Depends how 'we' use them. Society as a whole probably does not benefit because of the severe drawbacks these devices have for those who can't resist the lure of 'social' media and garbage factories like TikTok. Individuals can certainly benefit from having an internet-connected pocket computer which so happens to also be capable of making and receiving phone calls.

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chucksta a day ago | parent [-]

Is it a net benefit to the user or a consistently equal transaction?

	▲	hagbard_c a day ago \| parent [-]
		For some - like me - it is certainly a net benefit since there is no real transaction other than me buying the hardware and paying ~€2/month for mobile data/cell service: - the device is 'Google-free' - I only use free software - the thing is firewalled for in- and outgoing traffic, only those applications I approve get to access the net - I use a 'prepaid' data card, 250 GB valid for 2 years for ~€50 (~€2/month) which I won't use up. Last time I could take along unused data to the next 2 years so nothing is lost. Here's the 'costs': - between €120 and €170 for the hardware which tends to last around 8 years, i.e. between €15 and ~€21 per year - sometimes something breaks (battery, screen, speaker, USB connection board) which I then repair, can be anything between €1 and €40 so let's put the repair costs at €24 per device or €3 per year - €2/month for data and cell service valid in the whole EU (no roaming costs) - electricity, comes from the sun -> free - when the device is on I can be tracked by interested TLAs like any other 4/5G device - same is true for Bluetooth, not so much for WiFi which is normally off and changes MAC address for every connection.