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Mobile Phone Users Struggle With Hardware Adoption
Ian Lamont writes "A Google executive speaking at the Emerging Technology conference has described a problem that mobile phone carriers and manufacturers have been struggling with over the last few years: Users aren't taking advantage of many phones' hardware-based features. Rich Miner, Google's group manager of mobile platforms, stated that 80% of mobile phones being sold today have cameras on them, yet the number of people who actually know how to use them or get the images off the phones ranges between 10% and 50%, depending on the model. Miner listed several reasons for this state of affairs, including bad UIs and small screens, but added that the participation of companies with software expertise — including Google — would help increase usage of such features."
It's obvious what we need: something that gives you the freedom you need, on an open platform, with full open hardware and free software, all the way down the stack, so that users can get the features they want, and innovative developers can create interfaces that let people take full advantage of them in the most intuitive and obvious way possible. The GNUPhone. Operated from the command line.
http://rocknerd.co.uk
Or perhaps it might also involve the locking down of phones by carriers?
If you can't use bluetooth for file transfer because the carrier locked it out, it makes it harder to get pics off. If you can't use the phone as a usb mass storage device because the carrier is worried about you copying ringtones yourself, obviously getting the pics off will be hard.
That said, this "article" contains almost no useful information, so maybe Righ Miner had some better examples than the pictures...
Actually, I just want a phone. Not a friggin' handheld multimedia device.
How about the fact that cameras are added to phones as an afterthought, and they'll always suck because they cannot have useful lenses.
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"Google's Rich Miner has identified one of the biggest problems facing mobile phone carriers, manufacturers, and developers: The hardware on the current generation of phones is not being used by many customers."
Why is this a problem? Isn't this like fretting that 60% of Dodge Caravan owners don't use the rear-seat cup holders? Maybe people just don't want to take pictures with their phones.
I am probably one of the majority.
If I want to look at the internet, I like a big screen.
If I want to take pictures, I want 10 megapixels.
If I want to send someone some words, I want a keyboard.
My phone is really good for me speaking to someone. That is what I use it for. I could use skype on my laptop but the phone has a better form factor.
At work I find multifunction devices a bad thing. Scanners scan good, faxes fax, printers print and so on. Those clever boxes that do all three, never seem to do any of them as well.
If my phone plays music as well as an mp3 player, that's good but there are few other things I have seen mobile phones do as well as the original devices.
I'll see your Constitution and raise you a Queen.
The Samsung i730 non-camera PDA/smartphone is exactly what I need and want, but I need a replacement as it is showing the wear and tear. I want a smartphone just like this but WITHOUT A *&!*&@ CAMERA! I go in and out of courtrooms and secure facilities all the time. I want to keep my phone with me and I don't want to leave it out in the car where it could be stolen or - even worse - ring without me being there to answer it. Verizon refuses to sell me the phone I want claiming that Samsung and Motorola told them that such phones can't be made. I had an email exchange with Motorola about this issue: Me: I want a bluetooth-enabled smartphone/PDA without a camera. Verizon says that you are refusing to make one. Them: We don't sell cellphones. Talk to Verizon. Me: I did talk to Verizon. They say you won't produce the phone I want to buy. Them: We make cellphones very happy good. Me: I will give you money if you give me a cell phone that has the features I want. Them: ?Script_error
If the g'vt kept the data on you that google does you'd better believe you'd be calling it "doing evil"
I admit that my situation is worse than many(el-cheapo-with-contract verizon phone); but I hardly get the impression that the carrier or the manufacturer are struggling to get me to use the phone's hardware features.
Verizon cripples bluetooth on all non smartphones they sell(headset only, no obex etc) in order to force you to buy media from their overpriced store and encourage you to use the phone camera to send MMSes. They don't package cables or software for connecting to computers with their basic phones(or even attempt to upsell you on such accessories). Going directly through the manufacturer and/or with third party utilities, it is possible to connect the phone to a computer, and with a bit of hacking I've heard tethering is even possible.
I don't mean to underestimate the stupidity and willful ignorance of users; but this is mostly the carriers problem. Their obsession with all-data-must-be-transferred-through-our-network-and-paid-for is particularly troublesome. If cell companies sold computers, you'd need a family plan and a SIM card for each of your peripherals. 10 bucks a month would cover your mouse's connection. Depending on how much you used it, you could pay for right clicks at 5 cents a piece, or 5.99 for unlimited right clicks.
The average consumer is not interested in learning how to user another device. They don't have the time or interest. I use my phone for all sorts of things: creating maps, navigation, photos, music player. A lot of the things I do with my phone are seen almost as science fiction by people like my parents.
The thing is though - if my parents were to spend the time to learn how to use all of their phone's features - it probably wouldn't improve their quality of life at all.
I can't see how more than 50% of the population would ever be bothered enough to learn how to use all of their phone's features even if they were dirt simple to use. It's just one of the facts of life that us geeks need to be willing to accept.
I thought that the point of the article is that they aren't? Anyway, I'm 21, and I really wish I could just get a plain old phone with cheap service. If I want to listen to MP3's I'd rather use something with without mediocre sound quality that's not tied irrevocably to some dubious music service. If I want to take a picture, I'd rather use a real camera than those useless toys they put on cellphones.
They don't care whether these are free and open source or not - all they care about is getting what they want, at a reasonable price.
Taking the camera example, many people don't want to use a crappy (as many phone cameras are) phone camera to take a picture and then download it via a USB cable into their computer, or screw around with SD cards etc. Give them an end-to-end solution where they snap their pic and it automagically ends up in Picassa/whatever. That would make them happy so long as the cost of doing so is a few cents per picture.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
Let's look at the problem with camera phones. I'm on my third, an iPhone 3G.
Lets face it, things like cameras are crammed on the phone as a bullet point and no thought is given to how it operates or how easy it is for someone to use.
My mom has never used the photo function on either of here two camera capable phones (the previous one she owned, and the current). She can't get the photos off (would need a special cable and software) except by sending them for $0.25 each (or whatever insane price Sprint charges).
Heck, that's what my parents (and most "normal" people I've run across) have learned about their phones. They do neat things, and each one comes with a horrendously expensive charge. Phone calls are one thing, but text messages are $0.10 each unless you pay monthly. Web browsing is useful, except you pay $0.25 per KB unless you pay monthly. Games are fun, but they cost at least $5 to buy and most must be bought on a subscription basis (every 30 days or 3 months it's another $5).
Lesson they learned? Don't use the phone for anything but as a phone, it's too expensive.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
The International market has superior,interchangeable-carrier phones, open plans, and phones that aren't locked down or restricted in any non-fair use way. And they have case law to keep things fair.
For some US customers, pressing a button can result in opening an Internet application that charges a terrible data rate or something else that's both costly and unintentional. So some US users opt to just not try to poke around much beyond phone functionality and camera use.
Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, START
All the megapixels in the world won't help taking clear pictures when all you have is a fingernail-sized lens with only digital zoom.
I am a software engineer, just for the record, and I have to admit that most of my phones are HARD to use, they are painful, and they constantly have connection problems.
My last phone before my iphone (which I admit LACKS a lot of features) was a business edition $600 phone.
When I tried to connect it to my windows machine, I had to pirate bluetooth software, because the one that came with my various dongles (I have like 5 here) were .. umh.. CRAP. Then the supplied nokia software worked, then did not, then found my phone, then did not, then crashed, then .. you name it.
I know that according to many geeks and nerds an iphone is a toy, a shit, it lack function, and 3g and blabla .....
But I connect the thing, it downloads my pictures, syncs my calendar I can drag and drop music, and it just works.
Yes you guessed, I also switched to a mac, and do my office and freelancing work on a mac (mostly PHP, some ASP, some widget (yahoo, osx) programming and network/infrastructure/UNIX-Linux consulting) ....
Yeah you guessed, it is more for the UNIX for me than for anything else, but my iphone is my first phone I actually use to the limit, because it is not a PAIN IN THE ARSE to use...
Oh some people say it sucks as a phone. I am not sure, I make 2 calls tops a day, and keep them short, so not sure. It still rocks as a wireless device, and when a decent SIP client comes out on it and Fring, I stop carrying my nokia (which I use as a wifi phone at the office, as there is no reception whatsoever there (kinda like a basement in a hole under 4 stories of concrete. has big windows though :)))
90% of the people never have a NEED to take a picture with a cell phone. If all you had to do was point it and say 'Fido, take picture, send to Jane' it still wouldn't interest 50% of the population, they just plain don't need or want to take pictures. If they really DO want a picture, they want a good picture.
So basically there are 2 issues here, one being people aren't all that interested, and secondly the extra gewgaw features on phones really aren't all that great. The cameras are mostly marginal to almost useless, etc.
"Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem." -- Jefferson
Typical users don't care if Google or MS or ATT have monopolies, so long as they get what they want at a reasonable cost. Nor do they care if their phones or sneakers are made in a sweat shop or whether the workers have the vote and have medical benefit, so long as they get them at a reasonable cost. Nor do they care whether Starbucks or Budweiser open sources their recipes so long as they get a drink at a reasonable price. Same deal with cars, etc etc.
Very few people really value freedom unless they are being personally hampered by it. Heck only around 50% of eligible Americans vote and they supposedly value democracy!
Still, even these Open Source phones are still closed at some level. Try to get the design files for the chips and GSM module.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
Sometimes it's the goddamn cellular provider. Take Sprint, for example. At one point I had a Sanyo Katana on a Sprint account. Using the camera in the thing is painless: getting the damned pictures off was more complicated since the bloodsucking cell provider wanted a $15-$30/month "data plan" so that I could email my own pictures to myself. Fortunately I discovered MobileAction.com and bought myself a USB cable, and was able to grab images from the phone into my PC. Of course, Sprint has the firmware crippled so you can't download anything into the thing (other than phone book entries and I think schedules) unless you use their paid service. Want to dump a ringtone into your phone? Maybe use the phone for data storage? Copy some pictures into the phone so you can display them later? Forget it ... Sprint wants more money. Not worth it.
... and greed.
If the phone providers actually let their customers use all cool features of the phones they sell, maybe this wouldn't be such an issue. I think a lot of people would use more of their phone's capabilities, they just don't want to pay their provider any more juice money.
It gets back to the three most basic human emotions: greed, fear
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
I have a Sprint PCS phone, made by Samsung, with a camera, GPS, voice dialing, and web browser. All those features suck.
The camera has a max resolution of 640x480, which is tolerable, but that's not the default resolution. The default is 120x80, and the phone resets to the default when powered off, and sometimes when connected to a charger. So taking a picture isn't a casual affair; I have to plow through menus to reset the resolution, or risk getting a dinky picture.
The GPS isn't enabled, because Sprint requires I buy a package with tons of stuff I don't want to enable it.
Voice dialing has very slow response. My previous Motorola phone was much faster, and that was five years ago.
The web browser blows up on many sites, and connecting to Sprint's network interface usually takes at least 30 seconds of "connecting".
So I just use it for voice calls, and take an occasional picture.