A Phone is Just a Phone

While waiting on a late professor I decided to whip out with my N93 (as anyone with the latest gadget is inclined to do). To a chorus of 'oohs' and 'awws' I demoed a few of its slicker features to onlookers. But there were a few detractors. One in particular loudly voiced his opinion, having the audacity to declare it just a phone. I couldn't help but snicker. I assumed he was either suffering from a mild case of bad-phone-itis or had perhaps caught a much more serious strain of ignorance. I didn't dwell on it.

Then today while reading an interview of Tony Pearce, managing director of Player X, I stumbled upon it again. A phone is a phone, Pearce boldly claims in reference to Player X's decision to expand its media base beyond mobile games. I found this much more troubling and as such warranting further reflection. Are we all getting a little too excited about something that's just a phone?

If this year's Christmas push by mobile operators is any indication, you'd probably have to disagree. Roger's Phones Redefined campaign features a wide collection of not so revolutionary MP3 phones which sport functionality that is certainly more than just a phone. In fact, these days if you purchased a mobile phone and got just a phone features you would probably be heading back to the store very soon. And not just to load up on Bluetooth accessories.

Mobile phones have many features you would never expect from just a phone. They crash. They freeze. They even require firmware updates. Which all is starting to sound less and less like a phone and more and more like a computer. Which is exactly what it is, processor, RAM, memory, and all.

If a mobile phone is a computer, then who are its competitors? The PC. The laptop. And then who is winning? When the numbers for this year's phone sales are finally tabulated they will likely border one billion. While it is still true that we can still be more productive with our laptops and PCs, vast improvements in mobiles foreshadow future developments. As miniaturization continues its relentless march and engineers work overtime shaving an extra millimeter off processors, there is no reason we will not see the power of today's computers in tomorrow's mobiles.

Mobile phones are just computers. In the same way that laptops represent a smaller desktop, mobile phones represent a smaller laptop. Laptops are simply a transition phase between fits in your backpack and fits in your pocket. And the difference between in the bag and in the pocket is just as big as the difference between at the home or in the bag.

In the pocket means always with you. Consequently mobile phones find themselves in situations where laptops or other similar sized devices are just awkward. Rock climbing, going out to a bar or walking down the street, these are all situations that our current definition of computer has been unable to address. Mobile phones on the other hand are right at home in all of these settings. This gives us mobile developers the unique opportunity to tackle challenges that previously could never even be realistically attempted. Social, truly mobile computing is finally within reach.

As mobile phones begin to include more functionality of the computer their usefulness and technical complexity will exponentially increase. Personally I'm just waiting for the day grandma calls to tell me she's having trouble with her phone and needs it fixed. On the bright side, if the trouble is with her phone, perhaps she'll have a hard time calling me.

 -jb