Fundamentally, the reason I
don't want a smartphone is the same reason that most people
do want one: I don't want to have an always-available internet connection, and I don't want to have an always-available computer. A portable internet-connected computer is powerful and seductively convenient, and I *don't* want to shape my life around it and have it shape me in turn. Tech has shaped me far more than enough as it is - I don't want to invite it even further into my life.
~*~
WRT to GPS, I find navigating by map far superior to navigating by phone
. Dh has a smartphone, and he invariably uses it to navigate, and so when I'm with him I use it, too. But I just did a cross-country trip with my sister, and even though she has a smartphone, we used an atlas exclusively. And it was *so* much better than using gps and map apps, even with an unexpected detour. In addition to allowing us to see the big picture much better, using the atlas was much more relaxing. I felt so much more competent and confident. Give me a good map any day - I actively prefer a map to GPS. I avoid GPS whenever possible (which is always, except when dh insists
.)