Re: T-Mobile Sprint Merger: Say goodbye to scam calls

Carlos E.R. wrote:
> 123456789 wrote:

>> I picked up a smartphone on my local Target department store 
>> discount rack awhile back for $15 US. I use it when puttering 
>> around the house as an Android iPod. It also streams radio stations
>> from around the world. Works great without either a data plan OR a
>> phone plan...

> a smartphone without a dataplan is useless.

The smartphone mentioned above is quite USEFUL to me. At $15 it was
quite a bit cheaper than I originally paid for my old iPod and I use it
for pretty much the same thing.

> I can not check the map while I'm on the street; I can not get a 
> message (here we don't use SMS, we use Whatsapp). I can not do many 
> things that I do normally till I arrive home to my wifi. These days,
>  to get the menu listing of a restaurant, I have to make a photo of 
> its QR code at the door and look it up online, as it is not printed 
> in a board.

Course not. Neither can I. I have another considerably more expensive
smartphone for my regular smartphone business. That doesn't mean my
el-cheapo around-the-house smartphone isn't USEFUL. It's about the third
the size and fits in my shirt pocket nicely. Very USEFUL. And BTW did I
mention that it's USEFUL?

> So of course I need a data plan to use a smartphone as intended, as 
> designed. It is a gadget invented to be used on the move with 
> Internet access.

Of course you do. As always YMMV.

> That you can live without it? Sure.

I think you are actually arguing with Arlen here. He's the one the one
that wants a sans-data plan phone. I simply pointed out that a disemboweled
smartphone can actually be quite USEFUL... ;)