much easier.
–alarm clock
–white noise during bed time
–using real-time GPS direction based on traffic
–weather
–writing notes to myself, sometimes scheduling the alarm to remind me of a note I wrote
–out of town, finding bars, restaurants, coffee shops, etc, including reviews
–and of course, the all-important ability to settle debates at any time, anywhere with a quick google search
I couldn’t imagine not having my smart phone with me. I could certainly get by without one, but it makes so many things much easier.
This ^^^ x 1000
Plus email, weather, travel apps (hotels, airlines), great camera, access to any song or video at a touch of a button, breaking news, movie reviews and tix, tornado warnings, the list goes on.
I had a blackberry until this March. Now I have an iPhone. Even that difference is hard to fathom.
I agree with everything you’ve posted. My problem is that I’m probably not familiar enough with it to take advantage of all it could offer. Guess I should investigate a bit more.
You can pretty much just take any task you’re doing and ask yourself, is there an app for this. Chances are the answer will be yes a lot of the time. Do you dive? There are apps to manage bottom time and dive logs. Do you travel? There are apps for managing flights, reservations, rental cars, packing lists, etc. Do you work with documents that you could work on or gather info for from the road? More apps for that than you can shake a stick at. Do you want to lose weight? Tons of apps to count calories, track workouts, map runs and rides, etc. Do you play golf? There are gps apps to show where you are on the course and keep score.
At first, it will take some time to figure out what you could use an app for, and then to find the best ones that work well for you. But if you just start, you’ll find yourself using it more and more.
–alarm clock
–white noise during bed time
–using real-time GPS direction based on traffic
–weather
–writing notes to myself, sometimes scheduling the alarm to remind me of a note I wrote
–out of town, finding bars, restaurants, coffee shops, etc, including reviews
–and of course, the all-important ability to settle debates at any time, anywhere with a quick google search
I couldn’t imagine not having my smart phone with me. I could certainly get by without one, but it makes so many things much easier.
This ^^^ x 1000
Plus email, weather, travel apps (hotels, airlines), great camera, access to any song or video at a touch of a button, breaking news, movie reviews and tix, tornado warnings, the list goes on.
I had a blackberry until this March. Now I have an iPhone. Even that difference is hard to fathom.
^^All of what they say^^
Honestly, I can’t imagine a life w/o Apple.
I still have a flip phone. I call it my Dumb Phone.
I have something of a collection of phones, including an old smart phone that barely merits the name. It’s a cheap, tiny GSM Samsung i5500 that runs Android 2.1. Got it for New Zealand years ago. It doesn’t do much, but it at least gives me access to email, maps, and weather. I’ve passed it around to various family members when they’ve been heading abroad. That’s the great thing about how most other countries do GSM: buy a SIM card, prepay a modest amount, and you’ve got a local number and reasonably priced data. (Usually way cheaper than trying to set up the same thing with your regular carrier.)
I also have two dumb GSM phones, also for traveling. We’ll be making use of them all next spring, when my wife leads another trip to the U.K. Got one of them from eBay, and bought the other one (the better one) in Edinburgh a few years ago. It’s especially handy if you can get at least one SIM card before you go - did that for my parents before they went to London, which turned out to be a godsend. The airline lost some of their luggage, and this way, they were able to leave a contact number, then go out and see the sights while waiting for the call.
