Not consuming content would be misusing it. Like buying an expensive TV to watch the news once a day. Why waste money on things you won't utilize most of the time?
Second, 'content consumption' is a bit vague. I'd say a smartphone is worth having because so many people use whatsapp instead of sms, because it has google maps, because I can check my trello board occasionally, because I can check the weather, and very frequently to find out how to get from A to B using public transport. None of that requires me to be constantly 'consuming', but it's still very useful.
In fact, For a full two years I had a smartphone (Nexus) with no data plan, and it was still worth having. It functioned as my calendar, notepad, dictation device, and even maps (although it is less useful offline).
I've heard a number of my friends complain about facebook, initially, and later about smartphones. While I understand that the 'pull' of checking what's going on in your social network, or checking out the latest funny picture posted on reddit, I think the solution is not (necessarily( to get off facebook or get a dumbphone, but rather to learn how to responsibly use a potentially highly addictive tool.
Perhaps this is a problem that only plagues these kinds of transitional periods. I've noticed, for example, that my younger sister (~15) is absolutely addicted to her phone and whatsapp, and my parents, who are generally quite responsible and firm in how they raised us, don't even really seem to notice the problem. And perhaps that's because it's so new, like television was once.