<p>oldfort - I think your D is an unusual case. Most college students don’t need to be able to read email at all times throughout the day - i.e. when their laptop isn’t convenient. When a prof or TA sends an email to a group they’re not expecting that the email must be read within the next few minutes or even few hours. It’s just not critical. Likewise, the profs and TAs aren’t necessarily accessing email at all times throughout the day either. For one on one messaging texting has replaced much of what emails used to be used for anyway - especially for a brief informational message.</p>
<p>Once my kids graduated college they were also on their own for their cell phones as well as everything else. They make a very good salary so they have no need for daddy to continue to pay for basic items and it’s time for them to be in the real world paying for their own toys and desires.</p>
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I agree with your parents that you almost certainly don’t need one. However, gifts aren’t all about need and are often about getting people things they don’t necessarily need but just want, like a toy or a hobby item or a 10th pair of shoes or yet another tie. OTOH a gift is something to be given by someone who wants to give that particular gift. Christmas shouldn’t be about the receiver of gifts placing orders for what they want. Hinting and making it known what would be desired is fine but once that’s done it’s time to sit back and be grateful for whatever gifts you might receive even if it’s not the primo item you wanted or even thought of. You certainly shouldn’t be begging for a particular gift. Maybe you’ll get the iPhone from them even though you don’t really need it or maybe not in which case you can buy your own and pay for your own data plan. </p>
<p>You may up the odds by dropping a hint that you’d even be willing to pay for the required data plan if you were lucky enough to receive an iPhone for Christmas.</p>
<p>Nope - the iphone 4 S will not allow you to turn off the 3G. My kids are grandfathered in for the unlimited, but I am not. I am seriously considering returning the darn thing and going back to my old 3g or to the 4.</p>
<p>My family is a hi tech bunch, and lives on/loves electronic devices. I am the only “dinosaur” with a blackberry-- they have droids and iphones. However, after the snafoo and follow-up mega hour efforts to get my email back working on my blackberry (6 hrs with tech support first with -phone carrier, then with blackberry/rim, then with internet provider) I am planning to snare the iphone that is on order (though DHs droid had been consistently butt-dialing, even when he tried to turn it off!) He is getting a new phone from his new employer, so we may be an all iphone family.</p>
<p>Gladgraddad- do you still have any kids in college or grad/profesional school? Just wondered.</p>
<p>I bought D2(high school sophomore) the iPhone 4 for her b-day last year. We’re w/ Verizon & her previous phone was going haywire and it was her time for an upgrade. I pay for her data charges ($30 /month)</p>
<p>I recently ordered D1 (college freshman) the new iPhone 4S and she’s waiting for it to arrive. Her current phone (Blackberry) is 3 years old & it was time for her upgrade. She earned a nearly full ride to college, so I don’t mind spending $199 on her. </p>
<p>I plan to pay their monthly data fees ($30 each) until they are out of college/grad school.</p>
<p>I agree withi other posters that it allows for better communication and googling on the go. D2 will frequently use her iPhone to get walking directions when she is trying to find a store or some other place in downtown Chicago. It beats getting lost ;)</p>
<p>Yes. My kids really never ask for anything except for things they really need like underwear, etc so instead of a 16th bday party, they received a smartphone - one chose an iphone, the other a droid. Their plans are on my business with unlimited data…they use them for everything. IF they lose them, then the replacement is on them.</p>
<p>My D nagged me for an Iphone, exactly for this purpose. She said that her profs/TAs often sent out last minute information which she couldn’t access quickly and resulted in her being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or not knowing what was going on.</p>
<p>My one D has an iPhone. She is in grad school and incredibly busy. We bought the phone as a gift and she pays the fees. She has worked since she was 15 and been very good about fiscal responsibility.</p>
<p>My D2 who is in college doesn’t want and doesn’t believe she has need for one at the time.</p>
<p>My little guy would sell his father for an iPhone.</p>
<p>My D, a senior in college, has a smart phone. I pay for the plan. She just got it this year because she was tired of missing emails from her teachers. She’s a music major and there were often last minute changes in rehearsal times, cancelled lessons, re-scheduled lessons, practice rooms, etc. She lives off campus and I’d prefer her having the smart phone than having to cart her laptop around. It may not be necessary for kids in other majors but she has found like much easier with it.</p>
<p>My son has a Motorola RAZR from WalMart for $60 and he pays $8.66/month for service. Daughter has some cheap phone from some company that I don’t recall and pays the same amount for service. My phone and service are the same as my son’s. He also has an iPod Touch so that he can do various things on campus with WiFi. He’s never asked for a smartphone before. I would get him one if he asked but it wouldn’t be an iPhone on my dime. He has $20K saved from working so he is certainly capable of buying and paying for an iPhone.</p>
<p>My kids bought their own iphones, the $49 one, AFTER they graduated from college. Of course things are changing, now you can get data for $15 not just $30, and now you can get an iphone for $49 & Androids, too, rather than $200. But still, we only ever provided the free phone, kids had to earn their own money to pay for any phone upgrade. I do think that if they were entering university now, they would likely go for a smart phone, as the need to be accessible is so much more common now.</p>
<p>We are a family of 4 all with iPhones and like others we have unlimited data & texting so we do not have to worry about overages. S is a college freshman and checks his email from it. I agree with Bay that he is accountable to teachers for last minute info and does use his phone to do that. D is in HS and does not “need” it but our family makes the most if it. We Facetime with our S at school and with family out of state. We drive used cars and in general are pretty frugal and live simply, so I don’t feel is it overkill. And for the business that H and I are in it is absolutely necessary. There are few things in life that we “need”, so toys like smart phones are just that - toys. But it makes our lives fun. Also, our kids knew upfront that we will purchase a phone for them, NOT REPLACE a lost or damaged phone. Both of them have been responsible and we have not had to address any issues.</p>
<p>fron Zooz: “My little guy would sell his father for an iPhone.”</p>
<p>I’d add that to favorite one-liners.</p>
<p>Timely thread, as ready for new phone in a month. My Blackberry’s battery isn’t holding charge well. The worm updated last spring, with i-phone with all the gigs available. As a CS/sci guy in grad school, I am always willing to let him get the newest, and I take his leftovers. I think it much easier to transport an i-phone than a laptop. Now that plans are $15, I’m ready for i-phone.</p>
<p>Heck, I see 8 y.o.s with Droids and i-phones.</p>
<p>I got my husband a T-Mobile smart phone for Christmas last year and got a $15/month data plan. The T-Mobile guy at the kiosk told me at the time that T-Mobile offers a $15/month credit for employees of my H’s company so it was a wash. We’ve been with T-Mobile forever, don’t know if that made any difference.</p>
<p>I struggle with this. I have awesome boys who hardly ever ask for anything and would LOVE iPhones, but I truly think that they are ridiculously expensive and the same functionality can be found MUCH cheaper. The “I-am-cool-I-have-an-iPhone” image is just so annoying to me.</p>
<p>I remember the lady who ran the daycare we used saying “Kids today never get to WANT anything. Almost before they ask their parents furnish everything. It’s just not good!”. I think that is true.</p>
<p>t-mobile is offering a really reasonable smartphone plan where you provide your own phone and the first XXX amount of data is 4G and then additional falls back to 3G. I think I will go that route - it is much much cheaper, but no iPhones.</p>
<p>I did allow D in college to upgrade to an iPhone when it was time- there are many apps that can help with organization/scheduling - I find mine to be just as much of a help to me as my laptop.</p>
<p>Our rule is that if folks want to have an expensive phone & plan, it’s on their dime. So far, they have been happy with whatever mom & dad are willing to spring for. Have not gotten data at all so far, as they had ready computer access when students and when they lived at home. Now that S is away working on the East Coast, he’s exploring options as to what phone & plan he wants. We’ll base our next choices on what he learns. Data plans and phones can gobble money that will be needed to pay your college expenses and tuition.</p>