All-In-One? No, All-FOR-One!

I use a Tracfone. It's the LG 500G model, it does cheesy mobile web, has a camera for video and still shots, supports up to 4 gigabyte micro-SD, has a full QWERTY keypad and Bluetooth. I buy prepaid cards and use them for minutes, mobile-web with Facebook, and a few cheesy games. The phone itself cost me $30. Many opt for the all-in-one smart phones, with the 4G and the touch screen and the monthly bill that I find just too damned expensive. I'm sorry, I do.

But there are reasons why I take this position. The most obvious is the cost, the monthly bill. The $70 I'd be paying for a decent, meaningful tier of service could be better spent on video games, past or present.

But the other reasons extend from the cost. You see I cannot justify it because I never embraced the "all-in-one" mentality that drives smart phone sales. It is true many like the handheld entertainment and communication device that is a smart phone, but I have always held fast to the logic that you really can do more with more. I carry around multiple devices almost anywhere I go anyway. These days I will go out with my Tracfone, my iPod touch, my 3DS and my PSP Go. If I am going to be somewhere awhile, add my Acer Netbook to the mix. The downside is that now you have all these devices with you. But that is the only downside.

On the upside, if I drop a smart phone and it breaks, there goes everything. It was all there, now it is all gone. With multiple devices, if one breaks, it only puts a dent in your options. If my cell phone were to break, I go spend $30 and get another one, call Tracfone and have my minutes transferred to my new phone. If my iPod needs to be charged, the PSP Go is there for gaming, video, and music in a portable space. Make no mistake, either- the games on the PSP Go are superior overall to the offerings on something like an iPhone or iPod touch. A touch screen alone is NOT an effective control scheme for general portable gaming. Nothing beats a nice set of good, solid buttons that you can feel. In my opinion the 3DS and the DS models before it are the perfect blend of the two control scemes. Better than any smart phone, with the execption perhaps of the Xperia™ PLAY , or "Playstation phone".

I pay less than $60 a month for broad-band Internet and land-line phone. Most of my newer devices are Wi-Fi, so I always can connect at home. Many public places these days have free Wi-Fi, and you can often still find unsecured connections to get on the Internet. I can stream Netflix on my iPod at the laundromat, or play Dead or Alive against an online opponent on my 3DS. Or both. So a 3G or 4G connection doesn't really entice me.

Until someone can offer me a far better monthly price than is available I can't justify doing a smart phone. I would still carry around multiple devices anyway!

Of course, being a video game collector I can also tell you all about how emulators aren't so great and how nothing beats the actual console.