To think a smart phone is an essential?

[picklecustard]

So every time I see the debate about free lunches for poor families on Facebook and social media, there are always people who comment about the same families being able to afford ‘non-essential luxuries’ sometimes it’s Sky Tv sometimes cigarettes and booze, but one example that consistently gets mentioned is having an i-phone/smart phone/phone contract.

Quite baffled that in this day and age people consider possessing a smart phone as a non-essential luxury. I know few people with a landline nowadays and a mobile is the point of contact for most. It’s also far more useful in the case of an emergency as you always have it with you. Access to the internet via a phone is also a necessity to most- when I needed a job most vacancies were advertised online and needed to be applied for online, I don’t drive so do my food shopping online (as well as finding recipes online), doctors appointments are booked much more easily online for my local surgery, my bills and banking are managed via apps and online, my children’s school only send letters via ParentMail app or email so all news/forms/payments and everything relevant to their schooling requires my iphone. And that’s just a few examples. My phone is genuinely an essential for everyday living and I’m surprised people don’t see it that way!

I think you are mixing up having Internet access with having a smart phone.
Over 90% of English households have broadband internet access and can therefore do all the things you mention with a laptop, PC, tablet etc. Most will also have this provided by a phone line, so probably also have a landline number.
Given the cost of a smart phone over, say, a cheap 2nd hand laptop, having one is not essential.

You can pick up a basic smart phone for around 60 quid. The last time I looked even a second hand laptop was a lot more than this.
As for broadband supplying tablets etc for most people. Do they? I've been with my broadband provider for 7years and I've never once had this.

We have no lap top, tablet, or pc in our house as we cant afford one. I have a smart phone with a basic contract, same as what I'd pay with pay as you go..the phone was free with the contract.

I use my phone for everything. I cant take calls on a laptop especially when I'm out and about and at work. Work regularly sends emails and a smart phone is essential for that for reading them.

I think many do not get that for many families the only internet is via a smart phone as they dont possess anything else.

@Gwenhwyfar

"Well, I am under 70 and don't have one. It's not essential for me, but I do have a non-smart phone, tablet and PC. I have no need for a smartphone."

How do you communicate with friends? I find that everyone's on Whatsapp now, or we use FB messenger and my friends expect everyone to have internet even when out and about. I'd miss changes to plans if I didn't have that option.

Text or email, or I phone them!

think many do not get that for many families the only internet is via a smart phone as they dont possess anything else

Exactly, it seems to me that a lot of people are assuming that everyone has a laptop, tablet or pc and also broadband and a landline. And so a smart phone is not essential.
They seem unwilling or unable to grasp that some people don't have those things - a smart phone is probably the best option if you don't have the funds or access to the above because it combines them all to a lesser degree for a smaller cost, which actually is the most sensible option if you think about it.

But you know what, for those people who say smart phones aren't essential, it's not about the technology really, it's about berating people on low incomes, that's what it boils down to really.

A woman i know is always on fb about how she needs help with feeding her 2 children, and she owns 2 horses.....

YABU I don't have any mobile phone, smart or otherwise.

@LEELULUMPKIN you clearly have internet access and I would guess a landline too. As so many pps have mentioned, for many a smartphone is the best and most cost effective way to access internet and have a phone line. YABU.

That wasn't the OP's point though was it?

DP manages fine without a smartphone.

But then he rarely checks his emails, so friends and family all know that if they need to get in touch with him, they have to ring or text.

A smart phone is essential though it doesn't have to be the latest phone.
I'm typing this on almost 4 yr old iPhone SE.

This thread reminds me of the threads from 10 years ago when some posters would argue that having the internet was a luxury,

Yanbu. In this day and age a smartphone is an essential. Everything is online these days, and a lot of the time you need to go online when you’re out and about. You can’t lug around and whip your cheap second hand laptop all the time out can you? It wouldn’t have an internet connection for starters.

I absolutely hate it when people think those on low incomes should be living in the dark ages. Especially when there are children involved? What good will it be for a child having their parent have a Nokia 3310 or just a landline? That’s just not gonna cut it these days is it?

Yanbu. Everything relies on Internet access and for many a smart phone is the only to do this. I work with the homeless. The whole system is designed for them to fail - councils closed for people to report homeless. Only way to access the homeless team is to call them. Want to register with a HA? Needs to be online. Bank account? Job centre? Apply for ID? All need to be done online.

catgotmytongue apparently a cheap second hand laptop is what they’re allowed to have That will really help a homeless person.

Access to internet is essential. For people that have few options and/or they need access on the go, a smartphone is also essential.

Yanbu, because smartphones can be bought for less than £100. They don't always have to be an iPhone. Or top of the range.

Smart phones are not essential yet but it is annoying ow everyone (schools etc) expect you to have them.

My (most expensive phone i've ever bought) cost £30 and seven years in is playing up.
It isn't a smart phone and rolling contract is £12 a month.

I do have a laptop and as a previous poster said it is the internet that is now the essential.
The amount people pay for a phone these days is staggering.

90% of this thread is people playing "who uses the least technology" top trumps

It's becoming increasingly essential.

Being able to send photos to family, do online banking etc. In many cases replacing the laptop which is even more out of reach for some people.

But there are smart phones and there are smart phones. What is not essential is to have a top end model. For many people though this is the only way they can afford them as they can pay the contract off monthly. But then you don't upgrade at the end of it, the phone will be good for 5-6 years.

I agree that we are driven to have them. DM is a care worker and her time sheet is now on an app so she bought a smart phone. Work places and other groups often communicate via Whats App groups which is only a mobile thing.

As sook as I retire I am getting a Nokia 3210 . I might even buy it now.

Quite baffled that in this day and age people consider possessing a smart phone as a non-essential luxury. I know few people with a landline nowadays and a mobile is the point of contact for most.

I am quite baffled that you are baffled that people don't have a smart phone. Dh retired at 58 last year; handed in his iPhone at work, and bought a Caterpillar brick dumb phone, as he has no need of a smartphone now. I refuse to have a smartphone as it would add precisely nothing to my existence.

I have and use a landline, several times a day. The mobile signal in parts of the house is sketchy, depending on which way the wind is blowing, and we have very thick stone walls, so a landline will work all the time, whereas a mobile won't.

I have a desktop, a tablet, ds has a laptop, as does dh, so we can do everything on line that we need to do.

I agree with pps - internet access is essential, but this doesn't need to be through a smartphone. If someone has internet access via a computer then they only need a very basic phone for emergencies surely.

No, a smartphone is not a necessity.
Internet access is a necessity and that can be via a smartphone or pad or computer or TV. Which can be very cheap or very expensive.

I think the poorer people, as in those on universal credit, do tend towards more expensive solutions because they are limited in the amount if savings they can have. I think if you save more than £16k, you lose universal credit altogether. So the system is encouraging people on universal credit to spend any extra income instead of saving it.
It’s not lack of intelligence or qualifications or bad character, it’s the welfare system penalising saving. Don’t get me wrong. Not saying the system needs to change, just that the rules are what is pushing human behaviour, not their internal characteristics. People on universal credit are no different intelligence wise than people earning enough to not be on universal credit.

I've just bought my 83 yo step mum a 99€ redm 9C. 2 year guarantee. Seriously impressed with it except for the camera colour tones.

So cheaper by far than a 2nd hand laptop. I've never owned a new phone and never used a contract though.

No it’s not essential. Internet access yes, having a phone number you can be contacted on, yes.

These threads debating what 'the poor' can have and should be allowed to have, by no doubt largely middle class posters are pretty grim.