I know countless people now who have, bar for a few select tasks, completely replaced their laptop/desktop computer with either a smartphone, a tablet or both. How do people do this? I use my smartphone, naturally, when out and about. But, how is it that people manage to migrate their entire digital lives onto tinier screens with no keyboards? Can someone try and explain the appeal to me?

Because most people don't need anything more than a simple web browser for daily use.

Not everyone needs a laptop and might just need something they can get on quickly. I am not one of those people, but that's why we have so many different devices to get online with. I don't want a phone in general since I want to be left alone and fear I'll be pestered constantly.

Some people can't use normal computing devices, either. Smartphones and the like can be great for them if those are what they can use to browse the internet.

I can't replace my computer, but for uni my tablet is everything I need (my tablet has a keyboard which I use to take notes). If I had a better smartphone I could also use it like a tablet. Great for those boring times during the day (and for email and Whatsapp).

I don't get the deal with smartphones and the need to be "connected".

I'm happy with a phone that makes phone calls and a desktop.

Yes, but a tablet with a keyboard is pretty much an ultrabook, no?

I have no idea. I only use my phone for checking emails and quickly googling things. I see the appeal of tablets, they're very useful at uni because they're slightly more portable than netbooks and you don't really need a keyboard (but you can attach it if you want, so it's not a problem). At home I could never use anything with a screen smaller than 15''.

I use a 15" laptop. It's not ultra portable, but I can carry it around under one arm easily, so why do I need anything lighter honestly? Smartphones are there for the quick Google search.

For you maybe. Most people don't need to do anything more than check email, check online news, and search. For them, a computer is useless.

Same here, I still have a flip phone.. Desktop is all I need to be "connected", I don't feel the need to be "connected" everywhere I go.

It's a matter of convenience. I used to carry my laptop to uni and it wasn't a problem, but if I can use a smaller device I definitely will.

Not me. I'm addicted to my big PC and saving money for an even bigger one (with Corsair 850D case

Perhaps. But it's detachable. I only use the dock in class.

http://eee.asus.com/html/tf300/img/features/perfection-tf300.png

See, if the Windows 8 hybrid devices weren't too expensive, I'd be all over something like that. But, with Android, it's just too limiting.

Personally, I want to know how some of these people run up $400 phone bills while stayin in the US. I'll never forget being in the lunch room at the local college near me, getting some grub, and overhearing this woman complaining to her friend, on her cellphone, that her bill was $300+ dollars.

Humanity, y u test me?

Well... we've all got different requirements, different perceived requirements and varying levels of buying into advertising and skills sets.

I'm happy with a regular mobile phone to make and receive calls as well as desktop computers for anything that I'd need to use one for. I see no reason to be "always connected" in fact I hate the idea of it. For someone else though it would be totally different. They might want to be constantly connected. That and the stream of information that I despise they may really like.

The extent of a persons "digital life" will likely correlate with how much they make use of the outlets that are available.

Laziness, convenience, inability, efficiency. They all come down to preference and what a person is used to doing or is prepared to do. While one person might balk at the idea of asking for directions or using a printed map when they can instead use a smart phone another may enjoy having the skillset to navigate their surroundings and be happy to engage with other people to find out more. This is one of those situations that being "more connected" ends up with people being "less connected" - instead existing in a digital microcosm. If that works for them, then great. The rub comes from an assumption that others can not do without these tools. That though is an issue of advertising and societal shifts.

+1 for use of the word "grub"

Phone services are a headache at the best of times. It does tickle me at how pre-paid or pay as you go phones are sneered at, derisively titled "burner phones". It again comes down to how much people feel they need to be in contact, how much they actually need to be in contact or how much they are told they need to be in contact.

I still get confused when people use wi-fi and wireless devices in hospitals. I always have those functions of my handhelds off and was always paranoid whenever I played Pokemon Diamond or Platinum near my grandpa who had a pacemaker because the game would make the DS seem like it was in wireless mode when it wasn't at the start up screen.

Maybe I'm just paranoid, but it still doesn't seem safe to use wi-fi at a hospital. I see doctors using their computers there and despite knowing it is probably safe to use wireless stuff in most hospitals now, it still doesn't seem right. I also like to avoid using wireless connection in public in case anyone has a pacemaker, too.

That seems like an awfully specific reason not to use wifi.

i have an iphone but i rarely use it compared to my PC for data, it's simply my mobile really for calls and txts and i turn the cellular setting off and just use my wi fi for data on it, and i can't game on them, the screen is just too small for me.

My biggest annoyance is typing efficiency. It's gotten better with swype-like keyboards for me, but it's still nothing compared to the 90-110 WPM I get on a full keyboard. I get annoyed anytime I want to reply in length to something on a phone.

How is that even possible??? I have unlimited internet access, 3000 free text messages/month, 20$ of free calls every month... and I pay about 30$ a month for all that.

a tablet is a computer

as is a smart phone, smart phones are just small so