…because I don’t think that the cell phone companies know. I’ve seen ads for phones that take pictures, play video games, play MP3s, surf the web, do text messaging, and double as a PDA.
Take photos? Play video games? Those things are done so much better with actual cameras and gameboys. And do I really want my phone to go dead while I’m in the middle of a call because I played too much Tetris earlier in the day? Cellphones can’t do everything well. I think they should focus on Keeping A Person In Touch. I want a phone that EASILY shares my contacts and calender with my computer. And when I say easily, I mean “I want it to happen in a simple 1-step process.”*
And no matter how hard they try to push text-messaging onto us, it ain’t going to happen if the only way to input the text is with a 12-button keypad. If you’re going to incorporate messaging and e-mail in a phone, your input device had better be the human voice. That’s what phones are for. Not doing the text-message mambo on the keypad. Not with a little plastic stick to point at tiny things on a tiny screen. (IBM! Great opportunity for you to open ViaVoice to an enormous user base! Get crackin’ guys!)
And most importantly and basically, I want a phone that has good reception and a selection of NON-obnoxious rings.
But that’s just me. What do you want?
** Yes, I know that some of these things are already available to some degree, like sharing contacts via Apple’s iSynch. But I don’t know of any phone that takes dictation.*
I want maybe 500-750 minutes/month, excellent digital reception, free long distance and voice mail, for about $15 a month. That’s not unreasonable, is it?. I may even be willing to pay the $80 or so for the phone if I can get that plan.
I do want my phone to be able to do more than just be a phone. And I want it to be small and not weigh much.
You see I travel, and it’s a pain in the bootay to take a phone, a PDA, a camera, etc etc etc. Much better for me to have one device for all those things.
I want to get and receive calls for a fair price. Casey1505’s scheme sounds great to me.
My current phone offers downloadable games, ringtones, an organizer, and lots of other gizmos, some of which I use. But those are just extras, and if it didn’t have 'em, I wouldn’t miss 'em.
Mrs. Kunilou and the twins are into color displays, 500 ring tones and all that. Our daughter and I are perfectly happy with a phone that acts like a phone.
What I want in a cell phone:
Good reception
Good voice quality
Long battery life
A screen that can show:
The time
How much reception and battery life I have
Caller ID
The number I dialed
The last several calls dialed and recieved, including time
A good ring tone, and probably the ability to change/download it
Ringer loud enough to hear it, even over background noise
An interface for all this stuff that isn’t designed to be as awkward as possible
Gimme that, and I’ll be happy. I’ll even pay for this happiness.
A phone that functions as a two-way radio/walkie-talkie would be nice. (And no, no, no, no, those aren’t. I mean ‘two-way radio’ in the same sense in which it was used for several years before they came along - if it doesn’t work on Mars, I’m not interested.)
I’d like a phone for emergency or far out of the way uses. A compact satellite/cellular and radio, with GPS would be great. If it’s solar/water/magic-powered, it’s perfect.
You know, I have a fairly basic cell phone (Ericsson) and I’ve always fancied myself as being quite adept at technology, but there’s stuff on my phone that boggles my mind. Little video games, whole elaborate setups for the phone…Just give me something that works like a phone.
In a phone I want pretty much what Ender_Will listed, plus a decent contact list and the option to send text messages. I gather it’s not a big thing in the States, but it’s damn convenient all the same. If you’ve set your ringing to silent or discreet, sending and receiving text messages won’t disturb or annoy anyone, and they can be dealt with whenever convenient. You soon get used to having only 12 keys, most people I know can write blind on their mobile.
This is, pretty much, the phone I have, a Nokia 6210 (IIRC).
It would be nice if the thing could double as a PDA as well. My calendar, a more detailed contact list, the ability to read documents, make notes, etc. is somethng it is convenient to have handy anywhere I want it, and it’d be nice to have it all in something phone-sized, rather than a bigger regular PDA.
I used to think I want a camera and GPS on my phone. My new phone does have these and I never use them - the interface is just horrible.
What I really want is a phone that doubles as a Palm-compatible PDA with a full size (Palm size) screen. Of course it should use the Palm address book for dialing. Call records should be transferred via HotSync to a PC, and it should also be able to connect to the internet through the cellular network for mail and web browsing. The “text messaging” should be a full internet e-mail capability. I’d still want GPS but it should be combined with a software that downloads the local map from a server. I don’t need mp3 playback, but a voice recorder might be nice - if the sound is saved as a file and transferred automatically to the PC via HotSync.
Oh, and it should work in any country including Japan and the US.
Some things not mentioned that are critical to me:
Voice activated dialing. Nothing as lame as trying to look up a number in the phone’s phone book while driving.
Computer interface to get phone numbers into the phone. Phones have a crappy interface for entering a hundred people and numbers.
The ability to receive text messages is pretty important for me, as I have work computers send me messages about various status stuff.
My new phone has the now-pretty-standard feature of playing downloadable midi files for ringers, which at first I thought was too cute-and-game-like for me, but I’ve come to appreciate having different ring tones for different people that call.
Another cute feature I thought would be silly but now like is custom wallpapers. Kinda fun to put a pic of the kids as the screen background.
Most useless feature in the world:
WAP
I played with it for a while and really tried to like it. Built up a WAP web page out on the internet and everything. Phones just ain’t for surfing yet.
I’d like it to double as a PDA. Wait, scratch that. I just want my Sony Clie to have a cell phone in it. I don’t like having to pack the two around.
I’d like my cell phone to be able to fire .22 bullets.
It would be nice if it could act as a remote control for my car.
I would like a cell phone that enabled me to have x-ray vision.
I want one that pops open like the old Star Trek communicators. A simple flick of the wrist and it’s open. I also want it to make the little “beeeooooop-shicca-shicca-shicca” sound.
It would be cool if it doubled as a television remote so I can always watch what I want to watch in sports bars (hint: not sports).
I want to be able to shoot and edit full lengh feature films in Dolby 5.1 surround. Don’t forget the title generator.
My dream cell phone would dispense hot espresso.
I would like it to be able to record entire telephone conversations, rip them to mp3 files and upload to the website of my choosing. Telemarketers beware.
A really powerful battery that lasts weeks on one charge… and can also be used to jump start my car if I leave the lights on.
And finally, I like my cell phones like I like my sharks… with fricken laser beams attached to their heads.
One thing I don’t think anyone has mentioned. I need my phone to vibrate. Not for any dodgy reason, just so that I know that it’s MY phone that’s ringing and not anyone elses. Nothing so embrassing than going scrabbling about only to find it wasn’t your phone.
Yea, I keep my phone on vibrate on the time for precisely this reason. It’s in my pocket anyway. Of course, this means jumping a foot in the air and scrabbling at my pocket to get the rabid squirrel out when the durn phone rings…