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Ten Things Mobile Phones Will Make Obsolete

Posted by timothy on from the try-finding-a-payphone-now dept.

An anonymous reader writes "recombu.com has an article examining ten things mobile phones will make obsolete, including phone booths, wristwatches and handheld games consoles. It's interesting to see how many devices have been absorbed into mobile phone technology, and it raises the question: are we better off having everything in one device? The author poignantly concludes that while it's great to have so much power at our fingertips, it does mean that some of us will rely on mobile phones for even basic mental tasks, which is great until the battery runs out." See also Isaac Asimov's The Feeling of Power.

15 of 778 comments (clear)

  1. yep... by gandhi_2 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...why have a watch on your wrist when you can fish it out of your pocket.

    At least pocket watches kept the time even if you were out of cell service.

    --
    THL phish sticks
    1. Re:yep... by HeavyD14 · · Score: 5, Informative

      My phone keeps the time just fine when out of reception. Likely better than an old pocket watch. What kind of brick-phone do you have?

    2. Re:yep... by HBoar · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Some modern phones still do not keep the time when out of service. A friend of mine has a cheap Samsung phone which is an example of this. It has always baffled me that a phone with a camera, games and a whole lot of other unnecessary rubbish can't even tell you the time when you go behind a mountain....

    3. Re:yep... by jamesh · · Score: 5, Insightful

      and will still be chugging along quite possibly when something else comes along to displace the cell phone.

      It occurs to me that at some point in time the core function of the cell phone will be replaced by a device small enough to fit around your wrist...

    4. Re:yep... by theJML · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Actually, the problem that I have is not so much when out of service, it's when too close to the wrong tower...

      I was out of town and in another highly populated area (Knoxville I believe) a while back. The city is right near the boarder of the next time zone and what I found that kept happening is that my cell phone would update it's time according to which tower it connected to, often times the one in the wrong timezone. I had to shut off it's auto syncing and let it drift on it's own during that period.

      I've also found that there are certain towers that just don't sync time, or don't do it well. In these times I'm glad I've got a watch on. I'll also have to agree with the grandparent... I can flick my wrist and check the time in under a second. It takes a good 10 seconds to fish my phone out of my pocket and unlock it, esp if I'm in a car and the pocket isn't at a great angle for phone removal.

      --
      -=JML=-
  2. No P&S camera by Gruff1002 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I have yet to see a phone that can take anywhere near as good a picture as some of the most basic point and shoot cameras.

    1. Re:No P&S camera by jd · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It's next to impossible. Phones need to be very small, lightweight and damage-resistant, the electronics need to be exceedingly low-power and the electronics for the camera and the electronics for the radio transceiver can't conflict.

      That last requirement means is you use digital devices that produce analogue signals, the resolution on the ADC has to be so crappy that the RFI from the radio doesn't screw up the picture AND the voltage changes when a call is picked up or an alarm goes off or what have you can't throw the ADC.

      The low-power means no fancy, power-hungry logic, the software zoom and other floating-point logic won't be terribly high precision, and the image compression algorithm will need to be light on the quality.

      The size and damage-resistance impacts what sort of lens you can use, how rigid the structure has to be, how much the user can just seriously screw up the device before the image quality drops. Even for a disposable standalone camera, it's practical to put in some quite acceptable optics.

      Even when such devices are of a size comparable to that OF the phone, you've got to remember that the camera is sans radio (or radios, for phones that have bluetooth and/or wifi and/or AM/FM tuners as well as the standard phone radio), sans keyboard, sans quite a bit of space-hungry stuff that phones either need or have as "features".

      --
      It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
  3. Five more things mobile p... make obs...e by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    1. Being able to hear the other person clearly.
    2. Ability to have a safe drive.
    3. Going ten minutes in public without hearing some inane tune over and over.
    4. Ability to recognize crazy people as those talking loudly when nobody else is nearby.
    5. Ability for state agents to commit crimes without bystanders having photograph evidence.

  4. Convergence. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It really is amazing how many features they keep cramming into these tiny devices. Maybe I'm a dreamer, but I am hopeful that in the next couple of years somebody will figure out a way to make reliable phone calls with these things.

  5. Re:A load of BS by Yoozer · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Computers were supposed to get rid of paper and they didn't.

    That's because reading a flickering CRT with the Windows 95 Hot Dog Stand color scheme makes you want to claw your eyes out, and people don't have the sense to keep a document on disk until a final version is made. Also, in meetings, staring at a laptop is rather impolite. E-ink advances and will solve these problems; you only have to wait for the generation that is used to paper to retire.

  6. Same Old Song, A Jack of all Trades by dancingmad · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You keep hearing about the things that phones are going to replace and, at least for me, it's never been true.

    I like having a Nintendo DS. The iPhone has not provided a game with the depth of most AAA DS titles. It's lack of buttons is a serious problem with gaming.

    The camera isn't as good as any half way decent point and shoot. I haven't gotten a chance to play with any GPS software for any smart phone, but I hear there are limitations (including the need for cell service) that stand alone GPSes don't have.

    Even the music functions of an iPhone aren't as good as a regular iPod or (gasp, because I love Apple gear) a Zune.

    And yeah, you can use it as a watch, but any fashionable man knows that a watch is how a guy shows off. It's the only acceptable piece of jewelry for the well dressed man.

    Even today's best smart phones are just communications devices with varying degrees of success. Occasionally a smart phone is "good enough" in a pinch; photographers like to say the best camera is the one you have with you, which certainly applies to smart phones. But if I know I want to play games or take pictures, I take my DS or my camera, or whatever. Phones haven't and won't - because each thing needs its own UI and software guidelines, no device is going to be able to do it all well.

    --
    "There is no time, sir, at which ties do not matter," Jeeves, (Jeeves and the Impending Doom)
  7. Many features that I don't even want. by NoYob · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Early camera phones where painfully bad but strong sales proved that there was a demand for them.

    When I got my phone, I bought it because it was the cheapest phone that had the ability to see who's calling without having to answer. It so happens to have come with a camera which I never use because it sucks. Now, are the camera manufacturers counting my sale as someone who wanted a camera? Probably. There's a few other features built into the phone that i looked at and never used because I have no use for them.

    That's the thing, there's only so many choices and it's impossible to get a phone that has a feature you want without getting a bunch of features that you don't want. And if you find one, it may not be supported by your cell carrier.

    --
    It's NOT me! It's the meds! I'm on 1000mg of Fukitol.
  8. Wristwatches are just plain convenient by tomhudson · · Score: 5, Funny

    [X] Convenient. You don't have to pull them out of your pocket or purse to see what time it is.
    [X] You can get them dirt cheap (under $10) so if they break, get wet washing the dishes, fall in the toilet - no big deal. Try that with your cell phone.
    [X] One for day and one for evening wear - they are a fashion accessory.
    [X] If they get rained on a bit, big deal. Most are water-resistant.
    [X] It's harder to steal a wristwatch than a cellphone
    [X] It's harder to forget your wristwatch on the roof of your car, at home, or at the office than a cellphone
    [X] I might be convinced to buy a CowboyNeal writstwatch as a joke item, but never a CowboyNeal cellphone.

    1. Re:Wristwatches are just plain convenient by joelgrimes · · Score: 5, Insightful

      [X] wristwatch battery doesn't go dead every 3 days

      --
      Textbooks and Open Educational Resources
  9. Re:!begsthequestion by bperkins · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The meaning of the phrase has changed.

    The phrase used to refer to "a logical fallacy in which the proposition to be proved is assumed implicitly or explicitly in the premise."[1]

    Now it means, "I'm trying to sound like I'm well educated, but I'm not."

    [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begging_the_question