# How long until we stop calling them "phones"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 21, 2013, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-until-we-stop-calling-them-phones/676903 "2013-12-21T16:05:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@ski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ski)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2013, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-until-we-stop-calling-them-phones/676903/1 "2013-12-21T16:05:25Z")
I love my smartphone. But, let’s be honest - it’s hardly a “phone” anymore. I mean, it IS a phone, of course, but that’s not exactly the primary usage. Ten years ago, my cellphone was used to make calls, that was the whole purpose of having it. But now, I use it for so much more, as with most people, that the “phone” aspect is almost secondary. For many people, the “phone” part IS secondary. For many, I bet the “telephone” part could break completely and they either wouldn’t notice for a while, or if they did, would take their time replacing it. And yet, we continue to call them “smart phones” out of inertia, I suppose. I don’t have a better suggestion for a name, but it seems like “smart phone” has become a bit of a misnomer. More like “handheld computer, with one of the features being telephony”. I mean, it’s a camera. A movie camera. A rolodex. A calendar. A game system. An e-mail system. A web browser. A texting device. A GPS. A magnetic compass. An accelerometer. On and on. Oh by the way, it’s also a phone. Yet the “phone” gets all the credit! Anybody agree? Do you see the use of the term “smart phone” fading out ever? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2013, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-until-we-stop-calling-them-phones/676903/2 "2013-12-21T16:09:13Z")
I nominate Brian Daley’s brilliant foreshadowing term, from the “Fitzhugh and Floyt” trilogy - written almost 30 years ago, his characters carried small devices utterly indistinguishable from a present-day smartphone/PDA/hand computer. Now, where did I put my **proteus**? ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2013, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-until-we-stop-calling-them-phones/676903/3 "2013-12-21T16:12:02Z")
I wouldn’t hold my breath. We still “dial” them. ---
**Author:** ![Silvorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Silvorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silvorange)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-until-we-stop-calling-them-phones/676903/4 "2013-12-21T16:13:10Z")
I think the word will stick around, but only nerds will know why they are called that. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2013, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-until-we-stop-calling-them-phones/676903/5 "2013-12-21T16:16:13Z")
In the UK smartphones are frequently referred to as “mobiles”. That itself is a contraction of “mobile phone” of course, but in the short form it does at least have the virtue of de-accentuating the phone part. Germans refer to them as “handies” which would work, but I can’t see that catching on in the English-speaking world. ---
**Author:** ![Inna\_Minnit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Inna\_Minnit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inna_Minnit)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2013, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-until-we-stop-calling-them-phones/676903/6 "2013-12-21T16:16:24Z")
Phone may not be its primary usage, but for more and more people is is their only phone. For me, its most important use is for texting. Which is my main form of communication. Texting is how my boss communicates with me most often. I seldom get or make calls, its unnecessary when I can communicate clearly and concisely by text. Second most primary use is as a camera. All other uses could go away, and I wouldn’t notice much. ---
**Author:** ![ski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@ski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ski)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2013, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-until-we-stop-calling-them-phones/676903/7 "2013-12-21T16:21:06Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > I wouldn’t hold my breath. We still “dial” them. You’re probably right. We do still “hang up” too, even though I haven’t had a phone hanging on a wall in… 20? 30 years? ---
**Author:** ![Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/77aa72/32.png) [@Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fluffy_PickleSniffer)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2013, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-until-we-stop-calling-them-phones/676903/8 "2013-12-21T16:31:39Z")
For several years my cellphone was my only phone, but I recently got a landline again because the talk quality is just going downhill - or my hearing is as I get older. 😛 But I call the landline phone my “landline” and my smartphone my “cell” - don’t refer to either one as a phone anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2013, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-until-we-stop-calling-them-phones/676903/9 "2013-12-21T16:33:01Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > I wouldn’t hold my breath. We still “dial” them. Of course we do. As NPR established quite a few years ago (in a listener contest to nominate a new verb), we DIAL our phones… Digitally Initiate Acoustic LInk. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2013, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-until-we-stop-calling-them-phones/676903/10 "2013-12-21T16:34:44Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Of course we do. As NPR established quite a few years ago (in a listener contest to nominate a new verb), we DIAL our phones… Digitally Initiate Acoustic LInk. Or SWAT: Stab Wildly At Touchscreen ---
**Author:** ![randompattern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@randompattern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randompattern)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-until-we-stop-calling-them-phones/676903/11 "2013-12-21T17:06:37Z")
It’s a “Tether” to the world. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2013, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-until-we-stop-calling-them-phones/676903/12 "2013-12-21T17:36:31Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > Or SWAT: Stab Wildly At Touchscreen And for people who hate glass keyboards, it will be _Don’t Touch That DIAL!_ ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2013, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-until-we-stop-calling-them-phones/676903/13 "2013-12-21T23:14:24Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > I wouldn’t hold my breath. We still “dial” them. That’s a good point, but we actually do that thing we still call dialing less and less often. Most people we call are in our address books and we just click on their name to have the phone call them. I’ve never heard anyone refer to that as dialing. The whole topic about calling them phones reminds me of a joke someone posted on Facebook about a rumor that the newest iPhone would include a “voice chat” feature. Of course, a few people commented how excited they were at the prospect of having live voice chat on their phone. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2013, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-until-we-stop-calling-them-phones/676903/14 "2013-12-21T23:34:42Z")
Chop. ---
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2013, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-until-we-stop-calling-them-phones/676903/15 "2013-12-22T00:34:07Z")
Excuse me, my Sexting Rectangle is beeping… ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2013, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-until-we-stop-calling-them-phones/676903/16 "2013-12-22T01:13:05Z")
> [@Apocalypso](#): > > Excuse me, my Sexting Rectangle is beeping… Brilliant. I will now refer to my device exclusively as a portmanteau’d bastardization of your idea: my sextangle. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2013, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-until-we-stop-calling-them-phones/676903/17 "2013-12-22T02:49:37Z")
ahoy ahoy to call them something other seems phoney. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2013, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-until-we-stop-calling-them-phones/676903/18 "2013-12-22T03:10:58Z")
The term “phone” certainly won’t die out while we have a separate network for telephone service that requires specialized hardware to access. It might get replaced someday in the future when all phone services are just Internet voice/video connections like Skype that can be accomplished with any device. Using Skype as an example, nobody who uses that service refers to their laptop or desktop computer as a phone, no matter how much they rely on Skype to talk to other people. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2013, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-until-we-stop-calling-them-phones/676903/19 "2013-12-22T03:18:49Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > I wouldn’t hold my breath. We still “dial” them. of course, there’s an [app](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/iretrophone-rotary-dialer/id284700702?mt=8) for that. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2013, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-until-we-stop-calling-them-phones/676903/20 "2013-12-22T03:39:11Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > of course, there’s an [app](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/iretrophone-rotary-dialer/id284700702?mt=8) for that. And don’t forget the [handset](http://www.overstock.com/Electronics/8-inch-Retro-Phone-Handset-for-iPhone-iPad-iPod/6267585/product.html). 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-until-we-stop-calling-them-phones/676903.md?page=2)