By Christmas 2011, half of Americans will own a smartphone, leaving some feeling left out. However, dumbphones have advantages over smartphones. Data plans for smartphones are expensive, costing an extra $25 per month. Smartphone batteries last only 6 hours when using 3G. Apps can cost extra money and often share private information like location without permission. Smartphones may be distracting for tasks like driving and studying due to notifications and apps. While smartphones offer advantages, dumbphones provide a cheaper and simpler option without privacy risks or distractions.

1. DumbphonesThe HaveNotsImage by oits82

2. By Christmas of 2011, 1 in 2 Americans will own a smartphoneImage by Edlimagno

3. That means half of us may be feeling left outImage by α is for äpΩL †

4. With so many people getting smartphones, why would you not get one?Image by Tizzalicious

5. Data plans are expensive

6. A 500MB data plan on Rogers may cost you an extra $25 a month Image by KittyCanuck

7. To some, 3Ginternet access is essential

8. Unfortunately, this is an energy intensive technology

9. The iPhone 4 battery lasts for 6 hours using 3GImage by oskaline

10. The power requirements of the technology being built into mobile devices is growing at twice the pace of battery-capacity increasesImage by Claudio Schwarz

11. We may soon find that our thirst for more power will leave us offlineImage by cerfman17

12. 72% of iPhone users have downloaded 10 or more appsImage by mosippy

13. At an average of $5/app,this is an extra $50 that would notbe spent otherwise Image by MusicallySilent

14. In a joint study, it was found that 15 of 30 popular phone applications send users’ geographic location to advertisement serversImage by Dave

15. The same study found that 7 of these 30 applications sent your unique phone identifier, your phone number, and SIM card serial number to developersImage by Dirty Clint 357

16. But how well can you concentrate?

17. Many students find themselves or their peers checking Facebook or playing games on their smartphones in classImage by lennox_mcdough

18. Who knows how many people are checking Facebook at the wheelImage by kaysha

19. It is clear that smartphones do not come without their not-so-smart issuesImage by frenzypic

20. The next time you feel left out for not having a smartphone, remember that sometimes that may be the smarter optionImage chopr

21. Works Citedhttp://www.pcworld.com/article/228189/why_your_smartphone_battery_sucks.htmlhttp://gigaom.com/2010/03/26/1-in-2-americans-will-have-a-smartphone-by-christmas-2011/http://www.rogers.com/web/Rogers.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=WLRS_Planshttp://omnego.com/mobile-research/115All images are licensed under the Creative Commons Non-Commercial Share-Alike 3.0 agreement, and sourced from flickr