I enjoy Unclutterer, but sometimes the authors’ seem to have a brand specific (just iPhone) perspective versus product category (all smartphones).

You can download new music with it, check email, websites, Google maps, etc. I’ve also started reading a lot more because of it due to eReader. (I hear eReader *just* came out for the iPhone… It’s been out for palm devices for many many years.) Now I almost always check to see if there is an ebook out rather than a physical book. It also has an SSH client. My husband can access the unix machines at work through VPN and SSH via his Treo. I know I can view Word/Excel/PDF documents, but I am not sure about editing. I’ve just used my laptop if I needed to edit one.

Treos can connect to my laptop via cord or bluetooth and I can use the phone’s internet connection as a connection for my laptop. I’m not sure that the iPhone can do that, and certainly not for the last 3 years… it hasn’t been out that long.

Additional bonuses are cut & paste! Also, I’m free to use a number of services without expensive data plans. The battery lasts a long time, but if I have to go a long time without being able to recharge it, I can swap out a spare battery.

Yes, I think the iPhone is nicely designed, but it’s a lot LOT of hype and extremely expensive if you look at the data plan you’re forced to be in for 2 years. For me, buying a top of the line Treo 3 years ago, making sure it was a device I could upgrade and use for years, and not feeling like I needed the latest and “greatest” (which would have been a downgrade with the previous iPhone for sure), I have reduced gadget clutter in my life. I also highly recommend regular backups of your smartphone. I have an application that does that multiple times a day over the Internet automatically, so I don’t have to worry about getting it wrong.

Please don’t turn this blog into a big advertisement for iPhones. There are a lot more effective ways to reduce clutter in ones life than by buying more gadgets that one will feel inclined to upgrade as soon as the next model comes out.

Well, i actually do use a handphone, but not as a handphone, as i use my E90 (nokia) to go here (unclutterer) and checking mails (I have only one, [1] , mind you, active email correspondent)….so i always call my device as ”voiceless handphone” i.e. Handphone that cannot receive or make calls at all…and as substitute to laptop,camera etc

The fact is, iPhones, be it 1stgen nor current model, are not allowed to enter our country’s market

I think the real point is smartphone vs. traditional cell phone (or vs. nothing if you don’t need a cell). For me, ever since I got a Sidekick 4 years ago, I can imagine my life without a Smartphone. It’s definitely a need not a want and it’s a BIG Unclutterer for moi.

@ Shannon – that’s why you need to regularly back up your Smartphone same as you would your laptop/computer/whatever.

My favorite apps from the 2.0 upgrade are:

Pandora- hands down the best ap ever!
AOL Radio- fun to listen to radio in other cities
TripAdvisor- a service I can’t live without
New York Times- because sitting in a coffee shop reading the paper on your phone looks cool.
Urban Spoon- the slot machine and location finder is great. It’s a fun way to find a place to eat.

- iPod (which replaced a larger, extremely battery-hungry portable CD player and “wallet” of CDs)
- Beater (read: cheap) digital camera for candids/memories
- Garmin GPS unit
- Small pad and pen
- A cell phone/PDA

Now, all of these essential items (to MY life, at least) get compacted into one piece of hardware that weighs less than the old iPod with a lot less energy expended. Plus, the old cell/iPod/etc went on Ebay and helped cover a large part of the iPhone’s cost.

…and waiting in line for ninety minutes to get it? Hey, that’s a group activity I like to participate in. The same way I’ll bet a lot of people have waited in line (with other like-minded folks) to get tickets for their favorite band, see a Broadway show, get World Series tickets, eat at a popular restaurant, get into a hot club, buy their child that perfect Christmas gift…Heck, people line up at the Costco by my house for half an hour before opening! It just depends on the value you place on the destination you’re waiting for. IMO, it takes a lot of nerve to tell other people how they should be spending THEIR time.

To see other folks who reduced their clutter with an iPhone, check out the “Things We Carry” group at Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/groups/theitemswecarry/

Keep in mind, I do not own another phone. My iPhone is my sole phone. So in that aspect, I have even less clutter to worry about. Only 1 phone number to give out, only 1 device to charge in my apartment (instead of several cordless phones), it is something I can carry everywhere with me at any time, and is even better then a landline given all of my contacts are in it.

No one needed to have the iPhone first, and the few people that actually had a need instead of a want for the iPhone could have waited the few days (and just how did you function before the iPhone that makes the iPhone so essential to your life). But waiting meant then they wouldn’t have been the first in the neighborhood, couldn’t have shown off to their friends, couldn’t have had the false superiority of possessing a new toy before anyone else–in other words, they wouldn’t have “won” whatever game of possessions they are playing.

I still don’t get it. But, keep in mind, the only reason I got a new phone two years ago is because mine was lost on the bus. And I won’t replace this one until it dies or the technology becomes so obsolete it won’t work anymore (which is what happened to my brother.

I can, happily, guarantee I’ll never buy an iPhone. I have no need of it, and no want of it.

Each to their own.

And they weren’t counting on my business anyway.

Watch “The Lost Room”….the idea of possessing objects that give the owner the perception of having superiority over someone else is explored in a fascinating way (at least in the pilot; I haven’t seen the series).

As far as I’m concerned, it’s just one more thing that will become junk in a year or two.

Regarding your comment “make our lives easier” shouldn’t that be up to the individual? Maybe an iPhone makes your life easier, but mine harder (eg: no support for synchronizing Outlook appointments and tasks). Or maybe a Blackberry is better for someone else?

I really enjoy Unclutterer, so I’m just trying to give some constructive feedback. In the future, please give me all of the pertinent information so I can make an educated choice.

Didn’t you feel even a bit foolish for making such a big deal over something that took hours to get working properly?

I just did a search of your site for “Smartphone” and didn’t get any results. A search for “Blackberry” yields one post, but it’s a quote from another site.

If you want to do this topic (decluttering with a multi-purpose cell phone) justice you should really do a little more homework. Right now, this post comes off more like an Apple advertisement.