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Making calls might not even make it to Top 5 things people use iPhone for.

by elmigranto 10y ago

chris_wot 10y ago
Uh, what?
- jotux 10y ago
  I use my smartphone almost entirely for texting and browsing. I think my monthly talk time averages 30-60 minutes. Observing my peers (20-40 something tech-savvy people) this seems to be the norm.
  - chris_wot 10y ago
    Still in the top 5 for most people!
    - Kiro 10y ago
      I think you're wrong.
      - chris_wot 10y ago
        The popularity of FaceTime, Viber, Skype, Facebook video and phone calls and Whatsapp calling tends to rather give me some reasonable data points.
    - jsmeaton 10y ago
      I'd doubt that. Browser, text, whatsapp, fb, messenger. They'd be my top 5. Feedly and casual snapchat would still come before speaking on the phone.
      - chris_wot 10y ago
        Yes, but I didn't just mention phone calls. On the browser you'd be getting video feeds, needing sons. Facebook is full on video these days, also needing sound. However, if you look at the money and the plans that Telcos are providing, it's pretty evident that phone calls are still very much an important part of having a phone. Viber, Facebook calling, Whatsapp phone calls, Skype and FaceTime are all extremely popular. Even sending Vines requires sound.
        jsmeaton 10y ago
        You might have meant sound in other apps, but the original comment that spawned this thread was "phone calls wouldn't even be top 5". I don't do any voice in fb or whatsapp. Hangouts would be about it and that's mostly from my laptop. I'm not defending the 3.5mm port removal or anything, I think it sucks. But voice chat in any form is not top 5 and probably isn't top 10 for me either. I suspect many others are similar.
        chris_wot 10y ago
        I'm sure others use the iPhone for things other than voice calls, but with 1 billion iPhones sold even a million people who don't make voice calls is still a tiny fraction of the market. Most people are still using their phone to make phone calls, even if you and others are not.
        Kiro 10y ago
        Yes, people are using their phones to make phone calls but I still don't think it's in the top 5. That's what this discussion is about.
        chris_wot 10y ago
        Pew Research Center said the following in 2015: Fully 97% of smartphone owners used text messaging at least once over the course of the study period, making it the most widely-used basic feature or app; it is also the feature that is used most frequently, as the smartphone owners in this study reported having used text messaging in the past hour in an average of seven surveys (out of a maximum total of 14 across the one-week study period). Younger smartphone owners are especially avid users of text messaging, but this group has by no means abandoned voice calls — 93% of smartphone owners ages 18-29 used voice or video calling on at least one occasion during the study period, and reported doing so in an average of 3.9 surveys. http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/01/us-smartphone-use-in-2015/ http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/01/us-smartphone-use-in-2...
- wruza 10y ago
  Most of my calls consist of a) "please send me 2 bottles of whatever tomorrow ... thanks", b) listening to "your call is important to us, stay on line ... what is your passphrase, please wait while I'm getting information ... thanks for five-minute waiting, your xxx is yyy, can I zzz?" I wish I could do everything in text and not use people's ears and fingers as middle layer between my intents and their databases.
- cm2187 10y ago
  Well, to me an iphone is an ipod with wifi and 4G. I must make 3 calls a month on it.
- jonknee 10y ago
  I don't even have the phone app on the home screen. It would most likely take weeks before I noticed I couldn't make phone calls.
douche 10y ago
Smartphones are really terribly designed to be actually used as a telephone. Personally, I say good riddance. Anything that can be communicated in text, whether email, SMS or other, ought to be. That leaves very little use for telephone, which has all of the disadvantages of synchronous, face-to-face voice communication, with none of the benefits.
- majewsky 10y ago
  > Anything that can be communicated in text, whether email, SMS or other, ought to be. I see you never had a heated argument going on for hours that only started because people were missing your tone of voice.
  - douche 10y ago
    Eh, telephone doesn't help that much either. Video you can at least get some indications of body language, but on the whole I'd be perfectly content if I never had to make another phone call. Bad connections, constant reverb from garbage mics, people forgetting they are on mute, incomprehensible accents. None of these are problems in text communication, and the signal-to-noise ratio is higher.

Making calls might not even make it to Top 5 things people use iPhone for.

chris_wot 10y ago

Uh, what?

jotux 10y ago
I use my smartphone almost entirely for texting and browsing. I think my monthly talk time averages 30-60 minutes. Observing my peers (20-40 something tech-savvy people) this seems to be the norm.
- chris_wot 10y ago
  Still in the top 5 for most people!
  - Kiro 10y ago
    I think you're wrong.
    - chris_wot 10y ago
      The popularity of FaceTime, Viber, Skype, Facebook video and phone calls and Whatsapp calling tends to rather give me some reasonable data points.
  - jsmeaton 10y ago
    I'd doubt that. Browser, text, whatsapp, fb, messenger. They'd be my top 5. Feedly and casual snapchat would still come before speaking on the phone.
    - chris_wot 10y ago
      Yes, but I didn't just mention phone calls. On the browser you'd be getting video feeds, needing sons. Facebook is full on video these days, also needing sound. However, if you look at the money and the plans that Telcos are providing, it's pretty evident that phone calls are still very much an important part of having a phone. Viber, Facebook calling, Whatsapp phone calls, Skype and FaceTime are all extremely popular. Even sending Vines requires sound.
      - jsmeaton 10y ago
        You might have meant sound in other apps, but the original comment that spawned this thread was "phone calls wouldn't even be top 5". I don't do any voice in fb or whatsapp. Hangouts would be about it and that's mostly from my laptop. I'm not defending the 3.5mm port removal or anything, I think it sucks. But voice chat in any form is not top 5 and probably isn't top 10 for me either. I suspect many others are similar.
        chris_wot 10y ago
        I'm sure others use the iPhone for things other than voice calls, but with 1 billion iPhones sold even a million people who don't make voice calls is still a tiny fraction of the market. Most people are still using their phone to make phone calls, even if you and others are not.
        Kiro 10y ago
        Yes, people are using their phones to make phone calls but I still don't think it's in the top 5. That's what this discussion is about.
        chris_wot 10y ago
        Pew Research Center said the following in 2015: Fully 97% of smartphone owners used text messaging at least once over the course of the study period, making it the most widely-used basic feature or app; it is also the feature that is used most frequently, as the smartphone owners in this study reported having used text messaging in the past hour in an average of seven surveys (out of a maximum total of 14 across the one-week study period). Younger smartphone owners are especially avid users of text messaging, but this group has by no means abandoned voice calls — 93% of smartphone owners ages 18-29 used voice or video calling on at least one occasion during the study period, and reported doing so in an average of 3.9 surveys. http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/01/us-smartphone-use-in-2015/ http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/01/us-smartphone-use-in-2...
wruza 10y ago
Most of my calls consist of a) "please send me 2 bottles of whatever tomorrow ... thanks", b) listening to "your call is important to us, stay on line ... what is your passphrase, please wait while I'm getting information ... thanks for five-minute waiting, your xxx is yyy, can I zzz?" I wish I could do everything in text and not use people's ears and fingers as middle layer between my intents and their databases.
cm2187 10y ago
Well, to me an iphone is an ipod with wifi and 4G. I must make 3 calls a month on it.
jonknee 10y ago
I don't even have the phone app on the home screen. It would most likely take weeks before I noticed I couldn't make phone calls.

douche 10y ago

Smartphones are really terribly designed to be actually used as a telephone. Personally, I say good riddance. Anything that can be communicated in text, whether email, SMS or other, ought to be. That leaves very little use for telephone, which has all of the disadvantages of synchronous, face-to-face voice communication, with none of the benefits.

majewsky 10y ago
> Anything that can be communicated in text, whether email, SMS or other, ought to be. I see you never had a heated argument going on for hours that only started because people were missing your tone of voice.
- douche 10y ago
  Eh, telephone doesn't help that much either. Video you can at least get some indications of body language, but on the whole I'd be perfectly content if I never had to make another phone call. Bad connections, constant reverb from garbage mics, people forgetting they are on mute, incomprehensible accents. None of these are problems in text communication, and the signal-to-noise ratio is higher.