had this conversation with some co-workers last night ...

[Robert Martellaro]

Friends get a kick out of the Motorola flip phone and can't believe I turn it on and off only when I use it.

I liked NBC's Brian Williams response to tweating when he called it "a giant time suck". I'm not on social sites as well...

You have a life!

I didn't even have a landline until the late 70's- you had to leave a message with my bartender, or rap on my window ("Only this, and nothing more").

[CoolOptician]

CoolOptician, this whole discussion with my friend was brought up within a political argument i was having with my friend too, but i left that part out because then we'd get really heated :) and nothing is solved with internet violence!

Exactly becc....in fact, it amazes me how much people 'personalize' these things....and how we get pulled into having anger so easily. It's why I keep trying to 'preach' open-mindedness, and no matter how certain your are about something, it doesn't mean it works that way for everybody!! Let's all be a little less 'righteous' and a little more 'this is the way I like to live.' Of course, Robert has a point about 'having a life'.....all of these discussions, even the ones were we aren't trying to prove to someone else that the way we see it, IS the one right way....well they take us away from doing more things with those around us. (grin!) On the other hand, I've met some awesome people this way too!

[optilady1]

So, getting back to the actual question, I must say I have an argument for the necessity of smart phones. We had a patient this morning we needed to take photo's of for lid surgery. The practices camera wasn't working, so while everyone else was running around like the sky was falling, I suggested I would take the photo's with my Iphone and email them to the tech's work email. This is pretty simple stuff, nowhere near as complicated as what the new smart phones are capable of, but it was a very easy solution for what could have caused a patient to spazz out about having to come back.

I will admit to a pathologic love for my phone. I use it for everything. I even sleep with it and use it for my alarm clock.

As for driving, Connecticut has a law that you must use hands free units while driving. I've had a built in blue tooth in my car for the last 6 years, with hands free dialing, so I've never had an issue. I'm very against texting while driving, but I will also admit to doing it from time to time.

Funny (and scary and sad) story: My friend's husband is a cop in CT, and they were conducting a distracted driving stop in Hartford. They pulled a guy over who was clearly using a phone, and when they walked up to the car, they were surprised to find the man only had one arm. It was amputated at the shoulder. So he was driving with no hands on the wheel while on his phone. He then exclaimed that he was NOT talking on his phone.

He was checking his email.

[CoolOptician]

So, getting back to the actual question, I must say I have an argument for the necessity of smart phones. We had a patient this morning we needed to take photo's of for lid surgery. The practices camera wasn't working, so while everyone else was running around like the sky was falling, I suggested I would take the photo's with my Iphone and email them to the tech's work email. This is pretty simple stuff, nowhere near as complicated as what the new smart phones are capable of, but it was a very easy solution for what could have caused a patient to spazz out about having to come back.

I will admit to a pathologic love for my phone. I use it for everything. I even sleep with it and use it for my alarm clock.

As for driving, Connecticut has a law that you must use hands free units while driving. I've had a built in blue tooth in my car for the last 6 years, with hands free dialing, so I've never had an issue. I'm very against texting while driving, but I will also admit to doing it from time to time.

Funny (and scary and sad) story: My friend's husband is a cop in CT, and they were conducting a distracted driving stop in Hartford. They pulled a guy over who was clearly using a phone, and when they walked up to the car, they were surprised to find the man only had one arm. It was amputated at the shoulder. So he was driving with no hands on the wheel while on his phone. He then exclaimed that he was NOT talking on his phone.

He was checking his email.

Lolol! Yikes! Scary! Makes me think of all those people coming in looking for 'high-powered' magnifiers cause they are 'legally blind'....as I watch them go out and get in their car and drive away! (Such are the joys of a three-light retirement town!) I agree, my iPhone is a 'life-saver' during many everyday happenings....sometimes I just don't feel I use it enough to warrant the bill.

[oopsmyeye]

I must admit I've been a gadget kind of guy for as long as I can remember and yes I waited in line for more than a couple hours for the first iPhone, that being said, they're still a luxury. I will also admit that this luxury feels very necessary for me even though I did love being unattached from the world when my phone was stolen a few months ago.

One of the things I frequently do at work is take photos of a patient wearing a few different pairs of glasses and email/text them to their family/friends so my patient can get opinions (or so they can see themselves in the photo if they have a high Rx).

Just like I feel like it's a necessity but realize it's a luxury, same goes with calling/texting while driving. You really don't need to. I recently got a motorcycle and it's much easier to understand how unnecessary it is to do when driving when it isn't even an option when riding. It's easier than you think to pull over and call somebody back if they've called your phone 3 times in a row because of an emergency, it's also very easy to ignore a phone call and listen to voicemail later if it isn't an emergency.

[NeaOptikiSA]

Smartphones are a good bad thing for me! I do not want it but it makes me more professional and earns me time. The argue is that i personally do not want to earn time!