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Tomorrow's Cell Phones
bart_scriv writes "Businessweek looks at the future of the cell phone, starting with some existing button-free prototypes and moving on to more outlandish and whimsical designs. From the article: 'New technologies drive many of the new designs. One example: Synaptics ClearPad, a new type of touch screen that will become commercially available later this year. Unlike today's touch screens, which aren't entirely transparent and often not very sensitive — we've all had to endlessly tap one with a stylus to get a response — ClearPad is clear, so it can be used as a sensitive overlay to a cell-phone display. Another innovation likely to change the cell-phone's appearance: flexible displays. An electronic ink screen prototype, developed by Koninklijke Philips Electronics and startup E-Ink, is thin and flexible like paper so it can be worn wrapped around a cell phone. Users can unwrap it to view a map on a larger screen. Eventually, the display could be used to watch video.'"
The most important use of the cell phone is to get a girl's number. In a loud club, a phone without buttons would fail at this most important of duties.
A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
There have long been rumors of a 6th generation iPod with a full screen display and a virtual click wheel. This invention might make that possible. The track pad could be an overlay on top of a display that spans the face of the entire iPod.
First?
I don't want a touch screen. In fact, that is the precise antithesis of what I want.
I want a cell phone that has few to no menus. I want to be able to operate it without looking, by feeling the keypad.
I don't care if the screen is even in colour, because I'm not going to be looking at it if I don't have to.
I also want to be able to connect it to my computer as a USB modem.
I have been asking for this for upwards of four years. Can I have that, please?
www.wavefront-av.com
What's wrong with buttons? How would replicating the function of buttons on an easily-dirtied touch screen be an improvement? It really does sound like they are trying to find applications for technologies that are not really needed when trying to make a phone call.
As long as it makes and takes calls reliably, that's all we need.
Forget the camera and data transfer capability, as this makes them a target for bans at work, jury duty, the gym, and other sensitive areas.
You can lose something that is loose, so tighten the loose item so you don't lose it.
The only way a slashdotter gets a girls number is when it's written on the restraining order.
"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey
Yah. I think we can all see how that statistical fashion trend is accelerating.
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
Button 1: Home
Button 2: Parent's cell/work number
Button 3: Other parent's cell/work number
Button 4: Other relative
Button 5: Neighbor
Button 6: 911
Now the kid can use it to call their parents in case of emergency or other problems, (or just need to be picked up after soccer practice). Can't use it to call their friends since it doesn't have a normal keypad. If you want to be paranoid, add some GPS tracking software so you know where your kid is.
This type of thing may also be appropriate for younger children since it is hard to abuse - except by calling 911 when your mommy doesn't answer her phone. But if your child isn't old/smart enough to know that, they probably shouldn't be out of your sight.
Reading code is like reading the dictionary - you have to read half of it before you can go back and understand it.
...is price.
I cancelled my family's cell phones because with the price of gasoline we couldn't afford an extra $80/month, Verizon's cheapest plan at the time, for two cell phones. So I cancelled them and we went back to a "land line" via Vonage for $27/month. Yes this is on top of our $50/month for broadband but I'll cancel everything before the broadband connection.
It's amazing how little I miss having a cell phone. Of course I still keep the phones in the cars in case of emergencies - all cell phones will dial 911 for free.
I won't consider cell phone service again until it's around $10/month.
Keep the bells and whistles - give me Third World cell phone prices. If they can have it, so should I.
Steve
A work that expires before its copyright never enters the public domain and thus enjoys eternal copyright protection.
Just to let you know. They have the fewest dropped calls because they changed how the towers drop a call. it is not called dropped until the tower releases it, and towers are programmed to not release the call for 30 seconds or more after signal is lost, so you press end before it drops. I used to get credit for dropped calls on Cingular, I havent got one credit for 8 months now and a buddy that works in their engineering dept told me thay "tweaked" the software to not let calls drop.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Personally, I'd love to see a merger of touchscreen technology with something along the lines of piezoelectric polymers. This would make it possible to create flexible, touch-sensitive interfaces with surfaces that could be deformed to provide tactile feedback.
The problem these people have is that they precive the extra features as adding expense and more parts. This is largely not true. The phones already have a processor and a display. Radio requires extra parts (but the cost is virtually $0), and the video playing requires a better screen. The better screen just makes everything else more pleasent to use. Other than that the rest is basically software. These people complaining about phones getting more features are in the same category as people complining that computers are too fast and have too much memory. After all, the C-64 computed just fine, and that is what we should all stick with. Anything more is just making computers more complicated and expensive.
Here's my idea. Instead of buttons they could have a small plastic wheel with holes along the circumference that represent the numbers 0-9. You stick your finger in the desired number hole and spin the wheel to a starting point. Release the wheel and it spins a back to it original position, inputing that number. No more buttons! Just one plastic wheel with finger holes in it. To hell with having to "button" all these phone numbers. I want to "wheel" all my phone numbers. I wonder if I should patent this?
The software and business arrangements in the industry are fundamentally broken. The technology is pretty good, and the companies involved manage to screw it up through concerted effort.