4 ms·

He doesn't because he's too addicted to the Internet as it is, so the last thing he needs is to have access to it at all times. He likens smartphones to hip fla

He doesn't because he's too addicted to the Internet as it is, so the last thing he needs is to have access to it at all times. He likens smartphones to hip flasks. Unless that's changed since he wrote that in an essay/HN comment/etc. I do wonder if at some point they'll become so ubiquitous--and so many YC applicants and companies will be focused on smartphones--that he'll feel he has to to get one so that he can better judge the value of companies focused on mobile and give them advice.

andrewljohnson 16y ago
Good final graph. Hopefully that will convince him to fix this site. It's become too much a testament to how little design matters, and the point is now counterpoint.
Zev 16y ago
I do wonder if at some point they'll become so ubiquitous--and so many YC applicants and companies will be focused on smartphones--that he'll feel he has to to get one so that he can better judge the value of companies focused on mobile and give them advice. It is possible to own a smartphone but not use it as your primary phone. For example: I have an iPhone 4 that I use specifically for development purposes. I've made a grand total of one phone call with it; to cancel the contract.
- jackowayed 16y ago
  That will allow him to try out apps (which I'm sure he does on the founders' devices or on YC-owned devices), but it won't make him think like someone with a smartphone. It won't help him think up RFSes with mobile apps at their core, and it won't allow him to say "wow, that app you're pitching to me would remove the annoying 3-step process that I do whenever I do X on my phone." The importance of him truly thinking like someone with a smartphone will grow over the next few years
jacquesm 16y ago
Smart phone will come down in price to the point where all phones are smartphones.
- andrewljohnson 16y ago
  s/will come/came Smart phones are basically free now - you just pay extra for data. There are now 45M smart phone owners in the US, out of about 250M phone owners, and it will just take a few years to erase the last dumb phones. Smart phone sales were about 170M in 2009, and 280M in 2010, worldwide. Its going absolutely freaking nuts... biggest computing platform and market opportunity of a generation. Same significance as PCs or the internet. Half a billion new computers, as fast as semi-modern PCs, all in the last two years. Go make some money everyone.
pg 16y ago
Jessica has an iPhone. I use hers to try out startups' apps.

andrewljohnson 16y ago

Good final graph. Hopefully that will convince him to fix this site. It's become too much a testament to how little design matters, and the point is now counterpoint.

Zev 16y ago

I do wonder if at some point they'll become so ubiquitous--and so many YC applicants and companies will be focused on smartphones--that he'll feel he has to to get one so that he can better judge the value of companies focused on mobile and give them advice. It is possible to own a smartphone but not use it as your primary phone. For example: I have an iPhone 4 that I use specifically for development purposes. I've made a grand total of one phone call with it; to cancel the contract.

jackowayed 16y ago
That will allow him to try out apps (which I'm sure he does on the founders' devices or on YC-owned devices), but it won't make him think like someone with a smartphone. It won't help him think up RFSes with mobile apps at their core, and it won't allow him to say "wow, that app you're pitching to me would remove the annoying 3-step process that I do whenever I do X on my phone." The importance of him truly thinking like someone with a smartphone will grow over the next few years

jacquesm 16y ago

Smart phone will come down in price to the point where all phones are smartphones.

andrewljohnson 16y ago
s/will come/came Smart phones are basically free now - you just pay extra for data. There are now 45M smart phone owners in the US, out of about 250M phone owners, and it will just take a few years to erase the last dumb phones. Smart phone sales were about 170M in 2009, and 280M in 2010, worldwide. Its going absolutely freaking nuts... biggest computing platform and market opportunity of a generation. Same significance as PCs or the internet. Half a billion new computers, as fast as semi-modern PCs, all in the last two years. Go make some money everyone.

pg 16y ago

Jessica has an iPhone. I use hers to try out startups' apps.