Smartphone to "dumb" phone

[Catrin]

I am considering downgrading my Android to a "dumb" phone with a good camera and slide-out keyboard for messaging when the time comes. I don't know that I will actually DO this, but am seriously considering it. I spend too much of my life attached to assorted electronic devices, and this would be one way to start to draw back a bit. It would also cut my phone bill

Has anyone here made this move? Did you regret it? I MIGHT try dropping my data plan for one month to see what that is like before I take final action - assuming that AT&T will allow me to do so since I've an Android. I know you don't have that option with an iPhone.

[SheFly]

I still haven't upgraded from my dumb phone, and I don't feel the need. Much of my life is spent in front of the computer, and adding another device just doesn't inspire me. I WOULD like the ability to upload a quick status to FB, but I can actually do that with my phone if I REALLY want to (it's just really cumbersome). DH and I text throughout the day, but other than that, no need to be smart with my phone .

SheFly

p.s.
I also don't ever have the need to be checking my phone when out with friends... Just sayin'

[Catrin]

Thanks SheFly - that is exactly what I am thinking...

[lph]

Like SheFly I've never upgraded from a dumb phone, but I have used a smart phone enough to know a little of what I'm missing. I have a basic, compact waterproof and shockproof phone, without a keyboard. I don't miss the keyboard, I message faster than I think anyway ;-). I'd prefer having a better camera, and sometimes I miss a better and larger screen. However, I really like having a small and bombproof phone without a large glass screen to break.

I haven't bought a smart phone because I know I'm too addicted to the net as it is, and would find it hard to not check email and facebook and TE all the time. I enjoy the downtime. But on longer vacations it's very handy having my dh's smart phone around, to check the news, the weather, email every now and then. But texting on it drives me up the wall.

I know I'm missing it out on various apps, though, so I may switch at some point anyway.

On another note - any tips on how to stay OFF the net... ;-)

[SheFly]

On another note - any tips on how to stay OFF the net... ;-)

Don't turn on the computer

SheFly

[shootingstar]

What is a dumb phone? Yup, I'm a klutz.

I pay a combined land line phone and unlimited, high speed Internet access for average approx. $72.00CAN/month. It includes up to 300 free minutes of long distance phone calls across North America per month. I don't have a TV and don't want one right now.

[lph]

A smart phone is an advanced mobile phone with an operating system that enables it to pretty much be a small computer, usually with a large touchscreen. A "dumb phone" isn't. :-)

[lph]

Don't turn on the computer

SheFly

Har-de-har.

Actually that's proving easier and easier, as we now have a combined tv and computer room at home, and unless told not to my son is holed up in there playing Skyrim. So being on the computer involves either a discussion or trying to surf with large, angry warriors killing each other 3 inches to the right of my field of vision.

[Swan]

It might just be my age showing, but I tried to downgrade and failed. I very rarely use our home computer, which runs on dial up. My phone's internet is faster than our computer's! I don't have an iPod or anything fancy like that either (though I do have an iPad that I never use and need to get rid of), so I used my phone for literally everything -- GPS, music, e-reader, camera and video, internet, texting, calling, e-mailing, Skyping, news, TV shows, weather alerts, note-taking, you name it...

But even though I use it for everything, I'm not always using it. I can put my phone away and socialize without it, and get through anything I need to (class, work, etc) without bothering about it.

Anyway, I cut it off and went back to an old pre-paid Nokia cellphone about a year ago, and by the end of the fifth month I was wild-eyed and pulling my hair out, haha. I was so reliant on my smartphone! It did everything! So I got rid of TV cable and dial-up internet, and brought back my smartphone. I'm never, ever disconnecting it again, unless something goes horribly wrong and I have to.

[emily_in_nc]

Like SheFly I've never upgraded from a dumb phone, but I have used a smart phone enough to know a little of what I'm missing. I have a basic, compact waterproof and shockproof phone, without a keyboard. I don't miss the keyboard, I message faster than I think anyway ;-). I'd prefer having a better camera, and sometimes I miss a better and larger screen. However, I really like having a small and bombproof phone without a large glass screen to break.

I haven't bought a smart phone because I know I'm too addicted to the net as it is, and would find it hard to not check email and facebook and TE all the time. I enjoy the downtime. But on longer vacations it's very handy having my dh's smart phone around, to check the news, the weather, email every now and then. But texting on it drives me up the wall.

I know I'm missing it out on various apps, though, so I may switch at some point anyway.

On another note - any tips on how to stay OFF the net... ;-)

lph, I'm like you, no smart phone. However, I did buy a Galaxy Tab 2.0 wi-fi tablet (7") for travel only. I never use it at home as I have my laptop, and I don't feel the need to take it in my pack when I head into town for shopping or whatever. Like many on this thread I am online so much when I'm home, it's nice to have a break, and a smartphone would just be too tempting to be in Facebook, etc all the time. On a trip we're so busy the Tab only gets limited use (mostly first thing in the morning and last thing at night), but it's nice to have instead of a full-size (heavy) laptop on a trip, to look up something quickly, delete all those pesky marketing emails, and be able to reply quickly to anything important.

Might be a nice compromise for you to look at something like that just for traveling as well. It has plenty of apps, including my favorite, the Kindle app, so also allows me to travel without a stack of books. Win!

Editing to add: Also, since it's not a phone, there's no monthly data fee. You pay once, and that's it. That does limit its use to where wi-fi is available, but we used it all over Mexico without issue; wi-fi is obviously more and more prevalent.

[Catrin]

....

Editing to add: Also, since it's not a phone, there's no monthly data fee. You pay once, and that's it. That does limit its use to where wi-fi is available, but we used it all over Mexico without issue; wi-fi is obviously more and more prevalent.

This is interesting, thanks for the comment. I've spoken with AT&T and if I were to "downgrade" and get a messaging phone that has email then I would save an entire $10/month (and of course the difference in the cost of the phone). This is less about money than it is trying to pull back on my internet addiction. There, I said it I think I will turn off the "cellular data" option on my Android for a few weeks and see how I survive it.

I like a couple of the Nook tablets, if I do this I might consider saving up for one of those to cover traveling and computer breakdown times.

[Swan]

On another note - any tips on how to stay OFF the net... ;-)

I'm an internet addict (which is apparently getting added to psychology manuals this year), and my best tip to getting off the net is to do something else that you enjoy. I spent hours on my bike up until my back gave out, and during that time I didn't surf the web at all, which is really saying something since I'll go without sleep in order to constantly refresh different web pages. I thought about websites and checking my e-mail and how I needed to refresh that one page a few more times... But as long as I was biking, I felt like "Eh, I can put it off til this hill or that one or maybe just when I get back home." It wasn't too hard, even though my phone comes with me on rides and has internet right there... Granted, I did check FB once or twice during a break in riding, but it was nothing like sitting in front of the computer for two days straight without sleep!


(go on, you can all laugh at how sad of a person I am now, lol)


Edit: I switched to Verizon and it is pretty expensive, but since I live out in the woods their superior coverage is a must if I want to stay connected at all to the outside world. I can even get 4G out here! $10 per 10gb in data is a little harsh, but as emily pointed out, wifi is spreading... if 4G is here, wifi can't be too far behind! Hopefully I won't need to pay so much for data soon!

[zoom-zoom]

but as emily pointed out, wifi is spreading... if 4G is here, wifi can't be too far behind! Hopefully I won't need to pay so much for data soon!

Wait...you know WiFi isn't a service, it's a device. It simply eliminates the need to plug into a wired modem for an internet connection. It's a wireless router, not actual internet service. We have cable internet and a wireless "wifi" router that transmits the signal from our cable modem through our house...so we can access the internet wirelessly using any device in our home (my desktop, DH's laptop, our cells, our iPad).

[OakLeaf]

But a lot of people do use the wifi on their phones so they can use a lot of data but stay signed up for the smallest data package.

Too risky for me. If I'm home, there's not much reason to be getting data off my phone ... as far as public wifi, I just don't trust the security measures on a phone.

[Swan]

Wait...you know WiFi isn't a service, it's a device. It simply eliminates the need to plug into a wired modem for an internet connection. It's a wireless router, not actual internet service. We have cable internet and a wireless "wifi" router that transmits the signal from our cable modem through our house...so we can access the internet wirelessly using any device in our home (my desktop, DH's laptop, our cells, our iPad).

Wifi is a device that smartphones are equipped to use, but more and more commercial buildings (doctors, restaurants, cafes, libraries, shops, malls) are providing free wifi service for customers. So while people may complain about their data plan, when more and more stores start carrying wifi, smartphones will rarely need to use data -- just the wifi. It's what I do! I went from using 6-whatever to 1-whatever in data measurements when wifi became more widely available for free, and that cut my bill drastically. I went from $300/mo to $80/mo even with pricey Verizon. As for security, there are services and firewalls that can be used for smartphones depending on the carrier.

I haven't experienced slow or maxed out free wifi yet. Maybe because our town is so small that it isn't a concern just yet.