Living With Technology – Smartphones – A Game Changer

I have no problems or reservations admitting that I’m new to the world of smartphones. For a long time it’s been hard to justify another monthly commitment for a product or service that I barely need. Let’s just say that I’m a now a proud smartphone owner. Are you?

This series, Living With Technology, is all about stories related to various technologies that make every day life better, simpler, more efficient and or more enjoyable. Sure most technology should improve our lives and that’s the reason some devices are essential moving forward. Living With Technology articles will provide some real life examples and stories where a particular device makes impact on everyday life. This is the first installment.

If you are a smartphone owner or expert already, then you know what I’m talking about. The reason a smartphone is so compelling is because it changes your life instantly from the day you buy it. It’s a new level of connectivity and ability. They are small computers and right about now they feature few limitations frankly. If you can find a reasonable plan which provides a reasonable about of data (internet usage) then it’s worth looking at.

My example of living with smartphone technology involves getting a real bargain on a lamp from Rona. When you see one day sales nowadays you assume like I did that you can buy in store. It’s quite rare to find online only deals. Well in this instance I didn’t read the fine print (okay maybe it wasn’t fine print) so when I took the lamp to the till I was told online orders only. I could debate the sensibility of this and try to plead my case, but I didn’t. Instead I asked if I ordered it online, could I pick-up in store. The answer was  yes so I asked them to place it behind the counter and I would be back in 10 minutes to grab it.

This is where my smartphone came into play. I’m not swift when it comes to navigating my way around a smartphone just yet but I thought this would be interesting to tackle. I needed to log into Rona, create a customer account, pay for the item, and then choose to pickup. Sure you might think a screen size of a smartphone is lacking or there might be technical issues when entering all the information. Wrong! It went quite well even though I may have exceeded the ten minute promise I made to the staff member. The bottom line is that within a few minutes of completing the online purchase, the computers at Rona had me in the system for a pick-up of the 50% off lamp.

So consider this situation from the perspective of NOT having the smartphone. That would mean a ride home (30 minutes) to enter in my information, pay online and choose pick-up. That would mean a return visit to Rona which is another 30 minute drive. At that point is the 50% off really that good of a deal? Time is money as they say and frankly I may not have even bothered buying this lamp had I needed to go all the way home to complete this transaction.

It might be a small example, but it does show impact on every day life. The smartphone technology clearly allowed me to do something that saved me time and money. I should mention it also saved me emotionally from some anger and or frustration. There really are many ways a smartphone can impact your every day life for the better. You will find and discover new things virtually every day if you have the time. It provides you access to information that you didn’t have before like directions, maps, phone number or store flyers so you can do on the spot price comparisons.

Do you have any stories about living with smartphones that have made your life better or easier?

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