Smartphones: Do we really need them?

How smart do we want smartphones? Do we really need them?

In basic terms, a smartphone can be defined as a cellular telephone with advanced features and capabilities. In addition to being enabled to access the internet, a smartphone sports numerous built-in applications. Some of the features of modern smartphones include, but they are not limited to, video and still cameras, e-mail messaging, MP4 and MP4 players, Web browsing, etc. In essence, a tool that was once used for basic calling and texting capabilities has been transformed into a mobile personal computer.

Smartphones have come a long way. According to Krajci and Cummings (2013, p. 12), "many credit IBM and BellSouth's Simon Personal Communicator (1994) with being the first smartphone." As the authors further point out, Simon sought to merge the diverse features of cellular devices with those of personal digital assistants (PDAs), thus...
[ View Full Essay]