The slick Motorola Razr phones of the past have been tossed aside, replaced by a new trend of bulkier smart phones capable of an ever-growing amount of features.

Currently, three phones — the Blackberry, iPhone, and Droid — dominate the smart phone market. These phones differ greatly in the features they offer and what they do. The real question is which phone best matches each college at Syracuse University.

‘Smart phones are a personal choice, it really depends on how the user plans on using the device,’ said Derrick Cogburn, an assistant professor in the School of Information Studies.

Although Cogburn stressed that phones should be chosen based on comfortableness and personal choice, he emphasized that the iPhone is probably the best smart phone for all of the colleges at SU.

Cogburn said each college has its own reason why the iPhone is a better match than the Droid or Blackberry. Of the three, the Blackberry is the least suited for academic purposes, he said.

The iPhone is better for meeting the academic needs of students. The iPhone is the best smart phone for SU students due to its maturity in the market and number of applications available, said David Molta, the assistant dean for technology and undergraduate program director at the iSchool, in an e-mail.

‘The probability of finding one that complements the curriculum is probably higher,’ he said.

For the Martin J. Whitman School of Management, Blackberrys are especially useless as they are diminishing among corporate sectors, Cogburn said. Many businesses are switching to the Droid and iPhone for their user-friendliness and for the vast extent of their applications, he said.

‘I’m not really sure who favors Blackberry. It’s probably people (and) disciplines that value continuity. Based on recent market reports, it looks like that’s becoming a smaller segment of the market,’ Molta said.

Colleges such as the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, the College of Visual and Performing Arts and the iSchool would benefit from the iPhone because of its ability to easily manage new content and media. These media include photos, music, podcasts and even Microsoft Word documents, all of which can be saved on the iPhone through iPhoto, iTunes and other media applications.

Stephanie Lin, a sophomore advertising major and an iPhone user, said, ‘I think our school is focused on using technology in order to create something that will apply to everyone. So it’s a good idea to use what consumers are using.’ Lin said she usually uses her phone for academic purposes when receiving e-mails and planning her week on the calendar application.

Carlos Salgado, a freshman civil engineering major in the L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science, uses his Blackberry Curve for school e-mails, Blackberry messaging, or BBMing, friends and browsing the Web. ‘The iPhone has more uses, but the Blackberry is more reliable and easier to use,’ Salgado said. ‘It doesn’t have many apps, but I use it more for a social connection anyway.’

College students as a whole are drawn to the Blackberry for social reasons, Cogburn said. The Blackberry is specially geared toward e-mailing and instant communication. The biggest draw to the Blackberry is BBM, which allows users to instant message each other and is a lot quicker than text messaging.

‘It’s called the network effect: the more people that have it, the more that are able to use it and connect with each other,’ said Cogburn, explaining the conformity that goes into choosing a Blackberry. Cogburn said students choose the Blackberry because of network externalities, which means if students don’t use a Blackberry, they feel left out.

Along with the social connotations that come with buying a Blackberry, this smart phone has an economic appeal. Most Blackberrys are cheaper than both the Droid and iPhone but similar in data and text messaging costs, Cogburn said.

Most students use their phones for the social aspect of their lives rather than the academic side, Cogburn said. Any phone that provides features such as tweeting, updating Facebook statuses, sharing and uploading photos, and connecting with friends fits the needs of most students, Cogburn said.

Some students may even be better off without a smart phone altogether.

‘It may be an overkill for many people. Some don’t really want to be as connected,’ Cogburn said.

Cogburn said students should instead choose a feature phone, generally offered very cheap or even free from services. The difference is in the applications, along with conference calls and grouping contacts, which make smart phones beneficial for users.

One issue with smart phones is that they are becoming almost like mini-computers and less of a phone. Cogburn said he rarely ever makes calls from his cell phone, at best once a day. Cogburn said he was a dedicated iPhone user and has had every iPhone because of the way it fits him personally.

‘No school or college is going to tell you how to store your media,’ Cogburn said. ‘The iPhone is best for managing.’

aedibias@syr.edu

Published on November 9, 2010 at 12:00 pm