Do Smart Phones Increase Your Intelligence

Smart phone are the latest and greatest thing and a must have for every business owner, progressive leader, or professional speaker as a tool to stay in connected with clients and customers.  But how smart do you have to be to use one.  I just purchased a Palm Pre Plus smart phone and was so excited because it offers a 3G hot spot as part of the phone design.  This means that I can connect 5 different devices with my new phone at the same time.

Before I selected a smart phone I went to the store to examine the various phones and ask questions.   The salesman informed me that I needed a data plan which starts at $30 and an additional $30 for Wifi access.  This was an additional $60 a month that I was not expecting to spend. When I asked about the Palm Pre Plus I was told that I would still incur the $30 data plan cost but the Wifi and hotspot were free with the phone.  I figured it would be smart to save the additional $30 and selected the Palm Pre plus.

My service provider offers a new every two plan and this new phone which lists for over $500.00 was free, what a bargain.  My contract was up and all I had to do was sign up for two years.  This is where the fun begins.  I purchased a touchstone charger for my phone.  It looks like a hockey puck that was sliced on an angle so the phone can lay on it.  Connecting it to an electrical outlet allows makes it a magnetic electrical charger. You feel the magnetic pull between the phone and the charger as they approach each other.  Well to make a long story short, I thought I was charging the phone while it was on the touchstone. Conventional phones charge when they are off.  This smart phone needs to be on to charge. Who knew?  Not me. (smile)

Needless to say I charged it overnight and it did not do a thing.  I thought I did not know how to turn the phone on and had to take it to the store (I received the phone by fedex in an effort to save money in my mind.  This was the smartest thing for me to do.  I found that this phone had its own backup system and the transfer of data needed to be done in the store.  Who knew? No me.

Well it is day 3 of me using my new phone and I can say that I have learned to master it. I must tell you that calling the special number for help with the palm phone was very helpful.  I have connected my laptop computer to my new free hotspot phone and it works like magic.  I am preparing to go to a conference and need to have computer access.   Now I have the ability to do so without additional expense.  To answer the question, do smart phones make you more intelligent?  I have to say yes.  I am better educated about the use of my new smart phone and have saved the additional fees by selecting a phone with its own hotspot inside.