While featurephones and smartphones will probably completely dominate soon enough, I don't think dumbphones will go entirely away.
I'm rather hesitant to bring my n95 out in a small boat fishing in rainy weather, or long wilderness treks, but bringing a less featured phone can be a lot better. They generally have longer battery, handle weather better, and have higher chances of working if you lose it in the sea and dries it afterwards ;)
Yeah, but once you have a cheap phone that works, why spend money on a new cheap phone when that money could go toward a nice new expensive phone. The cheap phone that you take camping and boating, can get beaten to a pulp as long as it still makes a call.
I do agree about the two phones though. I have a work phone that runs Windows Mobile, has a QWERTY keyboard, EVdo, and lets me communicate in more ways than my laptop. But, over the weekend, I bring out my personal Nokia E50 that can last all weekend on one charge, is small and light weight, and can take a pretty good beating. My Nokia usually has a better signal too, but I guess that I really can't compare it since my phones use two different providers.
I think enough people have had cheap pieces of crap phones, and they realize that when you have a phone for two years, you want it to have a little something more. I have never received a free phone, I always pay extra for a phone, even with with a contract, and I have never been let down by any of cell phones I have owned. As the saying goes, "You get what you pay for."
“One wonderful Samsung addition to the traditional Android experience is a "real" camera button on the side, which can even register half-presses for focus.”
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While featurephones and smartphones will probably completely dominate soon enough, I don't think dumbphones will go entirely away.
I'm rather hesitant to bring my n95 out in a small boat fishing in rainy weather, or long wilderness treks, but bringing a less featured phone can be a lot better. They generally have longer battery, handle weather better, and have higher chances of working if you lose it in the sea and dries it afterwards ;)
Yeah, but once you have a cheap phone that works, why spend money on a new cheap phone when that money could go toward a nice new expensive phone. The cheap phone that you take camping and boating, can get beaten to a pulp as long as it still makes a call.
I do agree about the two phones though. I have a work phone that runs Windows Mobile, has a QWERTY keyboard, EVdo, and lets me communicate in more ways than my laptop. But, over the weekend, I bring out my personal Nokia E50 that can last all weekend on one charge, is small and light weight, and can take a pretty good beating. My Nokia usually has a better signal too, but I guess that I really can't compare it since my phones use two different providers.
I think enough people have had cheap pieces of crap phones, and they realize that when you have a phone for two years, you want it to have a little something more. I have never received a free phone, I always pay extra for a phone, even with with a contract, and I have never been let down by any of cell phones I have owned. As the saying goes, "You get what you pay for."