Yes, the last bastion of the dumb-phone realm has given way.

Now, I too have a smartphone, a very smartphone in fact. I have been a late entrant into this world of smart-phones. In the marketing jargon, I would be called a late adopter or, to be more specific, a laggard in terms of embracing one of the many smartphone technologies that have been floating around for a while now.

I had always been a typically old-school firm believer of the fact that a phone should be used only to make and receive calls. I always doubted the utility factor of these so-called smart-phones. I imagined a smartphone to be just another electronic device that would eat a part of my day, just the way the laptop and the television do. It would be another screen that I would be staring at for a substantial part of the day.

It was only after a lot of pestering by friends, and the fact of my existing phone giving way, that I reluctantly went ahead and bought a smartphone (an expensive one if I might add).

However, from the moment I held the new phone in my hands, I have been hooked to it. What this four inch device has smartly done is that it has addressed most of my technology needs, and that too by utilizing the idle time that I had during any given day. The time I had left for other activities – my utility time – has remained unaffected.

Earlier, I had to set aside time for each one of my non-essential, but necessary activities. For instance, checking my FB profile, or paying my phone bill, or following Perez Hilton on Twitter, or downloading music, or watching a movie which I had downloaded long back but never got around to watch – were all separate activities, that I had to aside time for. Now, with my new smartphone, I get to slot all these activities into the idle time bubbles that are present all through my typical working day.

Every great innovation, however, does have its usability shortcomings, and this smartphone is no different. Just because there is an app and it is for free, does not necessarily mean that you should download it. Some of the apps may turn out be totally useless – a lesson I’ve learnt pretty quickly with experience. Also, relying extensively on this one device can make you absolutely clueless if the device goes for a toss. It’s always advisable to have a back-up plan in place. Taking timely backups of the data on your phone is a major pain saver – which is also something I have learnt from experience.

What I will also say is that if I had I bought a smartphone in 2008, or 2009, it may not have been a value for money investment. The smartphone market has matured now and it is having all kinds of services at optimal price points. It goes without saying that this is a pretty good time to invest in a smartphone if you do not have one already.

I may sound materialistic when I say this but a smartphone, used effectively, can actually make you happy in more ways than one.

(Image courtesy: rkmangham from sxc.hu)