Smartphones on The Rise? Thank the iPhone

The iPhone had nothing to do with my purchase of the Tilt. I was looking for a replacement for my iPAQ.

-Jay

 

I don't think the iPhone had anything to do with the rise of smartphones. I wanted and got one long before the iPhone came out.

Smartphones got more attractive and offered nice options and abilities. I think the credit should go to Blackberrys and Treos for the popular rise of smartphones.

 

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I have to agree. the iphone turns me off. but the centro really cought my eye.

 

iphone doesn't have much to do with the increased smartphone usage. A lot of it is increased 3G (wcdma & evdo) and better phones. Which were developed concurrently with the iphone and before it. It's not revolutionary, it's just an apple. So people are crazy over it.

 

I think the only thing the iPhone did was make cool-looking touch screen displays the craze among phone makers.

 

I have to say I'm disappointed that the trend seems to be going towards smart phones. It's very evident at Sprint right now where they only offer just a couple low end phones these days. A very poor selection for people like my mom who only needs a simple basic phone.

 

I bought my mom a pink V3 last month. She loves it, but it still has more features than she will ever use. She never even learned how to use voice dialing on her old Motorola L2, I don't think she is going to attempt it on the V3.

-Jay

 

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If I didn't win my Q back in August, I probably wouldn't have any interest in a smartphone. The q showed me that a phone can do more than make calls and text. Now,I don't want to go back to a plain phone. I think that more smartphones were sold because the prices have fallen greatly. Although we have $200+ devices with a new contract, decent smartphones can be had for less than $100. I just bought my Verizon Pearl for $50

 

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Verizon's the opposite... They have plenty of low and mid range phones to choose from. I got my mom and aunt free Motorola W385 phones. They'll never use all of the features on it. I considered the Coupe for them, but the phone isn't free, there is no data capability for downloads, and I am unsure of UTStarcom phones.

 

Sprint really needs to start offering at least a few more low end phones. It's really baffling that they have already chosen to phase them out. These low end phones with color screens and cameras were actually high end phones just 2-4 years ago.

 

man! how many phones do you have! lol

 

He has almost as many as I do... I have about 7 or 8 that I use on a somewhat regular basis, and then there is my collection of obselete mobile phones, and my huge collection of vintage landline telephones.

-Jay

 

i have about 5 useful phones, my 2 blackberrys my 8525 and my cu500 and my nokia 6030. i have a V185 i use on a rare occassion, verry reliable moto and its in perfect shape (lucky find i guess). sold my old 5165's and misc other phones i can no longer use. my next phone is likely the blackberry 9000 and im loving the N78 that i keep hearing about but if i see something i like before that i may nab it up...im a bar phone type of guy even though i do have a couple flips... i am due for something new....hmmmm....

 

I'd love to be back on the Smartphone route, but I'm just not that big of a fan of Candybar profiled phones. I'm not so much of a fan of carrying more devices than necessary...

 

They're probably thinking that low end phones attract people who need to call customer service more often and spend less money. While high-end phones attract people who spend more money and call customer service less.

 

i have ever phone that i ever had minus the moto 3000 that took a credit card size sim. they have a lot of fond memeries for me.

 

Where have all those Sanyo's gone?

They used to carry a ton of them. Now they carry only a few.

 

I agree Mike.....I too wanted one before that thing came out.....and I got my treo.

 

LOL, you want a cheap, crappy phone how about an Audiovox? My mom had one and it was complete junk. I'm glad I convinced her to go Motorola.

-Jay

 

Well, you've always got the Pantech as an option.

I used various smartphones for several years - I still have my Moto Q and BB Pearl - but have switched back to a "plain" phone. My plain phone now does the Web in a fairly acceptale manner, email, calendar and has an assortment of add-on utilities. It also backs up my contacts automatically (over the air) each night. The only thing I really miss is Opera Mini for full-out Web browsing. Fits better in my pocket too.l :biggrin:

 

one of my employees has the Pantech smartphone that AT&T is selling. My dad considered getting one because they were cheap, but both he & I were kinda questioning the quality that one might be getting with a Pantech. In the end dad just got a classic V3, didn't want to chance anything on a Pantech.

-Jay

 

I'm sorry I just saw this thread, but if someone is going to argue that smartphone use has doubled thanks in part to a phone that was on the market for 6 months in 2008, I am not going to drink that kool-aid.

I think the BB Pearl has done more to fuel smartphone adoption than the iPhone. iPhone = 1 carrier. Pearl = almost every carrier.

 

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Not sure I would try the Pantech either. I have not heard anything about them, good or bad.

 

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I agree about the BB Pearl--that is a nice little device.

 

One thing the iPhone has done to "help" smartphone sales is getting hyped to the nth degree. That's about it.

The timing of the iPhone's release came during a year in which smartphones came into their own. I think it's coincidental and not an iPhone-fueled result.

 

Agreed. Smartphones were increasing in popularity and the timing of the iPhone was perfect to allow it to go to market right as the popularity was increasing.

Funny thing is, I have recently gone away from smartphones back to a regular one. I got sick of feeling like I needed to be checking my email all the time or replying right away when someone sent me a message.

 

I almost never reply right away, but it is nice to be able to read email whenever I have free time. I'd say the main thing I do with my PDA phones is talking , internet radio, and GPS, with some mild email and internet usage. I realize I'm not normal because I don't text with it.

-Jay

 

Why not check on Ebay? That's always an option. Those low end phones should be very cheap.