Getting data surpasses making a call as the top reason to use a cellphone

It sounds like a question from Family Feud. "We asked 100 people for the number one reason why they use a cellphone. The number one answer is..."; well what would you say? When cellphones first came to market, there was nothing you could do but make phone calls. Today's smartphones can do just about anything that a laptop computer can do and getting data has jumped over making a phone call as the number one reason why people reach for their cellular handset. According to the CTIA, the number of texts sent per user increased by 50% nationwide last year. And for the first time ever, the amount of data in e-mails, texts, streaming videos, music and other services in 2009 surpassed the amount of voice data in cellphone calls according to industry executives and analysts. Ross Rubin, a telecommunications analyst with the NPD Group notes that the newer smartphones make you go through a few screens before you get to the phone dialer application. "Handset design has become far less cheek-friendly,"  Mr. Rubin said. U.S. teenagers have been at the front of this revolution. According to the Pew Research Center, more than half of the nation's teens send more than 1,500 texts per month. The phone manufacturers have taken notice-when was the last time you saw a smartphone that used a standard telephone pad for data entry?

source: NYTimes