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 areso out of line with regular cell phone service.I have no idea what your job requirements arefor communications, but it seems to me that AT%T,Google, Microsoft, and Apple have hit thejackpot selling the "need" for 'on-the-go'internet access. Lulu says she doesn't know howshe 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'. Ireally don't know peoples' needs, and I imaginethat there are people with a real need for asmart phone, just relatively few)