Mobile Phone Users Struggle With Hardware Adoption 386
Ian Lamont writes "A Google executive speaking at the Emerging Technology conference has described a problem that mobile phone carriers and manufacturers have been struggling with over the last few years: Users aren't taking advantage of many phones' hardware-based features. Rich Miner, Google's group manager of mobile platforms, stated that 80% of mobile phones being sold today have cameras on them, yet the number of people who actually know how to use them or get the images off the phones ranges between 10% and 50%, depending on the model. Miner listed several reasons for this state of affairs, including bad UIs and small screens, but added that the participation of companies with software expertise — including Google — would help increase usage of such features."
Camera phones (Score:4, Interesting)
How about the fact that cameras are added to phones as an afterthought, and they'll always suck because they cannot have useful lenses.
Re:Cell phone companies to blame? (Score:4, Interesting)
Or perhaps it might also involve the locking down of phones by carriers?
I came here to say that, but that really isn't the end of the problem.
How many people do you know who RTFM?
Or even bother to check out the nooks and crannies of their phone?
(For some reason, the "settings" icon is always on the bottom right)
After a minute or two, I usually know more about the features of someone's phone than they do.
I don't @*&!! want a camera in my @*&! pho (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Cell phone companies to blame? (Score:5, Interesting)
My guess is that this article is just flat-out wrong. I know when I plug my iPhone into my Mac it backs it up, syncs all my contacts, music, and apps, and shows me a preview of all the photos on the phone and asks me if I want to download them in iPhoto. My guess is more than 50% of folks know how to click the "Import" button. It's true that most iPhone users are Windows users, but even there it's pretty easy to sync.
I think Google has selective attention that completely excludes the iPhone right now.
Re:People don't care (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't know about that, the real problem is that it's difficult to get a decent phone without a lot of extraneous features. I didn't want most of the features my phone came with, but there weren't really any decent choices which didn't have them.
I don't need or want a camera, mp3 player, date book/calendar or java interface is my phone, and I wouldn't have gotten a phone which had most of those features if not for the extremely limited options without.
But in a sense worse is that the camera, mp3 player and calendar are included but at least with motorola you're stuck paying for additional software if you actually want them to be at all useful.
Re:Connectivity (Score:3, Interesting)
iPhone's camera is pathetic for a company that's whole "reason for being" is media creation. And what's with the lack of good video? The new blackberry phones have pretty good 3 MP cameras that are decent for "snap and go", and they take video and have SD card slots. For taking lots of pictures or video you really need removable media. It means you have as much storage as you want to buy, and because SD chips go up to 32GB now, that's a lot of extra space compared to iPhone.
Re:I don't @*&!! want a camera in my @*&! (Score:2, Interesting)
[no camera because I'm] in and out of courtrooms and secure facilities all the time
I've had the same problem, and there are many places that will remove the camera for you. I've also seen one with a penny epoxied on the lens.
google "security cell phone remove camera"
http://www.iresq.com/iphone/detail.php?prodID=P011036 [iresq.com]
Apple ... (Score:4, Interesting)
I am a software engineer, just for the record, and I have to admit that most of my phones are HARD to use, they are painful, and they constantly have connection problems.
My last phone before my iphone (which I admit LACKS a lot of features) was a business edition $600 phone.
When I tried to connect it to my windows machine, I had to pirate bluetooth software, because the one that came with my various dongles (I have like 5 here) were .. umh.. CRAP. Then the supplied nokia software worked, then did not, then found my phone, then did not, then crashed, then .. you name it.
I know that according to many geeks and nerds an iphone is a toy, a shit, it lack function, and 3g and blabla .....
But I connect the thing, it downloads my pictures, syncs my calendar I can drag and drop music, and it just works.
Yes you guessed, I also switched to a mac, and do my office and freelancing work on a mac (mostly PHP, some ASP, some widget (yahoo, osx) programming and network/infrastructure/UNIX-Linux consulting) ....
Yeah you guessed, it is more for the UNIX for me than for anything else, but my iphone is my first phone I actually use to the limit, because it is not a PAIN IN THE ARSE to use...
Oh some people say it sucks as a phone. I am not sure, I make 2 calls tops a day, and keep them short, so not sure. It still rocks as a wireless device, and when a decent SIP client comes out on it and Fring, I stop carrying my nokia (which I use as a wifi phone at the office, as there is no reception whatsoever there (kinda like a basement in a hole under 4 stories of concrete. has big windows though :)))
Re:Cell phone companies to blame? (Score:5, Interesting)
My guess is that this article is just flat-out wrong. I know when I plug my iPhone into my Mac ...
My guess is that he wasn't talking about iPhones. I use a Samsung..... something or other and I've yet to figure out how to get photos off the damn thing or how to lose that annoying 'ringback tone' that I had no idea what it was when I got it and now people don't like when they call me. Nor can I manage my image folders, there's no way to rename them or add new folders. And there's no quick way to delete the dozens of black pictures that it keeps taking on the inside of my pocket.
And when I go through the laboriously slow process of reading email on the damn thing, it won't let me see pdf or doc attachments. Bottom line: I hate the damn thing and I'm getting an iPhone.
Re:What happened to just a plain old phone? (Score:4, Interesting)
so i guess handset makers need to make phones with just single features--one that only has a speaker function, one that only has an mp3 playback function, one that only has a camera, and one that only displays text messages without opening the phone, etc.?
oh, but wait, you want a phone that both has a speaker _and_ allows you to receive text messages/pages easily. so i guess in addition to one model per feature, they also need a model for each permutation of features (any 2 features, any 3 features, any 4 features, any 5 features, any 6 features, ..., etc.).
so if Nokia wanted to provide a line of phones with just 4 different features, they would need to make 15 models, plus 1 without any of those features. if they want to let consumers choose from 6 different features, they'd need to make 64 models--and that's not even counting product options that require calculating non-binary permutations (ie. color schemes).
now let's see how many features the average smart phone might have:
so i guess each handset maker needs at least 17,179,869,184 models to encompass all these features. but even then i'm sure you'll still complain that your phone comes with 64MB of internal memory when all you need is 56MB, or that it runs Symbian OS when you want Android or Windows Mobile.
Re:Cell phone companies to blame? (Score:3, Interesting)
About five minutes.
I'm not a fan boy, but I do use an iPhone, and I never saw any instruction manual for the thing.
Furthermore, my 4yr old daughter can pick up my phone, call someone, take a picture, review photos, and play songs and movies.
Then again, maybe I am a fan boy.
Re:Bullshit: very few people value freedom per se (Score:3, Interesting)
I say "we" because I am not alone. I don't know how many people think like I do, but I know that there are enough people for me to be comfortable using "we" in that context.
I don't identify with geeks or any other group. I like software and I like FOSS in particular and I have nothing against geeks if that's what they want to be, but I don't think of myself as a geek (or as anything else for that matter).
"Very few people really value freedom unless they are being personally hampered by it."
If I look around, I find your statement to be mostly true. However, I cannot allow myself to be restricted by what others think. I value freedom, not because it is an ideal, but because it is ultimately my true state. In other words, I am free. This means that any restrictions I feel are my responsibility. I am part of this culture also. If I am very strong internally about my values, then I will influence the culture and not the other way around. If I am weak, then I will be influenced by the culture. Since I am strong and I value freedom strongly, I don't worry about the fact that currently not too many people value freedom. I look ahead and speak the way a captain of the ship speaks. I know where I am going and I know where all of us are going, because I am going there. :)
There is a lot to it. There is a profound reason why I can speak the way I do, but I can't explain everything in one post. So, if any of this makes no sense, or if you think I am idealistic, that's because there is a lot of information I cannot convey in this short time and space.
Re:Exactly (Score:3, Interesting)
The K750i is a very old phone now - it came out in 2005 - but that means it's cheap (under £30 on eBay) so you don't have to worry about losing or dropping it.
Of course I'm using it unlocked, PAYG, on Orange in the UK. YMMV.