Smart phones have become a must-have item for many college students. The iPhone and the Droid have become popular among many college students on campus. Smart phones attract its customers with the different features that are available for the individual person to use. “I have the iPhone and what I really like about the phone is all the features,” Aaron Dandridge, junior graphic design major, said. “With apps such as Facebook and Twitter on the phone I can just log on any time I want rather than waiting to turn my laptop on.” “When my dad got the Droid I tested it out and knew I wanted the phone,” Mathew Doyle, sophomore pre-med major said. “I really liked the phone because it has everything a person needs all in one phone.” Consumers look at such things as features, usability, talk time and the convenience of the phone they want to buy. “I love gadgets and when the iPhone launched it was the hottest thing out,” Sapphira Griffin, junior psychology and criminology major, said. “I really liked the phone being a touch screen rather than having built-in keys to press. Since the keypads are inside the phone I don’t have to worry about breaking them.” Features include music, video and audio all in one aswell as apps to choose and download many games. “What I like most about the iPhone is that I can have all my favorite music and video all in one place and not have to download it onto my laptop,” King Saah, junior graphic design major, said. While some favor text messaging, others use the phones for internet accessibility. The accessibility to Wi-Fi is also a plus when it comes to using the phones since internet can be accessed almost anywhere at any given time. “Sales have risen for the Droid making it our best seller,” Souhila Noor, sales manager of Verizon wireless at King of Prussia mall, said. “The Droid offers over 7,000 free applications, free GPS and other great features which attracts customers.”
“We get customers of all different age groups looking for phone with speed, good camera quality and music player,” Noor said. “My favorite features on the Droid is the push to talk, so it’s a very easy way to talk to someone on the go,” Brandon Dunn, sophomore undeclared major, said. “Also, there is an app for 93.3 WMMR which is great because there’s a program I listen to every morning on that station and I can listen to it on my phone.” “I chose the Droid mainly because it has a keyboard and since I mainly use the phone to text a lot, having a keyboard was a must,” Doyle said. “If I need to look up something while in class I can use the internet on my Droid and get the information I need in less than 30 seconds.” “The iPhone has become very popular and accounts for 50 percent of our total sales,” Julio Ollarvia, sales representative of AT&T at King of Prussia mall, said. “The iPhone costs $200 which is a $400 discount from its original price.” “I like being able to access the internet as well as social networking sites and weather on the go,” Saah said. “Having a GPS available to access any time is definitely a plus,” Griffin said. “If I ever get lost I can immediately find out where I am and where I need to go using the GPS application on my iPhone.” Smart phones have a barcode-scanner feature available as an application on the phone which allows its users to be better consumers and shop wisely. “Having the barcode app on the phone is great because it helps me shop around with the touch of a button rather than going to different stores to find the best price,” Doyle
said. “With the Droid I can read up on current events, send and receive e-mail and access my bank account information all on my phone,” Dunn said.
