Phone pas
Recently, eWEEK’s Carmen Nobel reported that “the proliferation of expensive, gadgety phones … which few users want … is stressing manufacturers and may ultimately retard wireless communications development.”
How’s that again? Evil manufacturers are thrusting features upon innocent users, then complaining that being forced to innovate is holding them back?
Excuse me if I lack sympathy. You see, I’m one of those few users who want all those features. I want a mobile phone that doubles as a two-way alphanumeric pager and lets me snag information off the Internet. I want to be able to synchronize the address book on my computer with a phone number directory on the phone. If I could use my mobile phone as a remote control for my TV, I’d probably be in heaven.
The one thing I don’t want to do much with my mobile phone is talk on it. I resisted carrying a mobile phone for years, until my wife upgraded hers and I inherited the castoff. I tend to use it only in an emergency. I feel silly and self-conscious pulling out my phone and chatting away in public places instead of retreating to the safe environs of a phone booth. Still, I want to have that option available.
I do want e-mail access wherever I am. When I travel, I use a Motorola PageWriter two-way alphanumeric pager to keep in touch. It feeds me headline news, sports scores and stock quotes — almost like having a little Internet terminal in your pocket.
Speaking of which, there’s always the pocket PDA. I’ve just gotten a Palm VII to play with. I’m pretty impressed so far. Maybe my ultimate device is coming by the end of the year in the form of Handspring’s Visor Phone, which gives GSM voice support to a Palm OS hardware platform and doubles as a (slow) wireless modem. The only catch is the price — $299 is way too much to pay.
So maybe the answer is to simplify after all. I’ll carry around a simple mobile phone with a basic rate plan. But give me an ultraportable PC with a color screen and wireless Internet access with an unlimited download plan. Ah, bliss!
Articles | Administrator | 
Tuesday, November 7, 2000 12:00 pm
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