I'm not one of those who said that value equates with necessity but you are denying the value. The data in "the cloud" is no better or worse than the data you find in books. You always have to trust, but verify. In fact Kindle runs on my Droid so I can get the books in an instant if only a book will do. I can use my phone to get seminal research papers by highly respected people in every field. I can read Sumerian proverbs to glimpse an all too human yet oddly alien culture from the dawn of cities. I can download the Volsunga Saga to better understand Norse mythology I read about in my paper copy of the Sagas of Icelanders and to compliment my paper copy of Tolkien's Sigurd and Gudrun. I could go on and on and on but the truth is that the cell phone is just a tool with many functions and the quality of the data you get from it is in no way diminished because it came from "the cloud". It is stupid to say that it is. If you don't want a cell phone no one cares, if you are going to try to argue they are the work of the Devil no one believes you. The internet is becoming, in part, a giant library and a cell phone is a mobile portal into it. It is no better or worse than any other library in terms of its quality of data. Few traditional libraries, if any, match its scope. And yet that is just a part of the internet and a part of the functionality of a cell phone.

Your dog comment was totally lame and I've explained why. Yes, I agree you totally own the science of constructing lame arguments so to that extent, touche.

No you are not a dummy. You have adopted a common intellectual posturing that locks you into a rigid way of thinking and prevents you from understanding the value or even the true nature of certain things. For example, you are not in an intellectual competition with Google because Google is not an intelligence. Your twice repeated assertion that you are smarter than a trademark is as absurd as your contention that you "owned me" with your dog comment. If you want a dog comment with some teeth to it try this one which is common among professional dog trainers, "Dogs only do what works." It applies to human beings too and it explains why so many of us use cell phones for their widely diverse functions, they work. They don't own us, they don't mislead us, they certainly don't isolate us, they just work. If you want to live your life without them that is fine although it appears that the irony of using one type of internet portal to post comments decrying another is lost on you. If you want to take that posture even further you can join the Amish and I am sure that you will have a rich and rewarding life among them and I say that without any implied sarcasm, honest. I truly believe that, I just don't adopt that lifestyle myself. If you feel that choice makes you superior to those who embrace modern technology you are mistaken. The use or non-use of cell phone technology has nothing to say about the quality of character or intellectual prowess of a human being.

Ken