The Death of the "Cell Phone" 393
PreacherTom writes "Once upon a time, the now-eponymous portable derived its name from the small sections (deemed "cells") into which a city was divided in order to keep voice calls smooth and uninterrupted. Today, it almost seems that voice calls are the least-used function of most phones, while Wi-Fi and WiMax use ever-growing amounts of network bandwidth. Both make the "cellular" moniker obsolete. Is it time for a new name, or is a rose by any other name still as sweet?"
We already have one (Score:5, Informative)
Re:We already have one (Score:5, Funny)
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Well, since it's already been shortened to just "mobile" (or the local version of taht) in most countries, I doubt that very much.
But it might very well become just "mob" or "mobe" in those languages where that works phonetically and fits the language. I've heard it a bit in Norwegian, although it doesn't
seem to be quite taking over just yet.
Re:We already have one (Score:5, Funny)
Re:We already have one (Score:5, Funny)
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For your sake, friend, I hope it's being taught in Chinese.
Re:We already have one (Score:4, Informative)
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Song: Theme From Shaft Lyrics
Shaft!
Who's the black private dick
That's a sex machine to all the chicks?
(Shaft!)
You're damn right
Who is the man
That would risk his neck for his brother man?
(Shaft!)
Can ya dig it?
Who's the cat that won't cop out
When there's danger all about
(Shaft!)
Right on
You see this cat Shaft is a bad MoPho --
(Shut your mouth)
But I'm talkin' about Shaft
(Then we can dig it)
He's a complicated man
But no one understands him but
Re:We already have one (Score:5, Informative)
Re:We already have one (Score:5, Interesting)
Even if we were using satellite, there would still need to be cells of sorts, they would just be much larger (e.g. thousands or even millions of square miles instead of 5 to 100's of square miles for today's cells).
Re:We already have one (Score:5, Informative)
People like the homebrew mobile [hbmobile.org] club are trying to make a new device that takes the mono out of the poly and gives us all a chance to make it big in the mobile arena. Until the hobbiest can play and innovate, the industry will never be ubiquitous. Look at the PC platform; it really was what led to the widespread adoption of the Internet. BBS's were there first. I don't believe that homebrew mobiles are going to be the wave of the future (where everyone builds their own mobile), but I do believe that it will force innovation that the monopoly providers are not capable of.
Every day I look at my phone and wish I could do more with it. Just play with it, customize features, etc. And though this is somewhat possible with BITPIM and hacking the control software, it's not the same as having a phone with an open operating system that I can install whatever capabilities I want on it. I don't even care if the device is totally tiny; I'd be happy with a brick that can talk on the mobile nets, low battery consumption, etc, provided it can run anything I want and do anything with data that I want.
This device would go far beyond the Palm mobiles and far beyond the blackberry in customizability. The whole thing would be based on components which can be plugged together to make a whole device. So, you could choose your case, your processor, your screen, your radio, your memory, camera, OPERATING SYSTEM etc. and it would all be modular components. You could even have a small hard drive ala iPod. The whole thing could run of a variety of power sources, from off the shelf batteries to car to the wall without a bunch of stupid adapters. And of course it could connect to computers with USB, bleutoof and ethernet (wireless or wired).
Then, in public places you could have special docking stations that would give you access to a fullsize keyboard, mouse and screen. You could have tons of software that could do anything. For instance, since anyone can write software, a local restaurant might higher a phone geek to program a special server at their restaurant that gives the specials, and handles the bill. The bill could be signed authentic with a private key of the restuarant (thus getting rid of all those pesky receipts come tax time).
I can think of hundreds more. The best part is I DON'T HAVE TO. Because anyone can think of anything and do it, stuff no one has even thought of will come out. Voice services based on asterisk are just the beginning (not that running your own mobile provider wouldn't be awesome)
Anyway, although the cell network is pretty crappy, it works. They have covered most of the country with at least analog service. The idea we need to focus on is riding on their investment; we can't afford to WiFi the country or even a city in most cases. Although, along those lines, an automatic Wifi exchange would definitely open up the airwaves a lot more, because private individuals have a motivation to open their bandwidth. Anyway, the main thing holding back innovation isn't the network, it's the hardware and provider monopolies on the hardware. So, fight back, join the club, make a cell phone, etc.
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The file manager that comes with the phone, for example, is quite bad, but there is a free third-party one that is a lot better. On my last co
Re:We already have one (Score:4, Informative)
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Moreover, you'd have signal practically anywhere you could get a dedicate
This is why I don't use Sprint! (Score:3, Informative)
Sprint didn't really have anything new to sell, so they made up the myth that they had something different than cell phones which was just 'smoke and mirrors'. Then when they divided the city up into 'supercells' that cou
I nominate: (Score:5, Funny)
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And with GPS in phones now, you're boss can find you and see where you are at for you're one hour lunch break and give you a call to talk about things.
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Well, it's either part of your job, or it isn't. If it isn't, then don't talk work if you're not working. Tell them you're busy, or just don't answer it if you know it's a work call. If it is, then I hope you're being paid well enough.
Tactics for not being interrupted (Score:5, Interesting)
I have a few tactics for not being interrupted;
This gives me four ways to screen incoming calls that I wouldn't have with a non-CLI enabled, non voicemail enabled "land" line. With a land line my options are;
I prefer the choices that a mobile gives me.
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One thing that the providers here seem to use often is "Wireless", which describes it just fine, except for the few people that somehow think of "Wireless" as only being "WiFi".
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Except "wireless" is what my grandfather called his bakelite cased valve radio.
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Re:A Better Name (Score:5, Informative)
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With the power consumption figures of PS3, I sure hope not.
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oh wait.
SOLUTION (Score:5, Funny)
really? (Score:5, Insightful)
"it almost seems" to whom? Stand by a busy road sometime, and count the % of people driving past using their cell phones to make voice calls. Come and and tell me it seems like voice calls are the least-used function of phones.
I suspect the submitter just has no friends who would actually want to talk to him on a phone, because he keeps saying stupid things to them that are contradicted by a huge body of empirical evidence.
Re:really? (Score:5, Funny)
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I know in Singapore they are called "Hand phone" which seems weird because even my phone at home is used held in my hand. But whatever. Anyway, the concept that voice calls aren't used much anymore is total bunk.
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"Hand phones" make perfect sense to me.
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Or he's in a circle of friends or living in an area where that just isn't true. Take for example the *huge* number of people driving around in Central FL (where I was visiting this past week for the holiday) using mobile phones pressed to their ears. Where I currently live, it's far less people (empirically).
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Slow down, Buck Rogers. There's still a lot of the US that aren't even using your space age wireless communication units yet, let alone something fancier built on the same technology.
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Not really "talk" is it? Never saw the attraction of SMS myself , just seems like a poor mans email with its pathetic 196 character limit and hopeless word entry system on a numeric keypad. Sure its useful to send directions or something so the other person has a written record but having a "conversation" using SMS is best left to socially inept tweenies and teens who can't actually come out with sentences of more tha
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Learn gardening - grow yourself a brain.
source please (Score:3, Insightful)
I would like to see the numbers for this assertion.
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You want numbers for the assertion? How about one person subjectively noted that something almost seems a certain way? Why ask for figures when the statement is obviously just meant to stimulate discussion?
I, for one, would like to see more prevalent use of critical reading skills.
Re:source please (Score:4, Interesting)
On that note, I'd like to assert that the author of this piece almost seems to be living in a fantasy world. Apparently, they have WiMax phones there.
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But it's got Myspace Mobile! (Score:2)
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they're desperately screaming "oh, look at us. we're different!" but this makes sense from a company that has chosen to offer MySpace mobile right out of the box.
Can you back up the assumption.... (Score:2, Insightful)
How vacuous (Score:5, Insightful)
The name isn't as important as the functionality. And texting is what racks up revenue; there's no data that supports that texting minutes of use exceed voice use. I've been watching for that data for a long time, and so far, it's only texting revenue that's becoming higher in terms of minutes 'online' than voice.
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"The clear alternative to cellular" translates in Sprint's case to "The clear alternative to ourselves" because their system was still cellular (simply digital instead of analog).
Voice, data, whatever - It still fundamentally relies on breaking up a service area into small cells to increase capacity. Heck, municipal multi-accesspoint WiFi networks take the "cellular" approach to who
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And despite what he thinks, most people DO still use their phones as phones. It's the vocal minority that use them as something else. You know, the ones who are dissatisfied with what their phone can do. Those who use them as simply phones don't have any complaints about them to complain about.
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In the same way that there are laptops, notebooks, tablets, sub-mini PCs, and so on, I'll presume that the natural tendency of language to embue definition will continue. Sloth dictates that any combination of more than two words-- even compounded-- is unlikely to become popular and therefore succeed.
It was a phone, contrasted by VoIP phone or analog phone. There are wired and wireless phon
A simple answer (Score:5, Insightful)
Overthinking FTL.
the UK (Score:5, Informative)
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I've got it! (Score:2)
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Cell phones...smartphones...you Americans just get yourselves into trouble by picking the wrong words. In Europe, we call them mobile phones (as in, phones that you take with you), and dumb phones (as in, that dumb phone crashed again!).
Auugghhh the poorly used cliches/catch phrases... (Score:2)
My ultra mobile eyes are bleeeeeeeding...
This is one of those cases (Score:3, Insightful)
The cellular network configuration is still in use, so the name is still appropriate. When all that changes, maybe there will be another name, but the common usage of cell phone will stick around still.
Those of us with girlfriends (Score:2)
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Know how to cure a nymphomaniac? Marry her!
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I tried, it didn't work
So I got her pregnant. Nope, that didn't work.
Now she's pregnant again and still always wanting some. What's Plan C???
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Which is awfully funny because once I do talk her into sex she really enjoys it... You'd think soem instinct would cause enjoyable activities to be more common... Anyways...
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All of mine have (I'm not married. I was close once, but sometimes things happen) and I view it as a positive thing. Now, if that's the only thing they enjoy, then yes, that's not good, but most people have other things that they like to do as well.
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Who cares what it's called? (Score:5, Insightful)
More (Score:2)
As a linguist... (Score:3, Interesting)
As a linguist, I always found the term cellphone quite curious.
From the start, it seemed unlikely to catch on, as the cell bit was meaningless to anyone but a techy or geek. The UK term seems far more meaningful to the average user: mobile phone.
So why did cellphone catch on? I'm forced to assume that it's because it sounds like something out of a sci-fi flick.
So:
If the average user doesn't associate cellphone with a particular technology, and the change in technology is seamless and transparent (and if it isn't, take-up will be very slow), then to the people that matter -- average Joe and average Jo -- there won't be any need for a new name.
HAL.
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Why? (Score:5, Insightful)
whatever (Score:2)
Maybe in your tiny view... But the vast number of other people in this world are still using it as a phone, probably many more people use it as JUST a phone rather then for the other features it has--So to say that voice calls seem to be the "least-used" function is completely idiotic.
But I agree that the term "cell phone" could easily go away... "wireless communications device" yeah, that has a much nicer ring to it. I'm su
My experiences at Cellular Toys. (Score:3)
Salesperson: Wonderful, let me show you our latest models.
*Salesperson tries showing off cell phones with various camera, gaming, music, and video functions*
ZW: I was looking for something with actual battery life and making calls from. I have absolutely no interest in those other functions.
*Salesperson looks puzzled*
Salesperson:
ZW: I don't want any of those extra functions, just phone service.
*Salesperson exchanges bewildered glances with his fellow worker at the cellphone case section*
Salesperson: I don't follow... what do you want?
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I went to change my plan a few months ago, and got my new free phone to go with it (the old one was a few years old- so old in fact, that they didn't have a data cable for it anymore so I had to manually re-enter all of my numbers into the new phone). The girl behind the counter commented on the fact that they had free camera phones as well and looked at me strangely when I told her that I just wanted a phone and not a camera.
WiFi is cellular (Score:2)
Wi-Fi on phones -- what? (Score:2)
New Marketing Name Wanted! (Score:5, Insightful)
In other words, despite the fact the cell phones are used mostly for voice calls, more money can be made by selling data services - data services that use the same technology that the voice calls use.
So it's a hard sell if you call it a "cell phone with high priced data transfer features".
So a new name is in order, with the exclusive purpose of charging more monthly and per-byte fees.
Perhaps "Super-Z i-DataMax" is an awesome name that'll help sales of these otherwise lame services? How else can we sell to this otherwise saturated market? Vote "yes" by texting to 50493, or vote no by texting to 50494! (fees apply!)
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Blackberry?
language is a museum (Score:5, Interesting)
I once read that numbers still reflect the way our ancestors related to number. At first they thought that two and half are two completely separate entities. Soon they discovered that each number is related to its fraction (three --> third, four --> fourth, etc). This is true in English as well as in the other (two) languages I speak.
So let our language reflect the story of telephony too.
What of the Germans? (Score:2)
Really? (Score:2, Informative)
And it almost seems that the author of this article has no clue about what he writes. Except capturing a few (bad looking) pictures with my phone, I don't use it for anything else but talk to someone. Actually I wish there were a small phone with excellent reception, battery life and a reasonable price. Almost all phones in the market is full of junk and very expensive. What the cell phone companies give for free is either brick s
phone. (Score:2)
It's not like landlines have a spectacular future or anything.
cellphone usa (Score:2)
an idea (Score:2)
Or maybe we can just keep calling it a cellphone and say to hell with nonsense wording that serves no real purpose and get back to letting the phones do what they do regardless if they're used for actual voice calls or any other number of functions.
I vote for option 2.
Most useless phone feature? (Score:2)
* Talking to people
* Sending text messages
* Bluetoothed a movie over to my computer and stuck it on You Tube [youtube.com]
* Used the Calendar to remind me of an event
So far I can't actually think of any feature my phone is completely pointless...
Where to start? (Score:2)
No. Voice calls is the most used function, with SMS following behind. The network operators would like whizzy data services to be the most used service, they would like to get away from being voice carriers - but today, no. The 3G networks are mainly used for 'two way real-time streamed audio' - or voice to you and me.
ever-growing, in this case equa
Proposed new name (Score:2)
"Annoying little hell boxes"
Or "Lemarchand's boxes" for you Hellraiser fans.
Inaccurate definition (Score:5, Informative)
So in short, cellular describes the radio frequency mapping, not the geographic spread of "cell" towers. Oh, and the claim that nobody talks on their phones anymore is bollox, as demonstrated by the various people who cut me off in traffic this morning while yammering away on their phones. I'm assuming that they weren't simply using them as ear heaters.
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Typically, each hex cell is divided up into 3 frequencies of 120 degree coverage because you need the extra frequency bandiwdth to shove extra users into the cell -- it's more cost effective. The next cell's 3 frequencies are aligned so that adjacent cells don't have antennas of the same frequency pointing at each other.
Regardless, cells are largely still determined geographically. If there's a lot
Old way of thinking (Score:2)
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I'd prefer not to. I get enough spam in my primitive twentieth-century "inbox" as it is.
Bullshit (Score:5, Insightful)
Bullshit.
Double bullshit.
While cellphones/mobiles might have all sorts of ancillary functions they are still first and foremost telephones. That someone thinks otherwise indicates they need to stop reading Gizmodo [gizmodo.com] & Engadget [engadget.com] and get out in the real world for a few hours. As to WiMax [wikipedia.org] taking up ever-growing amounts of network bandwidth, sure, if up from .00000001 to .00000002 percent is worth blathering about.
Find me a few production-level WiMax deployments with significant amounts of traffic and well talk. without such this is just so much empty talk wasting more bandwidth then WiMax has yet to carry.
Oh, and what to call mobile phones? How about mobiles like the rest of the planet? That wasnt so hard, was it?
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On the bright side, the dolphins might then finally develop proper speech in stead of that annoying clicking.
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The last rotary phone I had died around 1994 or so. Heck, the town I grew up in didn't get tone dialing until pretty late in the game and neither did a lot of the smaller towns in the country.
Given that, I'd say there are a fair number of us that have dialed a phone since, despite how it seems at times, not all of us are under 14.
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Damn right. And don't even get me started on all those new-fangled names for horseless carriages those you whippersnappers are trying to get us to these days.
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science fiction (Score:2)
"Why, Timmy, I believe the term goes way back to the beginning of bioengineering, when we had to use entire cells as functional blocks. Of course, now we build discrete protein structures to control our devices. Its a lot more efficient."
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Years ago, I was working for a cell phone manufacturer and when we sold our first affordable cameraphone, several person I know bought one, but when I asked them, they all told me they almost never used the camera after the first few days.