DumbphonesThe Have Nots

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By Christmas of 2011, 1 in 2

Americans will own a smartphone

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That means half of us may be

feeling left out

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With so many people getting smartphones, why would you not get

one?

Data plans are expensive

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A 500MB data plan on Rogers may cost you an extra $25 a month

To some, 3G internet access is essential

Unfortunately, this is an energy intensive

technology

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The iPhone 4 battery lasts for 6 hours using 3G

The power requirements of the technology being built into mobile

devices is growing at twice the pace of battery-capacity increases

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We may soon find that our thirst for more power will leave us offline

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72% of iPhone users have downloaded 10 or more

apps

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At an average of $5/app,

this is an extra $50 that

would not be spent

otherwise

In a joint study, it was found that 15 of 30

popular phone applications send users’ geographic location to advertisement servers

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The same study found that 7 of these 30

applications sent your unique phone identifier, your phone number, and SIM card serial number to

developers

But how well can you concentrate?

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Many students find themselves or their peers checking Facebook or playing games on their smartphones in class

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Who knows how many people are

checking Facebook at the wheel

It is clear that smartphones do not come without their

not-so-smart issues

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The next time you feel left out for not having a smartphone, remember that

sometimes that may be the smarter option

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Works Cited• http://www.pcworld.com/article/228189/why_your_smartphone_battery_sucks.html• http://gigaom.com/2010/03/26/1-in-2-americans-will-have-a-smartphone-by-christmas-

2011/• http://www.rogers.com/web/Rogers.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=WLRS_Plans• http://omnego.com/mobile-research/115

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