Comments on: The blurring line between “Smart” phones and “feature” phones

By: Thomas R. Hall

Thomas R. Hall — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 02:25:30 +0000

Very good point, Carly! I actually have an increasing number of friends and family using a BlackBerry Pearl or Curve as a “feature phone” (no data plan). They like the ability to text quickly with the keyboard, the multitasking, and the ability to install some apps which don’t require Internet connectivity. Having the ability to install some apps such as a password manager but not having a data plan give them just a slight advantage over feature phones.

Then, I can always convince them to get a data plan later.

By: Q

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 19:44:14 +0000

“In the end, you will probably spend LESS per month on a smartphone than a feature phone.”

Which is, I think, part of why carriers like Verizon are pushing the feature phones–they want their cut of that extra money. Of course, all of this is way over the heads of many users, who think a smartphone is “just too complicated for me”–at least, until the office provides a BlackBerry and they have to get up to speed.

By: stevenshytle

stevenshytle — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:33:07 +0000

Could it be that what we are seeing on phones (dumb, feature, and smart) is but a smaller portion of what is coming in terms of desktop vs cloud computing. The hardware and os has evolved but so has what they are trying to reach. The web, data, and services has changed in such a way that you do not need a full computer but a dumb terminal. Likewise for the phones.

By: Joel McLaughlin

Joel McLaughlin — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:09:09 +0000

Here’s one thing to put on the smartphone side….apps. With VZW feature phones, you PAY for the apps that on Smartphones are free. Like Weather Apps, twitter clients, Stock tracking apps and more are all FREE on smartphones and anywhere from 3 to 5 dollars per app per MONTH on a feature phone. For me, it’s no contest….smartphone all the way.

In the end, you will probably spend LESS per month on a smartphone than a feature phone. That is even with the Smartphone’s data plan. Plus in alot of instances, you won’t have to pay for apps again on a smartphone. On a featurephone, there is usually NO WAY to sync apps between a old phone and a new one. If you stick with your smartphone platform of choice, you just copy the apps over or install them again and it’s good to go.

By: Michael Anderson

Michael Anderson — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:39:16 +0000

I gave my older son my Samsung u740 (now called Alias), which I had to give up after a few months of use because of my company’s no camera policy. It is a classic ‘feature phone’ with a great keyboard and loaded with all the Verizon web and stuff. All he uses it for is texting in addition to usual phone stuff, but I really don’t see much of a greater need. If he did need more we could easily expand to add email and so on.

Personally I found Verizon’s web and email stuff … well, terrible. It was slow and limited, but better than nothing. Given the choice I’d take a smartphone in a second!

But for most folks there is little need for all that functionality.

By: Carly Z

Carly Z — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 11:03:43 +0000

Exactly. And if they can update facebook and check their mail a few times a day, they’re probably doing 85% of what many smartphones are used for!

Also, and I forgot to mention this in the article, Verizon at least is encouraging this type of behavior; their “Connect” family plans include unlimited mobile web on non-smartphones. At least the chatbot I talked to on their website told me that. Right before it asked me if I “really needed a smartphone.”

By: Wayne Schulz

Wayne Schulz — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 10:58:03 +0000

I think you have a really good point. My ex is a dedicated Verizon env user. She swears by it because she doesn’t have to add an expensive data plan.

Looking around while on vacation most of the teens had these relatively inexpensive QWERTY devices which aren’t full featured smartphones but offer a good keyboard for texting.