Smartphones: The New Consumer Necessity

The smartphone has come a long way in just the last two years. Long considered the toy of the geeky and professional road warrior, in the last two years we have seen a paradigm shift in the perception of smartphones in the eyes of the typical consumer. You can credit (or blame) Apple and the iPhone for that shift, as the marketing savvy of the folks in Cupertino showed the average phone user how much benefit they can obtain from the smartphone.

Consumers largely viewed the cell phone as a wireless connection to friends and family, mostly through calls and the occasional text message. Then along came the iPhone, which opened up a whole new avenue of communication methods that consumers embraced. The smartphone was thrust into entirely new roles, such as being used to access social media outlets like Facebook and MySpace, tap into the Internet to watch video and tweeting it all. The perception of the smartphone changed into that of a vital tool for everyday living. Whether that is true or not, it is definitely becoming the perception of reality for many.

The New York Times agrees, and has penned a good article that examines this growing change. What is surprising is how this change of heart over smartphones, to view them as necessities rather than luxuries, has occurred during the economic recession. Smartphones are not cheap, even subsidized, yet even the frugal have come to require them to get by.

But recent smartphone converts are often people who count pennies, including many from the growing ranks of job seekers. Helene Rude of Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., was laid off from her job as a business development manager at I. B. M. this year, when her unit, among others, was the target of cuts. When she left, Ms. Rude had to turn in her company notebook computer with its constant wireless connection.

So she got an iPhone instead, allowing her to be online no matter where she was, without having to lug a computer around. “I absolutely got it for the job search,” she said. “I don’t know if it’s really an expectation, but if another job candidate returns an e-mail message eight hours later, and you get back immediately with a message that says ‘Sent from my iPhone,’ I think it has to be a check box in your favor.”

Many are beginning to feel that their employer will view them as better workers if they’re on top of their email, and a smartphone makes that possible from anywhere. This is in large part why the BlackBerry has recently penetrated the consumer space, when previously it was thought to be strictly a corporate product.

The NYT reporter also found that many of those who have been recently laid off have turned to the smartphone to stay on top of the job search in this competitive climate. Those looking for work are finding it necessary to respond to potential employment queries right away, and that means carrying a smartphone. It’s interesting to see this change of perception happen so quickly. We in the tech community have always felt that smartphones were necessities and watching “regular” people reach the same conclusion is fun.