Everybody gets smart(phones)

Smartphones have lost their status. Not too long ago, a smartphone in your hand meant that you were an important person--a professional not to be trifled with. Now, a smartphone means, well, it means that you have a smartphone. I spend a lot of time on a college campus, and believe me, a smartphone simply isn't a status symbol anymore. The good news in this is that more and more, people have access to superb communications applications. The bad news is that you really need to find another way to show your status. For enterprise users, custom applications that take full advantage of wireless communications and the device interface are great status symbols. For users from businesses large and small, systems and practices that provide genuine security for portable data are high-status indeed. And for everyone else with a smartphone, knowing how and when to use it in ways that are courteous to the other humans around you is, perhaps, the most high-status thing you can do. It's obvious that simply using a smartphone is no longer new and novel. The key, from here on out, is using it well. -Curtis