Smartphones are no longer a luxury

June 10, 2009 | Paul Boutin | Comments | |

A New York Times report in Wednesday’s newspaper says that not having a smartphone is now, at least in America, the social equivalent of not having email a few years ago.

An iPhone, Pre or BlackBerry is no longer a status symbol or techie toy. It’s mandatory equipment for belonging to society.

Here’s the killer quote:

“The social norm is that you should respond within a couple of hours, if not immediately,” said David E. Meyer, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan. “If you don’t, it is assumed you are out to lunch mentally, out of it socially, or don’t like the person who sent the e-mail.”

You can access the full Times story here (may require registration). The surprise in the story is that people who don’t have jobs splurge on phones. One lady explained that employers expect new hires to be plugged in and accessible even before they start:

“I absolutely got it for the job search,” she said. “I don’t know if it’s really an expectation, but if another job candidate returns an e-mail message eight hours later, and you get back immediately with a message that says ‘Sent from my iPhone,’ I think it has to be a check box in your favor.”

My teenage niece in Maine struggles to pay for college, but she beat me to getting an iPhone. Me, I now carry an iPhone and a BlackBerry. I don’t just have two phones, I belong to two tribes. iPhone people and BlackBerry people dismiss each other as snarkily as San Franciscans and Los Angelenos. I’ve learned not to praise my BlackBerry’s super-fast keyboard to an iPhone owner. I shrug to fellow BlackBerry users that my iPhone is a toy my editor bought me so I could cover the app space. I’m lying.

[Photo by Amit Apel Design Studio]

Are you an entrepreneur or executive active in mobile? Join us at MobileBeat 2009, our mobile conference for industry leaders. Sign up by June 9 (we’ve extended the earlybird), and save $145.

Next Story: Quub lets you share status updates from the past, present, and future
Previous Story: MobileBeat2009 early bird ends today! Latest speakers: Qualcomm’s Kashyap, Verizon’s Khurjekar

Bookmark and Share

Tags:

Photo of Paul Boutin

About the Author, Paul Boutin

Paul (paul@venturebeat.com) covers Apple & the iPhone, social networks & social media, digital music & video, and any crazy Internet story. Paul wrote and edited for Valleywag from 2006-2008, after several years with Wired magazine and Slate. He writes regularly for The New York Times' technology section and sometimes for Wired and The Wall Street Journal. He studied computer science at MIT in the early 1980s, and worked as a software developer and network administrator for 15 years before becoming a professional writer. Follow him on Twitter at @paulboutin, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.

  • This is just what we need - another form of exclusivity and segregation. What happend to these Jones's everybody was keeping up with? Went bankrupt and being bailed out?
  • Really: will you not get hired if you don't have a smart phone?
    We prefer a basic mobile phone and a netbook with wifi.

    Typing errors/ grammatical errors on your smart phone can kill your chances too with a potential employer.
  • sample032
    "The surprise in the story is that people who don’t have jobs splurge on phones."

    Most of the people I know who have iPhones shouldn't be able to afford them...though props to them for being honest with themselves about their priorities.
  • I agree, the basic phones just don't cut it anymore. Whether it's an iPhone or a new release like the Motorola Aura (pimped by David Beckham), smartphones are the only way to go.
    http://www.thelifeofluxury.com/the-aura-of-davi...
  • Who cares if the Aura works or not. Just watching hunky David Beckham in that video is enough to make me go out and buy one. What a bod!