Are cell phones a necessity or a luxury?

[beebella]

Necessity

Luxury

*shrugs*

[SoWhAt249]

Definitely not a luxury. The world has developed in a way that it is almost necesarry to have a phone on you. But I don't find it absolutely necesarry. I live in a town located in the mountains, and 3 years ago, we had such a severe snow storm, that caused a 2 week blackout. That means nothing using electric power worked. Some people went and bought generators, but we didn't, and I was actually surprised at how easy it was to adapt. Definitely a bit boring, but I have nothing else to complain for. In the older days, people would do woodworks for a job or stuff like that, and would keep themsleves busy and entertained even without phones and electricity.

[AllieOops]

Hard to do woodworking without electricity as even battery operated tools need recharging.

[SoWhAt249]

@AllieOops I was talking about the past but You can do woodworking without electricity tools even today. It's just unconventional. Electricity just makes life so easier. But not impossible.

[Goma15]

I think it was at some point a luxury. But I think society has come to rely on it so much that it has become a necessity.

[jgirl99]

Both. We fancy it up with the smart phones and shit when all we need it to be able to make an effective phone call. We need cell phones but 'iphone, android, Samsung, sony' all just a way to make more money. We humans are EXTREMELY coddled and needy. We're all extra.

[ciitruskiwi]

Cell phones are a necessity, smart phones are a luxury. Being able to make a call during an a emergency is a necessity. Being able to play games and download apps is a luxury.

[AllieOops]

Seeing as how people use their smart phones for 1,000 more uses than a plain talk cell phone. I don't know why you classify a smart phone as a luxury. As I said above there are a lot of jobs that pretty much demand a smart phone for the job. As technology progresses it seems like they will be a complete necessity in a few years.

[ciitruskiwi]

For me it's a luxury. For others it may be different

[AllieOops]

Well I guess if you use a prepaid cell phone or one of the free ones you don't need a smart phone. You are definitely saving yourself some money but cell phones don't have GPS like Smart Phones have so you are relegated to street maps.

[sawno]

In modern times a necessity however most phones are also a luxury item. Budget phones even Android ones are extremely capable. My OnePlus 3T is amazing but since it's a phone from 2016 it can be bought used for 60 Euro's and outperform budget or even some mid-range models.

So having the latest phone and spending 800 Euro's with little to no benefit is a luxury. But having a phone is required these days, in my country they disabled those telephone poles at the side of the road because almost nobody uses them. So if you get in trouble you need your phone.

[Walt832]

I see it as a tool that is required to be used in my business. No need super high end expensive cellphone Brand. Nor cheap as in flip phone lol. But somewhere is able to hold my business apps live running.

I used the camera for landscaping projects before, during and after. You won't see a selfie lol I am not into that. Mostly my females friends grab my phone searching a picture of me, non or even text messages hoping to find something special, all coordinates texts lol. They see high tech apps like what is all this. I start telling them they like 😶😕.

[broken_heart_at_48]

Considering there's basically no pay phones anymore they're a necessity besides now a day's you can do almost anything with your cell phone that can be done with a computer so for a lot of people there's no need for a computer I even have a silicone keyboard you can roll up and put in your pocket that bluetooth's with my phone and my phone has a projector that is badass and I can put an insanely huge sd card in my phone oh yeah I also have a wireless printer copier scanner that I've never used so basically this is as much a computer as it is a phone definitely a necessity

[crazy8000]

Not that much necessity for me.
When I don't pay attention to it I get more done in my life.
Can get a portable media player if I stop using the phone as one. prefer to use mydesktop with 34 screen instead and a real keyboard and mouse, much faster to use.
Can use a android virtual program instead for apps.
Can use a real clock again.
Not that thrilled about talking on phone.
Doesn't play games on the phone.
Can get a old fashion Mobil phone with real buttons to make calls and sms.
Doesn't always have the phone on me.
When I don't use it as a media player in airplane mode for sleeping I shut it down.
Only had vibrator on for 5 years since it's very annoying.

Just a luxury tool to minimize the number of electronical devices.

[abc3643]

I lived the first 40 years of my life just fine without one.

HOWEVER!

Because:
1) Many websites now require 2-factor authentication involving a phone AND
2) Pay phones are near impossible to find - especially when in an emergency
Cell phones are a de facto necessity now.

[LaPrincesita]

Honestly I’m going to have to lean more towards a necessity because they have improved our lives quite a bit if not probably mainly is our lives now like really imagine a life without phones and all the things we have that come with it I don’t know I just can’t.

[AlienParasite]

Both? I mean, they are not really essential for natural survival, but in the context of society we have nowadays it has become a necessity. You either need one for your job or in order to communicate with friends and don't be let behind.

There are also tools that are faster than the traditional ones and so have almost substitute them. Google maps is quicklier that having to use a real map.

[AllieOops]

Smart phones are becoming a necessity as many jobs require them so they can check stock and prices. You can't book an Uber ride without one or deliver a Domino's Pizza without one. They can do so much like taking credit card payments, using them for discount coupons, and just scanning something for information. You can text, talk, facetime, and surf the internet. They have more uses than a laptop.

[SjE78]

they originally started out as a gimmick, then became a luxury as you had to be wealthy to own one...
nowadays they have become more of a necessity and a luxury...
Meaning that depending on what you choose it could be practical necessity or a luxury
as most high end phones you won't even use a fraction of the phone's features... where as simple call, text... internet and/or GPS is fairly useful if you need those things...

[jennifer_bloom]

I voted shrugs cause it depends - as a university student or during social distancing - it is pretty important - but if you have a lap top and can surf the internet - than a cell phone is not necessary. Also if you live a lifestyle where you get regular in person contact and your boss does not communicate you through cell phone calls etc...

[katiesmuff]

They are a luxury! As cool as they are for everything they will do it's still quite easy to go through life easily without one. It's hard to believe that today we would be paying anywhere from $1000 - $1500 for a fucking phone.
It's hard to believe our parents and grandparents could have ever survived without these overpriced nuisances. I miss reaching into the coin slot of pay phones looking for loose coins which might have been left behind. LOL

[MysteriousDarkness]

@katiesmuff
Once I found a few dollars worth in a payphone which surprised me. They survived without mobile phones because they lived many years before they were around. Most people I would guess did not have a mobile phone until the mid 2000s

[katiesmuff]

@MysteriousDarkness Your right the modern cell phone has only been around for about two decades (20 yrs) but we did just fine without them and we would be just as fine today without them. I know crap like Facebook, Tweeter, Zoom, etc would not exist as it does today. Those things would just be on home computers. Irresponsible people wouldn't be texting while driving and killing people, phones ringing during movies, church, business meetings wouldn't be happening, with the good comes so much bad.

[MysteriousDarkness]

@katiesmuff
But for a lot of people its their only phone as they do not have a landline phone at home.

[MysteriousDarkness]

@katiesmuff
How would they calk 911 for an emergency because going to a neighbors place and then back home might take too long depending on how far a part they live. What if the nearest 5 house do not have a landline they could be dead from bleading out.

[katiesmuff]

@MysteriousDarkness That is a choice! If they didn't have a cell phone they would have a land line

[katiesmuff]

@MysteriousDarkness Today if you can't speak a cell phone takes forever for them to locate you, where a land line that anyone can get even from the internet using OOMA gives 911 the address of the call.

[Jaximus-Lion]

If you are buying every single latest phone even if it's a year gap between that is just Luxury. If you buying one every 2-4 years that is just Necessity because many phone don'r survive more than that and work properly without having malfunction battery problem, screen respond and the manufactured company stop doing software update so the phone become useless

[ArrowheadSW]

It started out as a luxury. I remember 20 years ago I was in a cross country skiing hut in Northern California and I handed my cell phone to a lady so she could call her mom in Colorado and she was amazed that you could do that. Now it is almost a necessity.

I rode my bike past a homeless encampment recently and saw a guy on a cell phone. Interesting how times have changed.

[Red_Arrow]

In life in general, they are a luxury. They did not exist when I was growing up. If it was urgent, had to find a phone booth (Google it if you must, :-) ). These days it is necessary for some people in some professions. But for most people who somehow consider it a necessity, it is still really just a luxury. You don't have to talk to someone every hour of every day.

[sensible27]

If I had to vote for right to education or right to phone with internet access, I would take the phone any day of the week. You can learn most things from and with the help of a phone and if not you would still have learned far more than education on general ever teaches people. If by right you mean other people have to insure that you get it I am not sure if it's moral to do so but still the phone will be far cheaper.

[JSmuve]

They're a luxury. Anyone who thinks they *need* their smart phone clearly wasn't born or can't remember a life before 2010. But sadly, society has needlessly adjusted itself around the smartphone to the point where lots of things are more difficult without one.

[ThiccNigro]

Kinda both. Both college and my job have gotten to the point where I have needed to use my cellphone for them. Granted a laptop is even more important but still it's getting to the point where it's a necessity. Even in the sense of humans have grown dependent on them. Communication, navigation, etc. All those things are necessary and cellphones make them way more efficient

[OpenWine]

an anoyance most of the time.

I use it mostly to not have to see a certain someone in my family when I'm at home. when I'm out with someone or talk to someone I barely use it and most likely I even forget about it. when I go out I sometimes loose my phone somewhere because I didn't care for it hours ago then I may even find it somewhere in my jacket

[Jjpayne]

Now they are a necessity. A place I volunteer at requires an app now to volunteer. I say that because apps are now linked to business and government type programs so in this day and age I'd argue that most people should have one

[slatyb]

We expect people to be able to do the things that smart phones enable, like get directions from an address and locate friends at an event, instead of giving turn-by-turn directions or agreeing on a specific meeting point and time.