To me it is a tool. I carry a pocketknife with me all the time too. That being said, I don’t necessarily pay attention to it. It will ring if my wife or kids call, otherwise it goes directly to voice mail where it is transcribed and sent to me as an Email. I have Email notification off. On my schedule, I can conveniently check messages to see who has called and why. I am actually more free from interuption with the smart phone than I was with my cell phone.
As far as personal information, I am much more concerned about somebody breaking into my house and making off with my laptop.
I’m as about disconnected as a functioning adult can be. I’ve never seen a facebook page. I’ve never answered my phone in a reliable way even the land line, which about freaked my prospective wife out, she couldn’t understand how you couldn’t answer a ringing phone. I check email a couple times a week. That being said, warning about severe weather, my accurate location, a phone number when I’m running errands, Free Republic when I’m stuck getting my oil changed, a handy book when I’m in the john, those are all advantages that were a surprise to me when I bought my phone.
We could go around and around the bush on this, doc, and please don’t misunderstand my comments here; I’m completely cool with your assessments of it as a tool. I am a tech nerd at the office, and I love technology. I simply refuse to get one of these out of fear of becoming an addict.
I’ve spent the last 10 years trying to remove myself from the net and get off the grid. Like you, I don’t do the Facebook/Twitter stuff and have no taste for much of anything else the web has to offer. I love that I can order pizza online. I love that I can get a step-by-step map from Google when I need it. I love that I can order ammo and read FR on the web, but I personally don’t need a smart phone for all of that. I prefer to sit on my porch with my laptop and a cigar over driving and checking FR for pings or Drudge for news.
Plus, I have my home PC connected to my 52” HDTV and prefer bigger over smaller. I’m already near-sighted, I don’t need to be squinting at a 2.5” screen.
We fundamentally agree, smart phones are neat and cool toys. I’m just personally averse to them knowing full well that I’ll become addicted, and I just don’t want to be part of that group; otherwise, I become what I despise: a hypocrite.