Crucial for not-quite-emergency-type communications, like when the driver in a car pool calls to tell me s/he’s 15 minutes away so I can run down to the public road and meet the car pool. I don’t use a cell phone for anything more personal than that sort of thing, though. They’re never really private and still cost quite a bit of money.
I use my phone for everything it is my life line. I surf the internet, do my banking, listen to music, create grocery lists, pay bills ect. It is my album my music studio, my travel agent and the list goes on. If I can’t locate my phone I go into panic