Letting the Phone do the Work Dept.

Published on March 23rd, 2007

The high-energy Jeff Bonforte will be on next week’s cranky geeks along with uber-blogger Jeff Jarvis (a great show). Before we taped the show (in advance since I’ll be on the road next week) Bonforte showed off this interesting Nokia phone with unique software. Worth a watch.

12 users responded in " Letting the Phone do the Work Dept. "

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# 1 undissembled said, on March 23rd, 2007 at 6:43 am

Very cool

# 2 mydesiredscreennmae said, on March 23rd, 2007 at 7:04 am

Who would use such an UGLY awkward looking phone! Come on manufacturers with the advent of the iphone, you expect us to want this phone because of a flikr function? PLEASE!!!

# 3 @$tr0Gh0$t said, on March 23rd, 2007 at 7:07 am

Was that Patrick Norton in the background? I wonder why he hasn’t been on the Cranky Geeks show. For that matter, why hasn’t Leo Laporte been on the show?

# 4 John C Dvorak said, on March 23rd, 2007 at 7:50 am

Yes that was Patrick. He has in own show and is the supervisor of the producer of Cranky Geeks. He would only come on as an emergency. Leo lives a hundred miles away and doesn’t need the aggravation of coming into the city. Don’t you get enough of those guys? Cripes..

# 5 Devolve! said, on March 23rd, 2007 at 9:48 am

There has been a LOT of miniturizing of chips over all these years. Wow, you can cram a LOT of bells and whistles in a phone these days!

You know what I’d like to see? The DEVOLVED cell phone. No camera, no games, no friggin’ ringtones, no MP3 player — just a PHONE! Oh yeah, the phone should have Caller ID, a personal phone book, bluetooth for wireless headsets in the car (possibly voice recognition dialing), and date/time. That’s ALL! Just think how small such a phone would be…

-Wishing

P.S. Hey COWBOY, I haven’t posted for a few hours. 15 minutes? WTF…

# 6 Awake said, on March 23rd, 2007 at 11:06 am

Did he say that he automatically uploads his photos to his mom’s account? That’s just weird.

# 7 Jägermeister said, on March 23rd, 2007 at 5:01 pm

His mom is a stalker…

# 8 pedro said, on March 23rd, 2007 at 10:17 pm

HIs mom forced him to do that. In fact, his mom programmed the thing so she made sure the photos would go to her account.

# 9 pl fuego said, on March 27th, 2007 at 12:55 am

You know, I have one of those phones (Nokia n80) and I love it. I think of it as a music player that makes calls and takes photos. I used to have to have a bag with me to carry the mini-disk player, the digital camera, and my phone (which was a Nokia 6310i – and did exactly what Wishing wants). Now, I have it all in one little package It did have a couple of software quirks, but they were soon fixed by firmware updates that you can install at home.

I like to blog as well, and with flicker it is easy. I can keep family and friends updated as to where I am and what I am doing with out having to have a computer. Of course, I am in control of what is sent to the web, so if some drunk was taking up-skirt photos, mom still wouldn’t see them automatically.

I even got the blue-tooth keyboard since my thumb was getting misshapen.. The keyboard also helps with skype chat (when I don’t feel like talking). With Skype (don’t through the fring application) and WiFi I find I am suddenly talking on my phone for free. Not bad, not bad at all.

As for you comments in the PC Magazine article, I find my mobile to be very helpful in day to day situations – and not just for making calls. It has an organizer, calendar, converter (very handy for an American living in Europe), all kids of handy stuff.

Yes, sometimes it is annoying when you are talking to someone and a call comes in that they “have to take.” Well, maybe they do. I suppose the advantage of not having a mobile is that you can hide from people who need to speak to you. If we were having coffee and your editor called to tell you the deadline for your article had been changed , would you not take the call (not that your editor has my number. I suppose he could try the cafe since you don’t have a mobile of you own and have to mooch of other people)? I mean, I can always send some text messages, or add an entry into the calendar, perhaps create a play-list on my phone while I wait. I would hope that you were going to come back…unless it was a sneaky ploy to stiff me with the bill. It’s not like phone calls last forever, and, yes, sometimes you do “have to take the call.”

Anyway, I think there is a place in Pennsylvania where you can go…

# 10 Dan said, on March 28th, 2007 at 7:47 am

I’m afraid I have to weigh in on John’s side of the discussion. Cell phones and the like are nothing more than leashes for others to yank on whenever they want to get hold of you.

With the spread of cell phones, there has been a corresponding increase in perceived urgency. Whereas before people would just leave a message (or send an e-mail), now it’s URGENT and they MUST talk to you NOW!!!

There are times when someone needs to call me on my cell. Times like the weekend our accounting software was upgraded, or when the main file server at work died while I was out. Most of the time, though, it’s stuff that could wait. If I’m at work, people don’t need to call my cell – there’s a phone on my desk. If I’m at home, likewise. If I’m in between or at the store, there’s not a lot I can do until I return to work/home, so you might as well leave a message.

I like having the ability to determine when/if people can claim my personal time. A cell phone just hands that power to someone else.

# 11 Bruce said, on March 29th, 2007 at 11:57 am

The problem is not the cellphone. The problem is that whoever has your number (cell, home, or office) has the power.

We need a network that puts the power in the hands of the subscriber. If my wife or son have an urgent need to reach me, then I want that call to find me (whether I’m in my office, car, wherever) – that is a “I have to take this” moment. During business hours I might want to have the same high availability for others. During other times I might want to avoid most contact even though I am sitting beside my office phone.

It shouldn’t be necessary for the caller to know where I am (”let’s see, should we call his cell, his office, home, hotel?), and I should be able to control who can ring my phone at different hours of the day and night (telemarketers never, work assoicates not after say 10pm unless i choose otherwise, family emergency anytime).

If you have a human assistant managing the phone for you, you have this power. It’s time the network provided it for the rest of us.

# 12 Rick Grass said, on April 24th, 2007 at 5:13 am

Regarding Controlling your own Cell Phone and it usefullness.

I can see why some people think the cell phone is annoying, but I think those people are misdirecting blame.

I used to have bad cell phone habits, but I’ve since learned how to use it properly. Especially since it’s my ONLY phone.

YOU ARE IN TOTAL CONTROL.

If you shouldn’t interrupt another conversation, DON’T.

If you’re on the bus and don’t absolutely need to take the call DON’T. You can always listen to the message on the bus; usually it’s not an important call. If it is, THEN you can decide whether you NEED to call from the bus and interrupt people around you.

If you’re in a restaurant or a theater TURN OFF THE RINGER.

If you’re out with your girlfriend, TURN OFF THE RINGER.
Check messages when you go to the washroom if you feel you need to.

AND IF YOU’RE NOT SOMEWHERE LOUD, TURN DOWN THE RINGER. Usually a single beep and vibe is all that’s necessary.

The phone is still usefull a large percentage of the day when you arn’t going to annoy other people with it. For example I can do most of my calling while driving by myself, using a handsfree attachment of course.

The cell is also very usefull for it’s other features such as alarms, calendars, and other PIM features. At rhis point I wouldn’t want to give it up. However I don’t to annoy everyone I’m around either.

SO STOP BLAMING TECHNOLOGY, BLAME PEOPLE.
LEARN TO USE YOUR PHONE PROPERLY.

It’s not that hard. People have no more control over you then before.

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