Just in case you forgot, I really like technology and innovation. That being said, there are technologies out there that really make me scratch my head in confusion. Cell phones and other mobile devices are one of those things.

I remember when a mobile phone had a handset that was the same size as a regular phone and the rest of it filled a shoulder bag. Car phones were something for the rich and all of us mere mortals made do with pay phones. Mobile phones then shrunk in size and somewhat in price. They looked like an oversized walkie talkie at that point, still too clunky to carry around. So in following with the need, mobile phones shrunk significantly and started getting called cell phones. At this point, a cell phone was ONLY a phone. It would make and receive calls and that was IT.

Then came ringtones, caller ID, voicemail and the major innovation, a screen to read caller ID. I’m still not sure if that was a good idea, but since they’re on everything now my opinion matters little. The strange thing though is that cell phones continued to shrink. They got so damn small that the screen was an afterthought. So then people wanted bigger screens.

Enter the “smartphone”, the technological wonder of it’s time. No more buttons, just a touchscreen. Add in a bluetooth headset and you too can look like a crazy bum talking to yourself on a street corner. And wonder of wonders, now they are getting bigger again. Go figure right? It would seem that some people want a bigger screen to watch movies on their phone. (I swear if you had told me 10 years ago that people would watch movies on a phone I would have gotten out the straightjacket for you).

So anyway, now phones are getting larger. For movies and video games. I held one in my hand about a week ago, that was interesting. I held it, looked at it, and handed it back to it’s owner saying “No wonder your damn hands hurt, this thing is too wide to hold comfortably.” I kid you not, this cell phone was harder to hold than our portable phone (that’s right, I do NOT own a cell phone, we use a regular home phone). I like the portable, I can carry it all over the house, it has speakerphone capability, and it has caller ID. Too big overall to be a good design for a cell phone but still more comfortable in my hand than a smartphone.

So what’s going on here? Why do we want bigger smaller? Read that again and let it REALLY sink in. Watch a commercial or two and let the silliness become clear.

Who the hell really needs a phone that’s 11 inches tall and 8 inches wide? Bloody hell, we may as well go back to the 80’s again, accessorize a cell phone bag. Oh crap, did I just give one of you lunatics an idea? I take it back! Please don’t make a blinged out 80’s mobile phone!

Oh dear Twinkie, what have I done?

dracoselene

I'm an artist, writer, ordained interfaith minister, veteran, spiritualist, androgyne, and piles of other labels that never seem to fit. I'm following my passion and attempting to make myself and the world a better place. I think that through compassion and understanding we can all become one unified race of human beings, and life is better when you remember to play.