Your smartphone: a new frontier for hackers

Thanks for giving me another reason not to own one. The most valid, I think, is I don't want to tied for the rest of my life to an electronic umbilical cord. And there are all kinds of things I can buy and do with all the money I save by not owning a mobile communications device. It appalls me to see how these loathsome things are driving what little remains of public manners to extinction.

Apple's iPhone is notoriously more locked down than Andriod phones. This will make it more secure than the Android unless you Jail Break it.

Android is given away to phone manufacturers, but that doesn't mean it is free. The manufacturer will have to pay Apple and others for the patents covered in the OS.

@Virtuoso. I do agree with you and after surviving for years and quite happily without one, I now have a smartphone. I gotta say this thing is destined for the trashcan and soon. Just another distraction that has to be constantly attended to with all manner of cool but in reality fairly useless 'apps'. I now find myself walking with the thing in front of my nose, with all the other idiots doing the same except they're usually listening to J pop on another digital device. all the while beautiful butterflies fly around and the sweet fragrances everywhere are lost on me. good riddance ...

I on the other hand love my iPhone. One of the best things I ever bought. It's my music, books, tv and news, all in one. Plus more!

Hakuman@please do be careful not to stumble and fall when texting messages while you're descending the steps to the subway platform, or while reading the news on your terminal while you walk across a large traffic intersection at night.

I got hit by a car while reading a book on my newiPad. His passenger side mirror broke. The book had a great ending.

A company I work for required me to buy a cellphone, so I did. I leave it at home and haven't learned how to use it yet; they apparently don't require that.

@virtuoso, and darkbob,

Just because other people behave like idiots or miss the world around them doesn't mean you have to.

I own a smartphone and i'd like t think i'm still polite. I still notice the beaauty of the world. And in fact i can snap a picture of the giant butterfly, the brilliant sunset, or cloudless full moon, and immediately post it directly to my facebook to share it with my friends around the world.

Like any new tech, and addictions, its all about learning to handle them responsibly. But frankly, the ease of access to, and immediacy, of information is world-changing. For a long time i didn't own a tv or computer, because my phone did it all.

If you resist the tech push, you'll be just like my parents generation who said the computer was evil. Or those who said tv makes people stupid. Its all about how YOU choose to use it.