Ten Things Your Cell Phone Does Better
Recombu’s Andrew Lim posted a very interesting article about mobile phones the other day entitled “Ten things mobiles have made, or will make, obsolete.” The article touches on some interesting points and even offers a bit of poignant nostalgia for the bygone technologies that once revolutionized the way humans interact. We thought we’d take it one step further and highlight which cell phones already make the following technologies obsolete.
Phone booths – Once the go-to place for out-and-about common folk to place calls and superheroes to change garb, phone booths are now a curious relic from a past where people needed wires and quarters to make calls. Just about phone takes these quaint little cubicles out of the equation, whether it’s the very first cell phone (created by Motorola) or a newfangled Samsung smartphone. (While we’re on the subject, mobiles take care of your landline, too.)
Wristwatches – A funny thing about cell phones is not only that we don’t need wristwatches anymore, but when you ask a group of guys and gals what time it is, you never get things like “about quarter till” anymore. It’s always a consensus: 5:02pm. Satellite synched timepieces have removed that fuzzy ambiguity between watches that are 5 minutes fast or 4 minutes slow. But here’s another way the cell phones will make wristwatches obsolete – as a status symbol. The Rolex was once the distinctive way for a man to show bling – but now designers are making gliltzy cell phones that sparkle, too, like the Sony Ericsson Xperia Pureness, or the TAG Heuer Meridiist.
Bedside Alarm Clocks – No more obnoxious dissonant wail to jolt you out of bed anymore. Today’s smart phones not only wake you up just like an alarm clock, but they can do it in a way that doesn’t leave you bedraggled and annoyed. Check out some of the cool BlackBerry apps that let you wake gradually to soothing sounds.
Cameras – You won’t be taking stunning action shots of faraway cheetahs in motion just yet, but for snapping quick portraits or catching video evidence, even the 5-megapixel camera on the Nokia N95 is overkill.
MP3 Players – The Discman’s been dead for years, but now that phones such as LG Chocolate Touch the pack 3.5mm jacks, ample memory and easy online downloading for songs, there’s no need even for an iPod.
Netbooks – For awhile, the market was teeming with consumers looking for a quick, portable way to pop on the net and perhaps edit a document or two. But now phones running BlackBerry OS and Windows Mobile can handle business matters nearly as well as a laptop, including document editing, PowerPoint viewing and corporate emailing. Check out the HTC Pure for a phone that does almost everything.
Handheld games consoles – Mobile gaming is giving the Nintendo DS and PSP a run for their money. Why? Cell phones with online capabilities let you play games online with ease. Phones like the LG Env3 even have keys specifically designed for gameplay.
Paper – Notes to self can now be handled by the voice recorders or notetaking software built right into phones. Lots of phones come with voice memo software installed, but you can always download it yourself on phones like the Palm Treo, too.
The last item on Lim’s list was “thinking” which was added a bit facetiously. Of course, he meant that mobiles make it easier to find your way, add up tips and do all sorts of things that would usually take a healthy bit of brainpower. And it’s true: they make Garmin phones for navigation (not to mention most other phones either have integrated or assisted GPS) and just about every handset has a calculator built-in. It may be sad to see some of these features go – but with a lot less junk to haul around, we might also get to see one particular eyesore become obsolete: the man purse. With your notepad, MP3 player, books, work, video games and camera all rolled into one slim design, all you have to do is slip your phone in your pocket and go.
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Tags: Blackberry, HTC, LG, Motorola, Palm, Samsung, sony ericsson