In defense of my phone

I made a post a few of months ago about how much nicer my wife's "cheap" 2011 smart phone is than my high end smart phone. And I haven't changed my mind about that post. Her phone is still better.

But I don't want to make it sound like my phone is a piece of garbage. Sometimes, when I can't get it to do exactly what I want it to do, I might say that, and I will admit that I don't like that its operating system, while extremely popular in Europe and Asia (where until just recently it was far and away the #1 mobile phone OS), is almost unheard of in the United States. No one I've met says, "Hey! Do you have a Symbian phone?" 

Still, I use my phone every day, and not just for the typical cell phone things. Sure, I do use it to check my email, and to keep up with my appointments, and as a calculator and simple note taker, and as a quick low resolution digital camera. And yes, I even make the occasional phone call with it. But so what? Everyone does those things!

Here are just a few of the other things that I use my cell phone for.

1. MP3 player. My cell phone, the Nokia 5800, was designed first and foremost to function as a cell phone/multimedia player, and I do use it as my primary music device. 
2. A Flashlight. My cell phone has an app I downloaded that, with the click of a virtual switch, sets the flash in the camera to on. It makes for a VERY effective flashlight (much more so than the cheap apps I've seen on other phones that just turn the regular view screen on). I use this function much more often than I thought I would. I never knew how often I'd use a flashlight if I had it always in my pocket. 
3. Exercise Tracker. I have an app called "Sports Tracker" that functions as a pedometer, a work out diary, and a GPS device that maps my runs for me in real time. At the end of each workout it will tell me how far I've run/walked, how many steps I've taken, and how many calories I've burned.
4. A GPS Navigator. I used "Waze," a free navigation tool, to help me get from place to place. Beats having to pay for and update a Garmin.
5. A UPC reader. I have a bar code reader that I can scan to get information on products, such as where is the cheapest place to buy the product I'm holding in my hand (which seldom is the store I'm standing in), or that can open up a link to a web browser where I can read more information.

And those are just the apps that I use on a daily basis. I also have a level, an anglemeter, a measurement converter, and a number of other apps that I have but don't use often. Something that's missing--a good eReader. There's no Kindle app for the Symbian system.

In any event, this is why I don't carry a Swiss Army Knife. I have the 21st Century Equivalent.