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Agreed. Chips are cheap. My attention is not. Instead of cramming more and more chips into a device that does everything, the easy win here is owning multiple d
by DanielBMarkham 10y ago
Agreed. Chips are cheap. My attention is not. Instead of cramming more and more chips into a device that does everything, the easy win here is owning multiple devices that do one thing and only one thing. Then physically carrying whatever thing I need to do.
What we're seeing in tech is that multi-purpose devices aren't being built because consumers have some dire need for a tiny thing that has super powers, no matter what the ads say. They're being built because it provides one target and a walled garden to deploy addictive content to in order to make money. Tactically it's a great deal for the consumer, but strategically and over the long-run this is not in the interests of the consumer at all. It's in the interests of the industry.
- Retric 10y agoSmartphones work because you do one thing at a time. Adding a basic camera for example leverages the existing storage, battery, processor, screen, case, etc.
- DanielBMarkham 10y agoAgreed. They also provide a common platform for multiple accessories to be used to create engaging interaction. Again, chips are cheap. If I want to take a picture I'll pick up a camera. If I really, really need to make myself look like a clown while I record a video to a social feed, I'll use a smartphone. Guess which of those is more productive. (In general and over the entire population. Of course there are dozens of examples of these same ingredients being used in a productive manner, but even then, after a proof-of-concept, if it really has economic value I think I'd rather separate it from all of that other stuff)
- Retric 10y agoThere is a lot of utility with a basic camera. Taking a picture of a poster/whiteboard/whatever for example let's you capture that information without much effort or fear of writing the wrong thing down. I started doing this with my old flip phone with a terrible camera. Further, the form factor for a ultra tiny phone does not really work out. A cellphones the size of a pencil is easy to build, but they would be far less user friendly when making phone calls. Finally, you can get a smartphone for 60$ with all this stuff so I don't see the advantage to skipping it as you want something around that size anyway.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- Nursie 10y agoThat's not a win! A win is having a decent quality camera, audio player and mapping device in one slim and light unit in my pocket, rather than having to make a mental effort to remember which one I need when, and have more pockets, charge more devices etc etc