Monthly Archives: March 2011

I find myself being dragged into the multiple uses of my smartphone more as every day passes. It is becoming far too easy to do so much in a few spare minutes that I am starting to make those minutes last for more than an hour on a regular basis. One example was a few nights ago- I wanted to read a bit of an eBook before I fell asleep, but ended up doing the following-

Read Daring Fireball
Checked the free iPhone apps of the day
Checked a couple of other sites
Checked Twitter
Had quick look around the App Store
Watched The Phones Show
Played a quick games of Can Knockdown
Played Tiny Wings for too long
Read the Guardian front page
Read a few pages of an eBook

My early night became quite late and I, again, was very tired the next morning. There are too many features that are too easily accessible and too easy to just pick up and use. This is what makes the iPhone great, but it is also become a huge time waster. I wouldn’t change it at all because I enjoy doing these things, but I am curious as to if you suffer similar time wasting problems.

You don’t see many websites dedicated to washing machines do you? There are multiple reasons for this, but the main one is that they do a job and they do it well. They are also quite boring and seen as a tool you need rather than want. When they break down, which isn’t often, you get them fixed and you carry on washing your clothes.

Think about today’s smartphones and the above description is not too far away from where they are heading. They will soon reach the point where they become as reliable and easy to use as mobile phones were many years ago. Despite all of the advanced features, much of the tinkering and tweaking that you can do now will feel like something that is old fashioned and dreadfully uncool.

We are potentially heading to a world where phones are once again not cool and where they are largely similar to each other, just like we see in desktop computers and laptops. I’m not convinced it will happen soon, but as technology matures so does the likelihood of a raft of bland clones reaching the market, and the ability to differentiate could be reduced to a sliver. Even Apple may struggle to break free from a ‘white goods’ smartphone market.

Do you think it is likely to happen or am I being too pessimistic?

Today’s comment of the day comes from Paul concerning the digital music industry and the recent comments my Mr Bon Jovi- “The music industry was in a mess and somehow apple managed to persuade them to give apple a near monopoly on digital/downloadable music which they now regret, too many fat cats were dependent on the complex arrangements between artists, labels, manufacturing, distribution and marketing.

I think this is why it’s taking a long time to get movie downloads sorted out – there are too many people with a vested interest in keeping the existing mess!!”

History tells us that mid-range mobile phones do not sell well in comparison to the budget handsets that have historically dominated the market. Recent history tells us that high-end smartphones will also outsell mid-range handsets and command all of the press and momentum over the next two years.

To define mid-range is not easy because it depends on your personal view, but I would say that anything in the range of £250-£350 could be considered as neither high-end or budget. I would also say that the mid-range is somewhere I am unlikely to visit again.

What do you get in a mid-range device that you don’t on a budget product? A slightly better build quality, improved camera (still not one that could be your main camera) and smaller enhacements here and there.

The high-end is altogether different and can potentially satisfy photography, power using and serious organisational needs and bring it all together in a product that is capable of handling multiple tasks with ease.

Have you got a mid-range device and do you think it was worth the money? If you had your time again, would you buy a higher-end or lower-end model?

Brilliant comment of the day from Alloafan concerning digital newspapers and their perceived lack of success to date- “I think what you might call ‘differentiated sensory experience’ (ok, you might not call it that – I just made it up) is a really important point. We’re multi-sensory creatures but much technology has a ‘flattening’ effect: compare, for example, the touch of fingers on a screen with the feel of paper between fingers, combined with the rustle of paper as the page is turned and even the smell of the paper itself, slowly forming a denser, richer experience for the reader. Is it a surprise that newspapers on an iPad are a harder sell than the real thing?

Do you remember all the early sci-fi movies and programmes, how they imagined people in, say, 2011 might be dressed? All featureless, grey nylon suits – but look around and we’re nothing like that; colour and shape and diversity are to the fore.

Funnily enough, I’ve even noticed it in terms of online materials. I’ve been using Instapaper for a while and find it really useful for organising stuff I want to read later but have recently found myself preferring to then read the articles on the original site, simply because the visual style of presentation is varied from site to site.”