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Can I ask what mobile phone you currently use? Companies like Nokia made some great phone products that did the one thing (well, two if you include SMS) remark

Can I ask what mobile phone you currently use? Companies like Nokia made some great phone products that did the one thing (well, two if you include SMS) remarkably well in small packages, that had fantastic battery life. But then the iPhone, and Android, came out and virtually no-one was interested in the old, reliable phones anymore. They wanted the latest, shiniest gadget that they could get their hands on, regardless of how good/poor it was at doing the basic job of making calls.

takluyver 14y ago
Of course, plenty of people still do use 'dumb' phones, myself included. Worldwide, we're probably still in a majority. But smartphones are gradually taking over, and it would be a brave company now that decided to put their focus on making a simple, flawless phone, rather than competing for the top end of the market.
tomflack 14y ago
Currently, a GSM Galaxy Nexus. Previously, an iPhone 4. Various oddball WebOS and the like phones scattered over the past few years.
- prof_hobart 14y ago
  If you're after something that does one job and does it well, is there a reason why you've chosen those phones over a very basic Nokia model (or something similar)?
  - tomflack 14y ago
    Contact sync. Application selection.
    - prof_hobart 14y ago
      But aren't these exactly the sorts of new features that you're complaining companies are putting into their products rather than perfecting their core capabilities (i.e. making phone calls and sending SMS)?
      - tomflack 14y ago
        You're putting words in my mouth. Nowhere did I draw a line in the sand - you're attempting to do that for me. And I'm a little unclear why you feel like playing "gotcha" with me here anyway...
        prof_hobart 14y ago
        The way I read it, you did seem to draw a line in the sand - that people should have stopped implementing new features a few years back. My point isn't an attempt at a gotcha - it's a comment that if this is how you really feel, then the only way that companies are going to take any notice is by putting your money where your mouth is and buying the more robust and optimised versions of those things that do the basics well rather than buying the models with the advanced features. And it's not an attack on you specifically - it's something I see time and time again. My parents complain that the new TV they've bought, which is internet-ready, has apps etc, is too compicated for them to use. Meanwhile the old TV that did nothing more than show TV programs got thrown out a couple of years ago, despite still working fine, because they wanted the new model. They complain that the new version of Office that they use is too complex, but they've still got the Word 95 discs sat around somewhere (and they've rarely got any need to share documents with anyone else). And they are far from an isolated example. Some people want the shiny new stuff - I know I do - but I accept that if I'm going to be on the bleeding edge of tech, I'm probably going to have bits of it that simply don't work properly. And as long as both you and I are out buying these things, rather than the boring but stable stuff, then this is what the market is going to build for.
        tomflack 14y ago
        Don't get hung up on "years". I didn't mean that I wish all feature advance had stopped years ago, I meant that for several years now I have been thinking about perfecting one thing before moving on to the next. Every company is different, every product is different, every user is different. Attempting to speak in absolutes like you are simply doesn't work. As for your suggestion I forgoe a decade of advance in phones... uhh no. A moderately buggy phone from 2012 is still a thousand times better than your puritan "calls and texts only" ideal phone. The thing is, it could be much better with a little attention to detail.
instakill 14y ago
I've got an iphone 4 and two dumb phones, a Nokia C1 and some cruddy samsung thing. I by far prefer the latter two because the batteries last a week, they phone, they sms and they run twitter. You get over the shiny stuff very quickly.
Karunamon 14y ago
Probably because smartphones are now less about "phone" and more about "communicator". A phone that can only make calls is rightly seen as a huge anachronism. I daresay that I use my smart"phone" more for the applications I can run on it than making calls nowadays.
- prof_hobart 14y ago
  But that's the point - people complain that things are getting too complex, that they don't work all the time, and that they wish companies would focus on getting the basics right. But then they go out and but the latest products because the brilliant new features instead.
  - tomflack 14y ago
    You're missing the point entirely. You don't need to abandon a decade's worth of advances to ask that, for example, the Google IME team all get on the same page (Chinese, English, Korean and Japanese IMEs all work slightly differently and appear different) before implementing say... face unlock. I'm a big fan of single-purpose tools, but if you tried to have EVERYTHING in your life a single purpose tool, you'd need a shopping trolly to carry it all around with you.
    - prof_hobart 14y ago
      I'm not missing the point at all. Companies are run for profit, and they make their decisions on what they believe the market wants. Do you think that the average punter is more likely to buy their next phone based on new feature like face unlock or because they've fixed an occasional bug in mail sync?

takluyver 14y ago

Of course, plenty of people still do use 'dumb' phones, myself included. Worldwide, we're probably still in a majority. But smartphones are gradually taking over, and it would be a brave company now that decided to put their focus on making a simple, flawless phone, rather than competing for the top end of the market.

tomflack 14y ago

Currently, a GSM Galaxy Nexus. Previously, an iPhone 4. Various oddball WebOS and the like phones scattered over the past few years.

prof_hobart 14y ago
If you're after something that does one job and does it well, is there a reason why you've chosen those phones over a very basic Nokia model (or something similar)?
- tomflack 14y ago
  Contact sync. Application selection.
  - prof_hobart 14y ago
    But aren't these exactly the sorts of new features that you're complaining companies are putting into their products rather than perfecting their core capabilities (i.e. making phone calls and sending SMS)?
    - tomflack 14y ago
      You're putting words in my mouth. Nowhere did I draw a line in the sand - you're attempting to do that for me. And I'm a little unclear why you feel like playing "gotcha" with me here anyway...
      - prof_hobart 14y ago
        The way I read it, you did seem to draw a line in the sand - that people should have stopped implementing new features a few years back. My point isn't an attempt at a gotcha - it's a comment that if this is how you really feel, then the only way that companies are going to take any notice is by putting your money where your mouth is and buying the more robust and optimised versions of those things that do the basics well rather than buying the models with the advanced features. And it's not an attack on you specifically - it's something I see time and time again. My parents complain that the new TV they've bought, which is internet-ready, has apps etc, is too compicated for them to use. Meanwhile the old TV that did nothing more than show TV programs got thrown out a couple of years ago, despite still working fine, because they wanted the new model. They complain that the new version of Office that they use is too complex, but they've still got the Word 95 discs sat around somewhere (and they've rarely got any need to share documents with anyone else). And they are far from an isolated example. Some people want the shiny new stuff - I know I do - but I accept that if I'm going to be on the bleeding edge of tech, I'm probably going to have bits of it that simply don't work properly. And as long as both you and I are out buying these things, rather than the boring but stable stuff, then this is what the market is going to build for.
        tomflack 14y ago
        Don't get hung up on "years". I didn't mean that I wish all feature advance had stopped years ago, I meant that for several years now I have been thinking about perfecting one thing before moving on to the next. Every company is different, every product is different, every user is different. Attempting to speak in absolutes like you are simply doesn't work. As for your suggestion I forgoe a decade of advance in phones... uhh no. A moderately buggy phone from 2012 is still a thousand times better than your puritan "calls and texts only" ideal phone. The thing is, it could be much better with a little attention to detail.

instakill 14y ago

I've got an iphone 4 and two dumb phones, a Nokia C1 and some cruddy samsung thing. I by far prefer the latter two because the batteries last a week, they phone, they sms and they run twitter. You get over the shiny stuff very quickly.

Karunamon 14y ago

Probably because smartphones are now less about "phone" and more about "communicator". A phone that can only make calls is rightly seen as a huge anachronism. I daresay that I use my smart"phone" more for the applications I can run on it than making calls nowadays.

prof_hobart 14y ago
But that's the point - people complain that things are getting too complex, that they don't work all the time, and that they wish companies would focus on getting the basics right. But then they go out and but the latest products because the brilliant new features instead.
- tomflack 14y ago
  You're missing the point entirely. You don't need to abandon a decade's worth of advances to ask that, for example, the Google IME team all get on the same page (Chinese, English, Korean and Japanese IMEs all work slightly differently and appear different) before implementing say... face unlock. I'm a big fan of single-purpose tools, but if you tried to have EVERYTHING in your life a single purpose tool, you'd need a shopping trolly to carry it all around with you.
  - prof_hobart 14y ago
    I'm not missing the point at all. Companies are run for profit, and they make their decisions on what they believe the market wants. Do you think that the average punter is more likely to buy their next phone based on new feature like face unlock or because they've fixed an occasional bug in mail sync?