[kdamken]

Thank you for adding some sanity here. If someone's that obsessed with battery life, they can always delete all the apps off the phone and stay in airplane mode unless making a call. But then again, some people like to actually use their smart phone.

[samastur]

There's more to world than your little corner.

Last year I worked on development project with youth in Bolivia. It was common for them to use Facebook's website instead of app because it saved battery and data, both of which are extremely important to you if you are a poor teenager in a country with fairly expensive internet using a low-spec smartphone with generally poor battery life.

This way they could get a bit more out of it than they would otherwise which is a perfectly rational choice that doesn't deserve to be mocked.

[kdamken]

True, but is this article really directed to poor kids in Bolivia?

Maybe if you're a poor teenager in a developing country, you should focus on saving your money rather than blowing it on a cell phone and data plan.

[samastur]

I don't think this comment is fair to them.

Computers are less widespread than phones because latter are cheaper and you can also take them where (cheaper or free) connection is. They are not just an entertainment device although they use it for that too (and why shouldn't they?).

Any research for school or otherwise will be done through phones as libraries for many are not easy to reach or well stocked. And social networks play an important information role beyond socialising that every human person needs purely for health benefits.

[hackmiester]

Shouldn't we ALL save our money instead of blowing it on a phone that can run Facebook better?

What standard are you trying to hold these teenagers to? I don't understand why they would need a cell phone less than any other teenager, or any other person really.