There is never gonna be the smartest phone ever!!
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Now generally an article starts with defining the term or anything which one is talking about. But I am not gonna define term ‘Smartphone’, Why? Because even I don’t know it. Okay, let’s say a phone with smart features (duh!!!) or a phone which has P.C. like capabilities which is more productive and compact then the former. But till where? Where exactly you want to put an end to its smartness? Or let’s ask ourselves a basic question, How much of you spend time cuddling those smart-features your phone came with and compare it to time you spend on social networks or surfing net or calling, etc.? Average Joe doesn't need Air-gesture or pop-up play, multi-window display or other goodies like Super Amoled ++ (Add to it!! Anything you like) display or retina one’s and other stuff. So here I am, not to depress or anguish users of these technologies but to make you think atleast once, before buying any new. “Do I really need that (smart) phone?”
Marketing mumbo-jumbo and monikers
I got myself a new phone. It has faster quadraportal processor, capacita-angular touch with metahybrid lit display technology with other features. Cool isn't it? Yes it is, apart from the fact that I made them up. Before you barrage shower of ‘Sweet Abuses’ for me in your mind, I ask ‘don’t the companies, the very same one’s that make you feel amazed do the same thing to you?’ yeah Alright they have research labs with millions of funding and patent officers, lawyers, etc. So what? Why can’t they keep the exact meaning of term as it is? Take for e.g. Apple’s retina display- It is in fact just a high resolution LCD screen with 300+ ppi (pixel per inch) rating at a close range. Or Nokia’s new Clearblack display- which is just a regular AMOLED screen with an added polarized layer-Kinda like Sunglasses? But biggest of all is Sony’s new triluminos display. There is a lot of hype around it in which they claim to have used ‘Quantum Dots’ to produce natural shades of colors. Google quantum dots and there are chances of you landing on MIT’s website on article of research going on it. They have been working on it for a long time and now Sony has cracked it? Proving MIT was mowing lawns? No, they are just blue LEDs instead of simple white one’s to get purer form of RGB colors. Why can’t you keep it simple and true? Generating monikers and using them to describe them feels great(we all do that!!), until you get true information of it and then it feels simply dumb and it dawns upon us how this smarties part from our money by just using monikers that turned into Buzzwords.
From age of stones’ to how it all became bad!!
Let’s go back to around 2004, when Android was still in dark, waking up slowly. And the respective mobile companies like Nokia, Blackberry, Motorola, Sony-Ericsson, etc. were at their pinnacle. They had commanded over their respective audiences for over a decade. It felt good, like if you are a casual or just phone user, you had choices from Nokia or for a music buff with some jazzy user interface and customizing options(Themes!!, remember them? Not launchers), you had Motorola and Sony’s devices at your reach and workaholics and business persons preferred to be blackberry boys. Even after new companies like HTC, Acer (for a small time!) entered the market; the scene didn't change much with likes of Nokia’s N-series-series, and Sony-Ericsson’s walkman-cybershot series. But in 2007 when Steve jobs released his (&other people’s) brain child the iphone, it created a very strong impact. It took mobile Industry by a storm but still left other players alive and well. But with Android’s inception in 2009, it crushed very same industries who had never even thought that an operating system would uproot them. Fast forward to 2013, Android is at now supreme with 80% command over market and iphone 15% and rest like Nokia and blackberry struggling to breath in 5%. Now I am not gonna go for good or bad, but it is amazing when you get to be a part of a history of such technology shift. Also Android and iOS brought with them a slew of apps making these phones reductive and ‘Smart’ in real sense. It was all good for a while, but slowly these smartphone makers started emphasizing on hardware, no that’s a bad thing. What bad is that it forced a consumer to chuck his/her phone within a year. My single core phone became old due to arrival of dual or quad or now even octacore processor? What if the single core is running perfectly & serving your needs fully? No, because the company has said it and benchmarks peg them at much higher ratings with some new features, I am getting new one. Some of would argue with me, “why not this is a good thing? And we get most of them on E.M.I!” it’s not because you are encouraging these companies& yourself too. Even if conscience speaks different words. Where it will end? We have now packed more power( Or as they say!!) in Smartphone then a pc, have double digit megapixel cameras, all in such slim form factor that would make our actress burn in rage!!
Design woes
Other thing I strongly feel about is design. Now apple claims simplicity as their key feature for their devices which is good. But it has made creativity lose its value. If you look back, you will find every Nokia or other maker’s device different from other devices. It was a great thing, there was curvy, clamshell, slider, etc. (insert hair design concept old) Designs. People used to show off their phones for this designs and holding them felt good. But what now? All you have is Bar one’s. Heck you just switch off the phones and keep them side by side, you won’t be able to tell one from the other. Now that’s dumb! What’s worse that it has given rise to such massive sizes which are not even comfortable for single handed operation. We can hold a 4-inch device easily; we stretched to 5 but 5.5, 6, 6.3? They aren't comfortable. But here also, monikers did the trick. Naming it phablets and getting a hype of them in media. It raised fortunes for that respective company. People buy them, can’t type message or call even with one hand, but yes are proud to be the part of so-called ‘phablet’ elite community. Yes please argue that they are better for media consumption on a device and gaming or having all in one and other? But haven’t we already mixed things enough? Why not keep some things true to its nature? All is not lost though. Looking at some innovations, we can safely assume that there is going to be god progress in terms of hardware, software and heck even in naming a new technology. People behind them are working hard to make them more user-friendly rather than achieving new heights of dumb smartness.
The two sides of a coin!!
It’s not that monikers or naming something new is bad thing. They are useful when they describe technology correctly and also it’s easier for a person to understand. Sticking with display technology, take example of kindle paperwhite. The white e-ink display has front light that’s diffused onto screen very evenly using optical fibres and flattening it into a sheet. It’s what Amazon calls ‘Light Guide’. Definitely more of a innovation and easier to understand then getting in technical razztazz!! Also let’s take example of an underlying technology known as elctrowetting pioneered by company called Liquavista. It uses oil that respond to electric charges hence enhancing touch and getting much higher refresh rates. Now when it will become mainstream, it may be called ‘Olit Display’ or ‘OiLed’ but still, it’s more justified then calling something that already has an existing name. Another concept which has seen great response from people around world is of ‘Phonebloks’. If it happens, then we will have new definitions of portability (inset website). Now anyone who has heard about it knows how cool it is. For newbies, think like this, “how about you can change each and every part of your smartphone? Not those stupid back-covers and panels and all” Real stuff like processor, ram, internal memory, camera lens, connectivity options (better Bluetooth, wifi or even Wi-Max??). Yup, this seemingly impossible thing is happening what here I am pointing out is rather then chucking your 6 month or a year old smartphone in a bin, just change the required parts. If performance is the issue, upgrade processor and increase ram. For shutterbugs, get a camera lens as per your requirement and more. This looks like a real innovation. Rather than burning a big hole in our pocket, it makes real sense for a small amount of our hard-earned money where it’s going.
I would like to stop my jibber-jabber here and draw conclusions that technology has come this far, from vacuum-tube, room-sized computers to pocket PCs. It has seen its share of ups and downs, but on it ways has always amazed human. But i think that charm is dying down. And it’s not gonna turn topsy-turvy with just one pen!! Yes there is hope but till then, let’s look forward to many more years through the Bull**** together on this exciting journey through it.
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