I undertook a small straw poll at work last week which included 10 iPhone users. The question was “How many calls do you make and receive each day on average?” We had a look through their call logs and the results were surprising-
10 iPhones: 36 calls in one day (20 outgoing, 16 incoming). Total duration- approx. 48 minutes.
So, we have an average of 3 calls per day over 10 iPhones, but consider than one person made and received 15 calls on their own. Some people had no call activity at all and one stated that they had not made or received a call on their phone in the past month!
Ignore the fact I did a test on the iPhone- that was just the most common phone, but the interesting part is that they all use mobile data extensively. They browse the web, download apps, socially network and stream videos via YouTube so there is little doubt that the concept of mobile data has hit the buying public hard.
These smartphones are now being used as connected PDAs with little need for the SIM card apart from texting and 3G access- the voice side has become far less important to the users I know. Email, IM and social networks are prohibitive to mobile voice calling and offer new and potentially quicker ways to interact with a close circle of friends. They also offer a method which is less obvious and this could be useful to some in the workplace.
Consider that smartphones have been getting bigger as well- the iPhone started the trend which has been taken to the limit by the HTC HD2 and Toshiba TG01. It is far more important for most people to have a big screen than a smaller form factor because a large screen lends itself to ‘PDA’ use and media. Palm tried to connect the PDA to the internet years back and failed, but over time standalone PDAs grew Wi-Fi and GPS and quickly became connected.
It is ironic that the popular consumer smartphones of today resemble PDAs of yesterday much more than their predecessors. It also explains why voice is right at the bottom of the development process for some manufacturers.
Wow, I got a LOT of use out of my VIIx.
I rarely use my iPhone for calls but that’s because I only have 100mins/month. I’ve never gone over. If I had more mins I’d probably use more.
As to your other point it amazes me that the old th55 resembles the iPhone very strongly. The th55 was my favourite PDA ever and so perhaps it’s little wonder that the first impressions of the iPhone are so strong.
Sid
data has always been more important than voice since I have always had a work phone , therefore my monthly voice calls is very low.
If you think back to how we used to break news to our friends and family, we’d pick up the phone and tell them individually, or we’d write a bunch of letters. It would take hours of ringing round or writing, and there was quite a cost involved. Now you can write a mass email, or just update your Facebook status and pretty much everyone you know will get the info at the same time and it’s pretty much free
Breaking the news of moving house, passing exams, having a baby etc is much simpler and more time efficient now.
@ alison still takes 9 months to have a baby though, so some things never change
Shaun. What age were the people in your office? I probably only make 3 or 4 calls a day but my son is always on his iPhone. We put him on the 900 mins contract and he can use up most of his call time. So that’s about 30 mins per days plus there’s all the calls he receives. Also he never uses the landline. I just wondered if age made a difference
@gavin You know what I mean! ;P
“What age were the people in your office?”
Off the top of my head the range of people involved was from approx. 21 to 52. We have a LARGE range of ages and the office is BIG.