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YOLO You Only Live Once
Get one! ......Embracing technology keeps you young! Even 3 year olds are using smartphones and tablets like they were born to it.......actually, they were.
They are a useful tool ...
... but as an accountant they are far too small and slow for the meat of my job.
It is like watching a 72" TV through a letter box, so much time is wasted expanding and contracting the view, scrolling up and down back and forth, where with a decent monitor on a PC it is all viewable at once, and as a result they are diminishing our brains capacity to look at big pictures, those who rely on smartphones are growing to only be able to deal with things in bite size chunks!
Perfect....for me.
HTC One Max...fantastic piece of kit. My eyes ain't what they used to be but I don't want to carry a tablet (not to work on anyway!). The HTC is an ideal size
Smart phones
Your comment re 60 year olds buying big BMW bikes is fundamentally wrong.mid forties guys trying to relive their youth are the culprits and they favour Harley or Japanese machines!also you later mention the health risk of driving such machines.yes but at least you control your destiny.the health risk of carrying a spunky smartphone is significant.you can get mugged or stabbed when some dacoit tries to take it from you.you did not mention this significant downside
There are two issues I think ...
... I have a Moto G, it has a much better screen than an i-phone and is very clear and sharp, but doing accountantcy work is fiddly. If I am out I am driving and hen seeing people, unless I am working away in which case a lap top to use in the hotel room is best for me.
The two issues are
Using to do your accountancy work - to me they are the least effective medium for say enetering a carrier bag of receipts in to a spreadsheet, writing records in to SAGE/Openbooks/Xero whatever. They are slow and cumbersome and frankly boring to use.Life in general - all the various apps etc. are general to life, not specific to accountants, so having a sat nav, syncing to a calendar, reading e-mails etc. are general things and becoming part of life, so they may be essential to managing a business, but are not the most effectivive tools for "doing" the business!
Any old iPhones?
I bought an old iPhone 3GS on the Bay for £71.01, and got a tenner a month SIM only contract from Vodafone. 2 years down the line its still going strong, is full of photos, and also plays my music when I'm on holiday.
A client showed me Turboscan, which photos documents 3 times and makes a best picture, then emails it to you. I bought it the next day.
Dacoit! ...
... I found a picture of one - now tell me there is no such thing as synchronicity!
Smartphones
Interestingly no one here seems to have noticed that according to the UK Office for national statistics in 2014, 87% the 16-24 year old's use their smartphone to access the Internet while the 25-34 group are at 86%. Even 35-44 yr old's are at 78% and 55-64 stand at 41% so the age problem is beginning to show at this end of the spectrum
As to the sizing of information on mobile's, then the clever owners of websites use a responsive style which adapts to the device screen size automatically so making the experience so much better for the viewer.
Truth be told you have only to look around at people on the street, the buses and trains to realise that mobiles are often the first port of call for people looking for local services and that may well be an Accountant.
Even if its just to find your clients using GPS you might think to reconsider having and using an internet enabled mobile phone - and check your own web site on a mobile and see what the impression is that your firm leaves.
"Chinaphones"
Why pay hundreds when you can get all you need in a £100 or less device?
I use one of these
http://www.amazon.co.uk/capacitive-SmartPhone-Android-camera-white/dp/B0...
Only thing I fault it on is only 512MB RAM which gets congested, but still works.
Dual SIM is great.
If replacing I would look for 4G capability and at least 1GB RAM; probably 2.
Rearguard action needed
Am I alone in wishing for a return to the 'good old days' of hand-written ledgers, common sense auditing and proper pub lunches mercifully free from emails, texts and the shrill buzz of the smartphone...
Brave new world indeed ?
Who's with me ?
Business Pub Lunches
Last year 3 of my staff met for lunch and there were 9 mobile phones on the table - it's madness.
I have recently taken to turning my phone off at lunch and in the car (I have Blue tooth but it disconnects at will), whilst shopping and after 8 pm or whilst eating. You know, it makes no difference to my life/business. Besides, more and more people are doing this. Why do people think they can call you at 1 pm or 11 pm? I think it's rude. And so often it's some anonymous company trying to get me to reclaim PPI, claim for some non-existent accident or to upgrade my phone!!!!! I must say 'Go away' (or similar) more than any other phrase per day.
I have an iPhone 4S and I don't use it as much as I should - but great camera. I won't be upgrading to an iPhone5 or 4G - I just don't need it.
I also have an old Nokia and it is a real shock when I go back to it and discover it actually does things better than the iPhone, the battery lasts twice as long and it is so much easier to redirect calls and to check who I have redirected to - impossible on the iPhone (I believe?). My only problem is I keep punching the screen expecting it to be a touch screen!! But that's probably my age.
Interestingly, I was paying over £100 per month on a mobile contract - I cancelled it after spending many thousands over 3-4 years (work it out - it's frightening) and
went sim only and 'pay as you go' - I now rarely top it up and probably spend under £5 per month. My phone company cannot tell me why they charged me £100+ and just say. "You are clearly using it less now." Avoid contracts, only use a smart phone if you are really dim or under 12.
Nokia better than iPhone
I also have an old Nokia and it is a real shock when I go back to it and discover it actually does things better than the iPhone
Not to anyone who knows anything other than the iPhone.
Interestingly ...
... was just reading the internet keeps falling over as it is now overloaded as the whole world and his wife with their cheap smart phones spend all day clogging it up with meaningless [***], there is no room left for those trying to run a business because of all the twittering tw*ts!
The world moves on and we adapt with it.
You can put your smartphone down, turn it off and not respond to email in 60 seconds. How you use technology is down to you - you are an adult and can make choices.
Just as numerous coffee shops adorn our High Streets, it's my choice if I spend £3 on a cup of coffee.
Smartphones do make our lives easier and give us access to information and records, far quicker and easier than a few years ago.
Interesting that Xero have just published a study - http://bit.ly/1ozqerJ - which states that 52% of young entrepreneurs deem their smartphone as their most important business tool.
As Evergreen has stated above, look on any High Street and you'll see people of all ages using their smartphone - and this will be for looking for an accountant.
If you are not using latest technology, and smartphones are not expensive compared to alternatives, then today you will be blocking yourself from winning any quantity of new clients in the under 44 age bracket(using figures quoted by Evergreen).
Where's the study?
http://bit.ly/1ozqerJ - which states that 52% of young entrepreneurs deem their smartphone as their most important business tool.The article says 52% of the 500 people Xero talked to said the smartphone was their most important business tool. No link to the study and no indication of who the 500 people they talked to were. Interesting that Xero have just published a study -
So do you know where we can find the actual study? Just a couple of thoughts off the top of my head. They say top young entrepreneurs, but no indication of how young is young, nor how they are judging "top". More crucially, no indication of what business they are in. Say 260 of the "top" young entrepreneurs are involved in app development. That 52% are going to be more interested in smartphones because of the business they are in, not because smartphones genuinely are important business tools.
In all honesty, as I said back in the thread, I see them as useful tools but not vital. Making sure your website displays well on them is good advice, as lots of people do use them. That's not the same as saying you desperately need one yourself.
Link to study
Good Morning Stepurhan,
The study is on ITPro and the headline is "Smartphones deemed most important tool for running a business"
Please note: There was a link in my comment - http://bit.ly/1ozqerJ
Have a Great Day
Forget it
People only buy the latest phone as they feel they cannot do without it. Why not get an old one and advise everyone its Retro, who knows maybe in 5 years we will have have a phone the size of a brick again.
Try again
That is not the study. That is an article reporting that a study was undertaken. It does not contain detailed information about the study, nor does it provide a link to where such detailed information can be obtained. It is, as you say, exactly the link you posted in your original comment.
So where is the study itself?
You could always use your smart phone to google the location of the study, Stepurhan?
Wasting my time
It's not about finding the study. It is about someone talking about a study that supports their view and expecting us to take the "results" of said study as gospel truth. You could always use your smart phone to google the location of the study, Stepurhan?
I've already pointed out the issues based on the description of the study in the article. If the person claiming the study supports them won't back up that assertion by providing a link to it, then I take that as meaning either it isn't available online, or it is as rubbish as I suspect. Either way, why should I spend any more time on it if the person citing it in the first place cannot be bothered.
That's even assuming that a Google search turned up a single result that was unequivocally that specific study. No point analysing any study if I can't be sure I'm looking at the right one.
There is a big difference ...
... between clients using smart phones and their accountant needing to.
I can see smartphones as more useful to my clients than to me, for instance, an electrician can get detailed information on the system he is working on, manufacturers manuals, etc. for one example.
Clients are not going to not use you as an accountant because you don't have a smart phone.
My work is done in my office, I have dual 21" screen access on superfast broadband, a smartphone is pointless to my business.
The most massive downside ...
... to smart phones is the death of the pointless pub discussion to while away a whole evening arguing black is white!
Eh?
<< Clients are not going to use you as an accountant because you don't have a smart phone. >>
OGA - I think you mean the opposite of what you say?
No wonder...
... you are confused.
My first audit client - obviously confidentiality rules but let's just say an Italian business machine and computer company - had its computerised accounts entirely wrong way round.
I was confused enough already.
Where on earth did you get this from John?
Android ... lags behind Apple’s iOS ... It may not be as slick as the Appleverse
Where on earth did you get this from John? It seems to come out of nowhere and then there is nothing to back it up, either in the article or anywhere else that I know of.
With phones that can't make calls, sat nav that can't navigate and phones that bend, why would anyone consider any of the iPhones better than an Android phone?
I would say ...
... I am having problems with my Moto G in that it does not always send e-mails and they get stuck in the outbox. I am told this is quite a common problem with Android which you don't have with i-phones! Something to do with constantly switching wi-fi networks when travelling around confusing the software and making it hang!
@OGA - emails getting stuck
II've never heard of that before OGA, although I have heard the Moto G is just about the best value phone there is. Have you set it to use your network's data transmission when there is no wi-fi signal available?
I leave that sort of thing ...
I've never heard of that before OGA, although I have heard the Moto G is just about the best value phone there is. Have you set it to use your network's data transmission when there is no wi-fi signal available?
... to my IT techies, they say it is a common problem, I trust them! They come in OK, just don't go out!
Our survey says...
Years ago, I had a part time job where I was in house accountant for a PR firm. It wasn't what I wanted to do, but they did insist on paying me boatloads of money.
Every Monday morning they met for a 'brainstorming' session, which I wasn't part of but overheard as I got on with my job. On behalf of a client who made ironing board covers, they made up, there and then, a 'survey' which found that men who helped with the ironing made better lovers. Press releases were drafted and sent out, all mentioning the name of the client, of course.
Later that week, at another job, I nearly spat my coffee out when I heard this 'survey' being discussed on BBC radio, it also made the Sun and Mail as I remember. I had to resist the urge to ring in and say it was all rubbish, and that I was a witness to it being made up!
I now always take any surveys reported in the press with a very large pinch of salt, and end up re-reading articles to work out who the client was.
Steamy ironing
I'm sorry but the survey was spot-on.
I do my own ironing and have no need of [***] despite being 56 1/2.
[***]
I'm sorry but the survey was spot-on.
I do my own ironing and have no need of [***] despite being 56 1/2.
I don't do any ironing and I don't need [***] either, although I suspect that might change if anyone was willing to have sex with me.
What I have found ...
... having finally re-vamped my website, on the homepage I have set a widget so that if you tap the phone number it loads it in the key-pad, you just need one more tap to dial - works on my Moto G, doesn't seem to work on i-phones!