Everywhere I look there seems to be this thing between designers and their gadgets, especially when it comes to mobile / cell / gsm phones*. Whenever the subject is brought up it often results in a “mine is bigger than yours” debate. Its not just a phone anymore: its your whole life crammed into a little plastic object. Calling and texting isn’t enough either – if you can’t take a crap photo or shoot a bad video, email your friends and post on your favourite forum from your phone you’re lost.
Sure, as a web designer I can see the need for people in this line of work to stay up to date with current and new technologies, after all the mobile phone has become a content carrier and more and more people want to do more stuff on their phone. But do we really need camera’s and MP3 players on a phone? In my immediate surroundings that only results in sitting on a bus with some dimwit kid blasting the latest R&B crap out to everyone. Here’s the deal: if you want to listen to music, get a pair of headphones OK? The crappy loudspeaker on your phone makes it sound like crackling shit and sooner or later someone is just going to walk up to you and stuff it down your throat.
But I’m getting side-tracked now.
Anyway. Designers. Mobile Phones. The whole reason I’m writing this is because last weekend I finally caved in and bought a new one. “So?” I hear you say. “Everyone has a mobile these days, whats so special about getting one?”. Most people that know me, know that I’ve never had a mobile. Whenever we would meet up I’d call them from home to see where’d they be and then I’d come along. I’m lying. I used to have a mobile (although I got into it quite late) from 1999 until 2001. I got it when I was still in Belgium. Great thing it was, a little blue Nokia.
Then I moved to London and kept using it (yeah, that was smart) on my Belgian network: Hello ridiculous roaming charges. I can’t remember when, but I just stopped paying the bills. Phone got disconnected, and that was that. By that time I was more active on email and IM – and if people really wanted to hear my voice they could call me at work or at home. I started to make a point out of it too. If you want to talk to me, especially in a professional context, you can call me at work, or email me and I’ll be more than happy to reply. After 7PM its “me” time. Doesn’t mean I’m not working then, but during my evenings I don’t want to get bothered (unless of course, the client is in another time-zone, but thats something completely different).
Then 2 years ago I followed my now fiancée to Berlin for a month and needed a phone again. Just as I was going to get a cheap basic one, one of my friends offered an old Motorola Timeport in exchange for a packet of his favourite cigarettes.
Done deal.
So since the last 2 years I was back in the mobile world. Friends thought it incredibly funny that a) I had one and b) it was a relic. No MMS, no camera, just plain calling and texting. I liked that. Thats all I need a phone for anyway. I have a decent camera as it is, and having a camera phone only ends in you boring your friends with sending inane low quality images and racking up a sizeable phone-bill.
But then last weekend I had enough of it. Although the phone did what I needed it weighted a ton, and I never could work out how to call up missed calls and texting a message took ages (not helped by the fact that my years as a mobile free person made me the world’s slowest texter no doubt). So I got me a new basic Nokia phone that can call and send texts. Yes, it has a crappy camera and yes, I can surf the web with it (I think). I don’t need it – but thats the only thing that was available in the price range I wanted to spend that also was a tri-band phone.
In another 7 years or so and this blog still lives you can read about my third new phone.
* whichever name works for you.
June 28th, 2007
Brilliant. You can write too.
June 28th, 2007
Of course, I went to grmamr school.
June 28th, 2007
Excellent – succinctly sums up my feelings on the subject.
Nice to know there are other designers out there who feel the same way about the ludicrous obsession with being connected the whole time.
June 28th, 2007
I am not alone! Woohoo!
June 28th, 2007
Not at all alone. What bothers me is when I’m trying to walk down the street to the subway or the bus or where ever I may be headed, and there is a sea of people slowly meandering while staring into their phones as if something is going to happen, and that just slows me down, but I’ve got places to be. Also people on the bus talking to loudly on the phone. It makes me cringe… breathe
June 28th, 2007
Yep. And the funny (or scary) thing is that 10 years ago “everything” worked very fine without them.