Mobile Phones - Am I missing the point?

[Terry Smart]

Somewhere on this illustrious site is a picture of me talking on a mobile phone, the irony of which is that I'd had to borrow the phone as mine had chosen that weekend to pack up.

So, I went out to buy a new one. The display in the shop was impressive and the choice quite considerable, so I thought I'd check out the specs on them. What was the battery life, was it Bluetooth compatible, did it allow voice dialling, stuff like that.
All I could find out was how many ringtones it had and what games you could play. When I asked one of the assistants for some information on one of them she told me the phone was too new and they don't know how that feature works. No effort was made to find out for me.

All I really want is a small phone that I can make and take phone calls on! I don't care about polyphonic ringtones, cameras, playing games or even looking at the internet on a one inch screen!

Is this just a ploy by phone manufacturers to make phones a fashion accessory rather than a functional thing so that they can sell more of them?

In summary, if you're one of the few people in the world who has my mobile number, don't bother calling me at the moment, it don't work!

 

[devonwoody]

I'm a pensioner and I hve never needed a mobile phone, I've been lucky all of the time during my working life never been bothered with the phone ringing.
So I think it would be a good thing to have all those gimmicks on a mobile, I could have sat in the layby and played with (the thing) it all day

 

[Noel]

Terry,

My business is dependent on being able to be contacted and if you're looking for a simple business phone check out the Nokia 6310i. It's not too small that it becomes hard to use or easily lost, superb battery life, phone book with 1,500 lines of numbers, addresses etc. Easy menu, no camera or other nonsense, monotone screen, bluetooth etc. Think I'm on my 5th or 6th one and I've another sitting in a box ready to go. For me mobiles are for talking and communicating.

Noel

 

[woodshavings]

Hi Terry - you are right, mobiles are now a fashion item!

Because I travel, I needed a multi band phone, and I use bluetooth for my in car kit ( no flaffing about, leave the phone in the brief case). Also Bluetooth is great for sych with the pc, again no cables and the phone can be left in my case.

The sales promotion focused on polyphonic ring tones, interchangble covers, screen savers, java (I thought that waas coffee!) ..nothing about sensitivity, standby and talk time. Oh well.

I ended up buying a Motorola V600 - I'm very pleased with it but no thanks to the sales blurb!
John

 

[Anonymous]

Is this just a ploy by phone manufacturers to make phones a fashion accessory rather than a functional thing so that they can sell more of them?

Yes. They're after the 'yoof' market, where fashion consciousness is king, and it really matters what your phone looks like.

Think I'm on my 5th or 6th one and I've another sitting in a box ready to go

That's a recommendation?? What's wrong with it that you've had to get through 5 or 6 of the things?

I work in the telecoms industry (although I hate phones, ironically) - my current phone is now 5 years old, and still going strong - it is a Nokia, but a model before the Nokia quality started to go down hill, which it has in recent years. The screens, in particular, have a habit of failing pretty quickly.

 

[Anonymous]

Don't get me started :twisted:

I hate mobile phones. It seems that since they became popular, nobody can stand their own company any more. Just watch people walking down the street, stadning at a bus stop or even DRIVING :shock: :shock: they will be on those bloody mobile phones.

As for 'texting' &$%£^^%"%%"^^^$$$$$$$!!!!!!!!!!!!

I do have one. It cost £25 and is pre pay. I find that £10 credit lasts for about 4 months as I only use it to phone the child minder or my wife if I am going to be late. Only 4 people actually know the number :lol:

OK. I will admit that they are useful for a business.

 

[Noel]

Esp St wrote "That's a recommendation?? What's wrong with it that you've had to get through 5 or 6 of the things? "
I renew every year, drop the thing on concrete/tarmac on a regular basis (and no, not intentionally), lies in my pocket getting scratched by keys/coins etc. A disposable tool that helps me make a living.

Rgds

Noel

 

[chiba]

Could be worse. Here in Japan the mobile phone market is driven by high school girls, so my company issue phone's powder blue with a "cute" animated chicken character.

 

[Terry Smart]

thanks guys...

can a chicken be cute?

And I think you have a good plan there Noely, with free upgrades (or replacements in your case) it's not a bad plan to renew them on an annual basis to prevent the frustration (said through gritted teeth!) of being away from base for the first time in ages and not being able to make the simplest of calls!

Tony should also be commended on his self-control; I once heard something that sums up mobile phone usage...
You get one for emergencies. At first this means 'I have a flat tyre', after a while it degrades to 'I'm going to be an hour late' until finally you're using it in the supermarket to find out whether to get salted or unsalted butter!

 

[cambournepete]

I work for a company that makes the software and hardware that goes in the bloody things - TTPCom. We sell to silicon and handset manufacturers among others and they all demand more and more features to go in smaller and smaller handsets so they can tick more boxes in their features list. If we can't provide the features they'll go elsewhere. I've seen one article that says 80% of people only use 20% of the features but I've idea how accurate that is. Personally as long as it makes calls with good quality audio I'm reasonably happy (although an engaging game can be useful at times).

Java - it's just another programming language but there are versions that use small amounts of memory so are suitable for mobile phones. In fact the RIM Blackberry uses mostly (if not all) our stuff up to the MMI, with that being written entirely in Java.

Oh yeah - colour displays tend to be completely unreadable in bright sunlight (or even in the shade on a bright sunny day) - monochrome is much clearer.

Now you see why I'm not in sales !

Pete

 

[devonwoody]

My £10 credit is almost unused after 4 years.

 

[Alf]

Don't own one at all. Never have. I hate all telephones with a passion - ghastly way to try and conduct a conversation. (If someone will just jump-start my time machine, I'll get back to 1890 where I belong... :wink: )

Cheers, Alf

 

[dedee]

Necessity used to be the mother of invention. With most "hi-tec" products these days some egg head invents something that nobody needs and then the marketing whizz-kids invents the need. All a bit arse about face but the well being of millions around the world these days depends on it.

eg did a group of car drivers really sit down and decide that the next "must have" should be lights that come on automatically.......on second thoughts with one hand on the wheel and the other on a mobile maybe this is not quite such a stupid idea.

The 80% of people use 20% of the features rule could well apply to nearly every electronic product available.


Andy

 

[ike]

A mobile...what on EARTH is a "mobile"?. Is it a kind of telephonic apparatus or something of that sort?

Maj. J.R. Grumblefart (retd)

 

[Terry Smart]

lol!

Although I must confess I was confused at first when I went to Germany a couple of years ago and they asked me if I had my 'handy' with me...

I'll leave you to work it out, remembering the topic line here!

oh... and 80% of people possibly only want 20% of the features! The rest could be left out and I for one would be happy!

 

[thomaskennedy]

I have the Nokia N-gage, it's great 'cos i can play games at school when i'm bored and when i'm in the workshop i can use it to listen to all my favourite music !

I feel naked if i dont have my mobile on me :shock: :lol:

Although i LOVE my phones, i see no point in those video phones :roll: pointless if you ask me, i mean, when do you really need to see who you are talking to :roll:

There are alot of great phones out there, such as the Samsung E800, Motorola V80, Siemens M65 (rugged for the workshop :shock: ),Nokia 3200 and the new Siemens SL65 looks good too

Many more out there but these are great small phones

A good camera phone is the Nokia 7610!

Just a few suggestions :roll:

Ta

Tom

 

[Alf]

i mean, when do you really need to see who you are talking to :roll:

Ah, it's an old fashioned habit we old fogies have got into, harking back to the days when you only tended to speak to the person who was actually in the same room as you. Facial expression used to be considered quite a helpful pointer IIRC... :roll: :lol:

Cheers, Alf

 

[Aragorn]

90% of communication is non-verbal!

 

[Midnight]

90% of communication is non-verbal

text has grown that big.....???????????????????

damn I feeel auldddddd......

speaking as someone who retired their mobile after it was sat on...

 

[Aragorn]

No! I mean when you talk to someone, you communicate in many ways, of which only 10% is what you say. The other 90% is made up of your gestures, postures, voice tone and source, facial movements, eye movements, emotional interaction etc etc etc.
Why is talking on the phone so souless and unsatisfying...? ...It's barely communicating at all! (well, 10% at least).