My first phone was a Verizon PN-210. I used it to call Mom for rides, call Dad for chips and call friends for project deadlines as well as party times. My phone contact list was at best minimal: 10-20 contacts, including Mom and Dad! I was mostly focused on getting a driver’s license soon! I had a Myspace account and opted for Facebook. This was my world the year that the first-gen iPhone launched in 2007.

The club for smartphones was initially small. People criticized the iPhone for its slow speeds and conceived it as a PDA-phone mixture. Moreover, people in my high school were still hooked onto their iPod 60 GB models and the primary mode of non-verbal phone contact was texting. By the time I was senior in high school, however, business people and students alike began sporting iPhones on-the-go. I wondered why I would get the monstrous phone and held close to my PN-210. Nevertheless, an idea popped in my mind: what if? (I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the same questions you smartphone owners had!)

I came into college and the club only became larger. College students – even professors and the TAs – sported smartphones! Clearly, there was something interesting about this type of phone. I decided to research these phones. For three years, I have looked at countless reviews, articles and comments and my observation of smartphones is this:

• Con: A sense of inertia – bound to a smartphone forever!
• Con: Data vulnerability.
• Con: Poor battery life.
• Pro: Great for email, texting, calling, checking reviews, and navigating.
• Pro: Convenient for importing contact data.
• Pro: Can be used to test web applications.

Although the cons seem to pull me back to using a “dumb”-phone, the pros illustrate how my needs are changing due to the competitive wind stirred by technology, today’s consumption of media and my major’s suggestions. I must email people; text people on-demand; call people with good quality; check reviews before I go to places; find directions online before I head out; and develop on it! I can hear the club singing “buy one already!” I must say, it’s a loud and clear voice!