I am as frugal as they come, so, when cell phones came out I decided they were a waste of money. I was probably the last person on earth to get a cell phone, and then it was only a Trac phone with 30 emergency minutes! You can imagine my thoughts when the expensive iphone’s came out and those ridiculous things sticking out of everyone’s ear.

Six months ago I finally gave in. My wife and I bought iphones. In just six short months my iphone has become closer to me than I could have possibly imagined.

Here is what I use if for everyday:

-Alarm in the morning.
-My music for running including the Flick tunes ap.
-Running ap that measures my miles and heart rate and keeps a log of it.
-Texting kids to keep up with their where abouts.

Between shows I can:

-Return phone calls and answer emails.
-I can check Facebook and find out if anyone is saying something provocative on The Magic Café.
-Line up a movie to watch on Netflix when I get home.

Also:

-Several magic tricks aps have become a full set of close up tricks for walk around.
-Photos, camera, tip calculator, etc.
-AND… I just found out about Square Up which allows me to accept credit cards!

What am I missing? What do you use your cell phone for? Share you favorite aps.

I use mine for maps, navigation, merchant account to accept credit cards, email, travel, etc...

My favorite apps:
MerchantPro ( I also have Square Up but it limits me to $1,000 per week in charges )
TripIt (allows me to have all my travel info organized nice and neat in one place)
PayPal
RingCentral
Pulse (all my news, fun stuff, and facebook in one app!)
Amazon
ColorNote

These are some of my favorites.

Oh you can't forget Pandora for your music while traveling to events!

I admit to being behind on the mobile technology stuff.

I have a new cell phone - paid $0 for the phone and my plan is $0 a month (nothing - not even taxes or fees - free add-on as my land line and internet is with the same company)

My wife just gave me her "old" Kindle eReader (less than one year old). It's got 3G and a simple web browser so I can check my email anytime anywhere when away from home. Paid $0 (even my wife traded for it) for the eReader and pay $0 a month for the service.

I also bring my laptop on the road for Hotel WiFi etc. Always complimentary.

Perhaps one day I'll see the light and understand what I am missing out on. Until then, I don't see a reason to dive into a monthly bill for stuff I get for free every month. So, I disagree with the premise of the tread title.

I do have an assistant too. No need or desire for being on-line 24/7.

Scott,
I have often thought of getting rid of my smart phone and I just can't seem to make that jump. I do make sure I am not available 24/7 in fact that is why I use RingCentral. This way people don't have my cell directly. I can have the calls forwarded to a hotel room, my cell, my office, or sent directly to voicemail. When I call back, the caller ID still shows my 800 # no matter what phone I am calling back from,.

But I do think it's awesome you're able to do what you do without a smart phone.

I believe a good computer can do everything your phones can do plus type a letter.

Just sounds like you guys are hooked on your new toys. I look at the learning curve and say it is not worth the trouble. And those high costs and fees are out of this world.

I say if you make $100,000.00 a year, then have fun with your toys, but if you are below this income, there is bills that can get paid, and retirement accounts that can be deposited into for the later years in life.

I noted not anyone said they actually talk to clients on their phones. Isn't that the purpose of having a telephone is to generate business. If you always have your telephones on you, there is not reason you can't increase your sales calls from 50 a day to 200 a day. You have no excuse now, I know you told the wife you needed it for your magic show business, so I hope you were not lying to the little lady, were you.

I use my iPhone for the calendar, email, phone book, more emails, facebook, web surfing, the odd magic app, navigation to gigs, music playing whilst travelling to gigs, learning new material (copying PDF's into iBooks), alarm, paypal, ATM finder, restaurant finder, petrol station finder.......wasn't aware there was a telephone on the iPhone?

I assumed talking to clients was a known thing and we were sharing favorite asps and other things using our phones for.

Yes, of course I talk to clients. Just today I retured a phone call between shows and booked another show. Then I went on line to add it to my yahoo calendar.

I know for a fact that I've booked shows because I was the first person to call back or I was there to answer the call (while driving with that funny looking thing sticking out of my ear!) We live in a fast paced world and if you are there to answer the call or reply to an email promptly the better your chances are for securing the booking.

wmhegbli, Scott, I was in denial for many years, now I see the light. Really, iphone has a flash light app.

I can fax or email a contract from my iPhone. I can even send a PayPal payment request for the deposit.

So I am curious, what does all this fingertip magic cost per year. They may be handy devices but no articles or advertisement mention the cost above the cost of the device.

I currently have my computer set to download a contract through the answering machine and fax features.

I had a phone that got e-mails, but it was clunky and delicate. I got rid of it and now have a phone that takes calls and sends texts. Nothing else - no camera, diary, music, etc.
The only thing I missed was e-mail on the move. Recently I ordered an Amazon Kindle (free internet for life) and now I can do e-mails on the move, so that's me covered.
For taking pictures, I have a camera. For keeping notes I have a biro and diary. For playing music in my show I have an MP3 player. Why would you want them all in one device that does these jobs at best only adequately (ie, my camera is a 14M pixel SLR; beats your iphone) and that can leave you completely exposed if it breaks down?

I think that it depends a bit on one's target market, and on their establishment in that market. For instance, somebody who is beginning, or relying heavily on online marketing for brand new customers, better have a smart phone available. If people are out shopping around, the first magician to return an email can often get the work.

On the other hand, an established performer who primarily secures bookings through word-of-mouth and repeat clients does not need to be connected as much. Those clients have already made their decision for the most part, and a few extra hours won't be the difference between a yes and no in the booking.

Allow me to enlighten you folks a bit, even if you pay $100 a month(I pay a third of that) for a smartphone with voice and data it can more than pay for itself. For personal use you acn locate the least expensive fuel in your location(real time),at least 75% of the resteraunts I go to I can access online coupons for discounts there & purcahses on groceries & other items,traffic alerts, flight scheduling & delays, hotel reservations & availability,the gps features allow me to find not only directions but any type of business that I need with the best values available.
When it comes to business, these things can be indispensable, everything from handling credit card payments, scheduling, email fax recieving and sending, one reach capability for your clients, report viewing, creation & modification, portable hot spot. Basically anything you can do with a laptop you can do with one of these minus the bulk, they truelly are an office in your pocket.
I am no techno weenie but I quickly found the benefits with smartphones, remember there are literally 1o of thousands actually 100"s of thousands of apps available for these phones.

Very well stated tboehnlein. You also have a GPS unit at your fingertips. But probably one of the greatest features/aps is you can take a photo of a document. Then change that photo to a PDF. Then take that further and change it into an actual editable document. So literally you now have a fax machine in your hand but even better as you can edit the document, apply a signature, etc.

Kevin