I’ve avoided buying a “smartphone” for a long time now because I didn’t want to pay the extra $30 a month for a required Internet connection. That $360 add-on to my cell phone bill per year isn’t really necessary, given I’m rarely away from an Internet connection and my laptop. Still, working in technology and occasionally writing about mobile innovations, I felt it was important to finally get a fancy smartphone.
But which one? I have been on Verizon ever since my first cell phone, and wasn’t ready to switch since I’ve been fairly happy with the service. I really wanted an iPhone and I’ve been waiting for Verizon to get one, but the AT&T contract ties up the iPhone w/ them until at least 2010. And given that my old phone disappeared, I needed a replacement and didn’t want to tie myself up with another two years on Verizon.
I looked at the Droid and the Droid Eris but wasn’t impressed. The iPhone just felt right and the design — hardware and software — was way more intuitive and slick than the clunky Droid. So I walked into an AT&T store and made my purchase.
I’m still in denial of how much I’ll be spending on my phone each year. $80 a month is not cheap. But I think it’s worth it in my industry.
The good news is that my iPhone is already paying back for itself. My boyfriend and I were out looking for a place to grab dinner and we found a local restaurant that had a 25% off coupon online and went there. The more I can use my iPhone to save, the better I’ll feel about the monthly service charge!
How many of you own a smartphone? How much do you pay per month for your phone?
I love my iphone! I pay $78 a month. It's slightly cheaper because I got a 5% discount for being a graduate of my college. 5% isn't a ton, but it's worth checking into to see if you can get a discount for membership in any organizations.
I have a Google G1 because I have a longstanding plan with T Mobile and it just made sense to get that because I am heavily google oriented. I have a family plan with my best friend and we got unlimited calls, texting, video etc for $89 plus the unlimited data for $25 each so pretty sweet!!!!
Yes the smart phone is a LIFESAVER and now I don't know how I managed without it.
My recommendation would be to NOT get a
fancy phone, just because the payments are
so out of line with regular cell phone service.
I have no idea what your job requirements are
for communications, but it seems to me that AT%T,
Google, Microsoft, and Apple have hit the
jackpot selling the "need" for 'on-the-go'
internet access. Lulu says she doesn't know how
she managed without a smart phone…but she did,
ant therefore didn't need to pay the bill,
either, until Google marketing won her over.
(that is obviously just my 'humble opinion'. I
really don't know peoples' needs, and I imagine
that there are people with a real need for a
smart phone, just relatively few)