Keepin’ Up with Changes

Way back when, when Henry Ford came out with his Model T, there was only one model to choose from. The options list consisted of colors; you could have any color you wanted, as long as it was black. That was it. Although he did end up coming out with a few versions of the original (roadsters, coupes and touring versions) Henry sold that same basic model of car for 19 years. It didn’t matter if you bought one in 1909 or 1928, the parts were still interchangeable.

Of course, his competitors saw this as a disadvantage; but they didn’t have Ford’s interest in providing benefit to society, they were more interested in getting people to buy their cars. Hence, the invention of the model year. Yep, change the car a little bit each year, and you can surely get some people to get rid of their old one and buy the new one.

While those model year changes could be a bit of a hassle to keep up with, they were nothing compared to the model week changes we’re seeing today. Have you ever tried to keep up with the changes in digital camera models, or even worse, cell phones? If you go into a store to look at cell phones today, and decide to think about it a few days before buying it; there’s a good chance that when you go back to the store, that model will have been replaced by a newer one.

It has become so hard to keep up with the latest and greatest cell phone designs that some businesses are considering a phone rental program. With this very expensive program, you wouldn’t actually buy your phone, you’d merely rent it. Actually, you would be renting the phone as part of your service agreement. The company would guarantee that you would always have the latest and greatest of your particular phone style.

What this would mean is that when your phone model was replaced by a newer design, you would receive a newer phone. The company would send you a text message, informing you that your phone was due for a trade up. You’d go to the store, and they’d replace your one week old phone with the newer model. They’d even transfer all your phone numbers, pictures and apps over for you.

Since you’d only used the old phone for a week, it would probably still look like new; so the store could then sell it to someone who wasn’t as concerned about having the latest and greatest as you are.

Maybe they could even go to a multi-tiered system. People in tier one, who would of course pay the highest premiums, would get the latest phone. After a week or two, when they traded them in, those phones would go to the people in tier two, who paid a bit less. Those would be people who wanted the latest technology, but weren’t so concerned about showing up their friends and co-workers.

After another month or so, those people would then trade their still almost new phone in, where it would go to the tier three cheapskates, who would keep the phone for a year. They’d still have something pretty nice and pretty new, but wouldn’t have the latest and greatest. This tier would be for people who like high-tech, but don’t have a latest-and-greatest sort of budget.

Just think of all the time a system like this could save. Instead of having to keep track of the latest model releases, you could just wait till you’re informed by your service provider. You’d always have the latest, or close to the latest, if you chose tier two, without any of the annoying decision making that you have to go through now. Since you’d be making a monthly payment for your phone anyway, there would be no reason not to trade up.  

I can see this system rapidly expanding to include digital cameras, computers, and even flat-screen televisions. You’d never have to worry about keeping up with the Jones’, they’d be trying to keep up with you. You’d finally win the game and truly be keeping up with technology.

In Search for the Ultimate Cell Phone

I remember when cell phones came out. They were about the size of a hard cover novel and about as heavy too. To answer them, you’d have to unzip the case to get to the phone handset inside. You couldn’t just carry the handset around with you though, as it was connected to a black box, which held the rest of the guts of the phone.

From there, cell phones gradually got smaller. A favorite game, when businessmen gathered, was to show off their cell phones. One would take his out of his jacket pocket, in order to make a legitimate call. Seeing this, anyone who had a smaller phone would pull theirs out of their pocket, so that they could show off. Generally speaking, whoever had the smallest phone was king of the hill. That could get a bit sticky at times, especially when one had a smaller cell phone than their boss.

Cell phones continued to grow smaller and smaller, and flip-phones, patterned after the Star Trek communicator began to take over the marketplace. In Japan, the country of miniaturization, they started building them into watches, making even Dick Tracy jealous. Yet, the quest for the smallest cell phone continued.

It seemed that this would go on indefinitely, getting to the point where we’d have our cell phones implanted in our fingers, like Inspector Gadget. That is, until something shocking happened, the invention of the smart phone. Now it wasn’t about having the smallest phone any more, the contest switched to having the phone with the most whistles and bells. But, the evolution of the cell phone wasn’t over.

The next stage in cell phone evolution was the addition of the touch screen. Keyboards started giving way to on-screen keypads. Once again, the race was on; this time, not to make the phones smaller, but to make them bigger. Bigger screens were better, so the phone had to grow with it.

Who knows where this will lead us. However, I have recently seen what I think is the ultimate cell phone. This touch screen wonder measures 11” x 17”, the same size as a tabloid newspaper. Talk about touch screen, this baby’s got it! You can make those angry birds really fly!

Yes, the giant touch screen telephone is the next wave in cell phone technology. While it may be a bit awkward to hold up to the side of your head, you can really make your apps sing on it. Imaging playing games on a screen to rival that on your desk. Imaging having multiple touch points on that screen, so that you can compete with your friends and co-workers. Why, this could usher in a whole new generation of apps; we’ll have to call them super-apps!

The biggest drawback to the super-tablet cell phone is carrying the thing around. Not only has it gone back to the weight of the original, but it’s bigger than those original cell phones, to boot. Various accessories are under development to allow users to easily carry their super-tablet cell phone, such as specialized backpacks, chest packs, and a very promising strap arrangement, which allows both hands free to play on the touch screen, while walking.

Rumors are already circulating about design ideas to beat the super-tablet cell phone. One even includes a circular screen, like a lampshade, which you put your head inside, creating a virtual reality on your phone. This particular idea is receiving a lot of opposition, believing that it could become a safety hazard. It appears that the company may be in agreement, as they are working on creating a HUD (heads-up display) version of the same thing, which would allow pedestrians and drivers to see past the screen to the real world around them.

While we know that the Apple corporation is working on this problem as well, hoping to increase the leadership position that their iPhone has given them, they are being secretive, as usual. We’ll have to wait to hear about their next generation of super-phone, until Steve Jobs comes back from the dead.