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Upside Down Phone Patent
An anonymous reader noted that "A patent has been filed for the "Upside Down Phone", which features the keypad on top and the screen on the bottom. The idea behind the upside down phone is, apparently, to allow faster texting by have a more comfortable position for the thumb to work from. A quick check of this seems to confirm the theory, making this one of those "Why didn't I think of that?" moments."
I don't know..maybe because the hands will be right on top of the screen and you won't be able to see anything?
Infinite time means everything that can happen, will. You being you is absolutely incidental. You do not exist.
making this one of those "Why didn't I think of that?" moments.
This is simply because people don't think about ergonomics or what logically makes sense. Rather, they view things in terms they are familiar with. So since cellphones have always had the buttons on the bottom, everyone just assumed that's where they should go. The same can be said for interfaces in software development. Look at all the sourceforge projects that have GUIs. How many of them are just rehashes of the same bad interface design ideas lifted from Windows?
The screen (at the bottom) won't be touched by the ear, so it will stay clean.
No more dirty sticky traces on the screen !
-- Rastignac was here.
...the iPhone can do this in software. :-P
And why the hell can you patent this?
No, it's a trivial variation on the existing (patented or not) device. The lack of a patent does not indicate that no one thought of it, or would have. Why does this variant need patent protection of its "investment" in its unique design, so others can't compete with it starting with a full bank account? In fact, that is exactly what this design does, competing with existing designs, deriving its design from their substantial investment.
Patenting isn't an "I thought of it first" lottery. It's a major exception to free info exchange justified only as protection of substantial risky investments from competitors. Which investment would otherwise not have been made without the protection. Otherwise these monopolies come too cheap, and interfere with "progress in science and the useful arts".
--
make install -not war
Ok, part of my viewpoint comes from the fact I'm a cheapskate, and won't pay hundreds of dollars a year for service*, don't care about cameras, internet access etc.. For cheapskates, the soap-bar is king.
Now that flip-phones like the RAZR are around, the size in the pocket is no longer a disadvantage, only leaving the high cost to get a small phone and the fragility of a hinge etc.. In contrast for instance the Nokia 6030 is even given away free for prepaid (T-mobile: $30 including $35 of airtime), the equivalent Samsung flip is a fat lump, and a RAZR costs $200. If you get them "free" with a contract, we all know they're not really free.
The mic on these soap bars is on the bottom of the unit, so won't touch your cheek. With my fairly large head, it's 2 inches from my mouth, and works just fine. No one ever has problems hearing me, and I have to keep telling my wife she can talk more quietly on hers.
I do concede that with the flips don't need to lock the keys, and if you're happy paying for a slim RAZR or whatever, then it's not really inferior. My initial comment was partly out of date, and certainly colored by my usage pattern.
* Prepaid: I use the phone on average of 10 minutes a week. With T-mobile prepaid I can buy 2 year's worth of minutes for $100, and then just have to buy a minimum of $10 after 12 months to keep that balance active for another 12. Total cost for first 2 years service with phone: $140, $50/year after that, assuming all things stay the same. Sure, I could pay $40 or more a month and get more minutes, but they'd be minutes I don't use. I use Skype or Gizmo when I want to have an actual chat, which is rarely when mobile.