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iPhone for college student?

Captain Planet said:
Well, I, along with many other students, could disagree with you about that. YOU have the luxury of having a smart phone to "stay organized", and that's good for you. But you can easily get through college without a smart phone... saying it's indispensable is silly. I've had no trouble organizing myself the four years I've been in college. Now, if we were to talk about a desktop/notebook, that's a different story. But even then, there's always computers labs and such. But as for smart phone goes, it is definitely NOT an absolute need.
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Agreed. I've been through 4 years of undergraduate, and going on my 4th year of graduate study, and I didn't need a smartphone.

I've decided to finally get an iPhone in the coming month due to the convenience and usefulness of it when I'm traveling to conferences, etc. -- maybe I will not have to bring my laptop along with me to absolutely every talk I attend -- not to mention all the fun one could have with the apps!
 
Nebulance said:
Agreed. I've been through 4 years of undergraduate, and going on my 4th year of graduate study, and I didn't need a smartphone.

I've decided to finally get an iPhone in the coming month due to the convenience and usefulness of it when I'm traveling to conferences, etc. -- maybe I will not have to bring my laptop along with me to absolutely every talk I attend -- not to mention all the fun one could have with the apps!
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I'm in a similar situation... I'm probably going to get an iPhone this summer. I'm in no rush so I figured I might as well wait to the (most probably) new iPhone to be released. But again, I wouldn't have a need for it. It is still useful though.
 
CocoaPuffs said:
iPad definitely seems a lot more useful than iPhone for a college student.

I remember buying an old Palm with a fold-up keyboard as note taker, which worked GREAT! No distraction with internet and full keyboard.
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I do like the iPad. I went in and played with one the other day at a Mac specialist in my area. Maybe next year when they udpate it.

But...

I already have a MacBook Pro 13" so I'm pretty much set for computer functionality, but thanks. I am more looking for iPhone because I'd like to have it because it works wonderfully, it just has to come to verizon first. I was just curious if it would be helpful.

Thank you for all of your replies everyone =)
 
sportguy0913 said:
I do like the iPad. I went in and played with one the other day at a Mac specialist in my area. Maybe next year when they udpate it.

But...

I already have a MacBook Pro 13" so I'm pretty much set for computer functionality, but thanks. I am more looking for iPhone because I'd like to have it because it works wonderfully, it just has to come to verizon first. I was just curious if it would be helpful.

Thank you for all of your replies everyone =)
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It's a luxury, no question. And an expensive one at that.

As to Verizon...rumors are indicating later this year, maybe 4th quarter.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7E18 Safari/528.16)

Most university campuses have WiFi available all over. If this is the case, Id just stick to having an iPod touch. If your college experience is anything like mine was then having an expensive phone that is prone to breaking easily from drops or water/beer/whiskey spills is probably not the best bet. Also, iPhones are probably the most targeted item for thieves.
 
As a college student myself at MSU I can tell you its not a necessity, but I wouldn't want to have anything else as a phone either. It is definitely helpful when you leave your computer in your room and you want to go over notes. Evernote makes syncing my notes written with my laptop seamless and automatic. I dont know how familiar you are with evernote, but as a student I would highly recommend it getting it both for your computer and iphone. Other useful college apps for me include: Quickoffice (for quickly editing files), eTextbooks (They have most of my required books, it saves money), Grade tracker, and myhomework. Having those apps makes my day so simple, however as with any other addictive object, the iphone has its dark side. I constantly find myself browsing the web in class, and the facebook app doesn't help either. Overall I think its a good addition to your arsenal, just be careful not to get too distracted ;)
 
What IS a necessity really? All I need is a knife and a fire-steel to survive.

I have come to rely on my iPhone for many things. College related? Email on-the-go, opening attachments from professors and viewing them, saving class schedules in iStudies Pro (along with every prof and TAs email inside + office hours), quick notes, weather, connecting to wifi on campus for more or less anything you can think of that's internet related.

Everything I listed can be done via pen + paper and a laptop or on-campus PC but sometimes when you're in a rush, having an iPhone can be really handy.

Also who wants to pick up chicks with a Motorola RAZR? Snarf.
 
Necessity for me. Constantly in email contact with professors. Having an iPhone makes it so much easier.
 
if you have the money, get it, you'll be amazed on how much stuff it can be done on your iphone, I'm in high school and my high school uses blackboard and since there's a blackboard's app I check when my homework it's due do some online quizes and that's just for the blackboard app, so if you have enough spare money definitely get one of this

or you may want to wait until summer to see if anything else it's released
 
Tronic said:
Necessity for me. Constantly in email contact with professors. Having an iPhone makes it so much easier.
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I guess you don't know what necessity means.

Professors do not expect instant response on their emails, daily communication would be sufficient, and computers can easily achieve that. Making things easier != necessary.
 
Talking of college, I've just logged into the Apple Store as a Student, and I'm getting a discount - sorry - a rise in prices on 1p on at least some products. I thought I was meant to get a discount? Ok, the iPhone 3G has 1p taken off it :/

1p = about 2c
 
A smartphone is an excellent tool or a sink-hole of wasted time - it's your choice.

@OP: I am a lecturer at a Scottish University. I think the debate of necessity versus luxury rather misses the point. You can use any smartphone (or indeed any laptop or desktop) to your educational advantage or disadvantage. The question is whether a smartphone like the iPhone would make you more efficient by providing you with mobile resources (such as access to the web, electronic flash cards, podcasts and so on) or whether you will fritter away your time gaming and constantly checking social networks.

My oldest is about to go to University and we will make sure she has her current smartphone (Blackberry, in spite of my better judgment). However, since her first contact with computers we have stressed an 'all things in moderation' philosophy. Thus, while she spends some time gaming and socializing on her laptop, most of her use of the laptop is actually about education. She turns her phone off when she studies but uses it when she is relaxing to keep in touch with her friends.

Thus, the answer to your question is how would you use the potential of an iPhone at University. If you are disciplined, it can be a fantastic educational tool. If you are predisposed to gaming, YouTube or social network addiction, it'll be like pouring gasoline on a fire....
 
joseluis.17 said:
if you have the money, get it, you'll be amazed on how much stuff it can be done on your iphone, I'm in high school and my high school uses blackboard and since there's a blackboard's app I check when my homework it's due do some online quizes and that's just for the blackboard app, so if you have enough spare money definitely get one of this

or you may want to wait until summer to see if anything else it's released
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Wow. I remember when I was in high school, which was only 5 years ago, I didn't even have a regular cellphone... kids these days.
 
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