Well I still don't own a smartphone because I ask myself the question "Why would I need a smartphone". And when I look around a lot of people don't need it. So in a way "I don't get" why a lot of people "need" a smartphone.
People who purchase one for the games are doing nothing but providing funding to help improve the technology for the people who actually do have uses for smart-phones.
There are TONS of practical uses for smart-phones, but there are also billions of people living on this planet who don't have a use for them.
I know people who thought smartphones weren't for them, but suddenly they discovered they were easier to use than their old Nokia phone and had QWERTY keyboards so they could write text messages without learning T9. I never imagined that a tablet would be so useful for flying and didn't see a need for one before that.