Do you ever feel like the whole world is conspiring to convince you to get an iPhone? I feel this way all the time, and it pisses me off. Mostly because part of me really wants one.

Let’s face it: smart phones are cool. And non-touchscreen phones are so 2008.

But they’re very expensive. Not only do the phones cost big money, but you have to pay extra each month for data service. That’s hundreds of dollars a year on top of the already high costs of cell phone service and a high-speed internet connection. And what do you get for this? Constant access to your email wherever you are. A portable to-do list and calender. A music player. The ability to surf the internet at stoplights. Thousands of little programs to keep you busy in those few unhurried moments you have in your day. Maybe it’s just me, but that doesn’t seem like much.

But cost is actually the least of my worries. Smart phones lower your quality of life. I’ll say it again: smart phones lower your quality of life.

Think of it this way: What are the most important things in your life? If you can only do a few things each day, what should you be sure to do?

Here are my answers:

• Spend more uninterrupted, in-the-moment quality time with my daughter.
• Spend more uninterrupted, in-the-moment quality time with my wife.
• Spend more uninterrupted, in-the-moment quality time writing.
• Spend more uninterrupted, in-the-moment quality time by myself.
• Spend more uninterrupted, in-the-moment quality time outdoors, having adventures, experiencing new things.
• Spend more time helping other people.

This is what a good life looks like to me. And a smart phone would detract from all of these.

What about the benefits I mentioned? Well, I don’t need more email in my life; I need less. And won’t a folded piece of paper in my pocket be just as convenient, if not more so, than a digital to-do app? We all know that headphones are bad for your eardrums. And do any of us really need more time to surf the web? To what end? Think of all the great achievements in history that occurred without the help of Google Reader.

Yes, I like blogs. I write for two at the moment and am starting a third soon. I’ve learned a lot from the Internet. But we need to be honest about the limits of real time and the differences between consuming information and getting things done. What’s keeping you from succeeding at the things that matter to you? Is it lack of information? Is it organization? Is it focus? The Internet should improve your life, not just fill up your down time.

The problems go deeper still. Studies have shown that filling your free moments with digital stimulation (like web surfing, texting and music) actually decreases your ability to learn, solve problems and create new memories. By whipping out the phone and checking in throughout the day, you’re actually decreasing your ability to find solutions to the big challenges in your work and personal life and making your days less memorable. Not just because surfing the web isn’t memorable. Constantly being plugged in doesn’t give your brain the downtime it needs to process and store memories. There’s just too much new paperwork coming in to do any filing, so to speak.

Talk about a vicious cycle: you get bored so you surf the web; surfing the web makes your life more boring. iPhones, cool as they are, just facilitate this downward spiral. All the while your days disappear in a haze.

Think about the implications of this. Your memory is your life! On the first page of his book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned while Editing My Life, Donald Miller writes,

The saddest thing about life is you don’t remember half of it. You don’t even remember half of half of it. Not even a tiny percentage, if you want to know the truth. I have this friend Bob who writes down everything he remembers. If he remembers dropping an ice cream cone on his lap when he was seven, he’ll write it down. The last time I talked to Bob, he had written more than five hundred pages of memories. He’s the only guy I know who remembers his life. He said he captures memories, because if he forgets them, it’s as though they didn’t happen; it’s as though he hadn’t lived the parts he doesn’t remember.

The opportunity cost of being plugged in is gigantic and terrifying!

So you have two options: buy a smart phone and marshall all your self-control to only use it rarely (because even if you only use it strategically, if you use it regularly you’ll still suffer the consequences). Or you can just not buy one. Whatever is so important that you have to check it now, it can wait. I’ve found it’s a lot easier to not buy junk food than resist the candy dish on the kitchen counter. Saying no to an iPhone is not cool, but it does give me more quality time for the people and activities I love and helps me remember these precious, fleeting moments.