A Tool I Need
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I think I'm in the minority, but maybe that's changing. Like these people, I want a phone that's a phone, not a camera, not an MP3 player. Just a phone.
I resisted cell phones for a long time even though I thought they were cool, mostly because I didn't have many people to call and didn't need to expense. I finally broke down and got one of those grey Motorola flips and thought it was cool and useful, mostly because I'd started dating my wife and all of a sudden it was handy for calls. This was an analog, noisy, staticy phone and in late '97 or so, Primeco came out with digital service in Virginia Beach, where I was living. It was a good deal and I jumped on it to get better reception.
Not sure if you can see the image above, but it had a voice mail button in the top middle that you could hit and it would connect you to voice mail. That along with the ability to name your contacts and it was the coolest thing around.
Since then I've moved on to every carrier there is, Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile, ATT, and now Cingular. I've had Motorola, Nokia, LG, and Samsung phones. And none of them has been as easy to use as the old Motorola Analog or Primeco phones.
It's not that the cameras, MP3 players, calenders, games, and other features aren't nice. They are handy and cool, but almost the whole time I've had a cell phone I just want a nice phone that works well. One touch access to VM, easy to find and enter contacts, and long, long, battery life. Those other features are fine for others and there's a market for them, but for lots of us that use a phone as a tool, they're unnecessary.
Heck at the prices things go for these days you can afford two phones. Maybe that's the solution: one utilitarian phone that you use for making calls for work, and one fancy one that you carry on the weekends to take pictures of the kids.
As long as my bluetooth headset works with it, I just need a device to answer calls and store numbers.
Steve Jones
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I share your thoughts completely. I just purchased a SonyEricsson without radio, MP3 or camera and it was hard to find! I think the major problem is that the manufacturers don't make any money on the low-end products. They make a lot more money selling the more advanced models than the simplest models. Their margin on the high-end models are a lot more than those on the low-end ones.
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AMEN! I also miss my old Nokia that had a cradle you drop it into and it became a hands free phone that people could actually hear you on, or you could use the external handset if you wanted to keep from bothering anyone else in the car.
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Having two phones, one with goodies and one without, would be a major pain.
I love my camera phone. It also has an MP3 player, contacts, diary, organiser, games etc. I only use what I want to use. And mostly these phones are 'free'* when you sign up for your chosen payment plan, so there's no incentive for me to choose a cheaper phone that doesn't have an MP3 player.
The fact that my phone has an MP3 player makes no difference to its useability as a phone. I never even see the MP3 player interface as everything is setup around making/receiving calls.
I really don't see the problem. I think you must be looking for one that isn't there
* in the UK at any rate
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Steve-
I agree. I want a phone that I can use to place and receive calls. No camera that takes inferior pictures. No mp3 player that wears down my battery. A phone, that's it.
Regards,
Scott
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No one thinks of spending the 100+ dollars on the backup or extended battery.
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The Motorola Razr phone has everything you're asking for except for one-touch voice mail (which technically you can program into the phone to do this).
The battery life on mine is wonderful, especially considering that it's basically never used for anything except as a phone with my bluetooth earpiece. Mine lasts me somewhere around 2 days or so of regular talking (90 minutes per day or so) before absolutely requiring a new charge.
And it has many of those cool new features, that at the end of the day, I could care less about (speakerphone, camera and a few more pieces of jazz)
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Michael,
You fool yourself if you think the phones are free. Sure you can get just about any phone for £1 but then you have to pay a monthly fee to pay it off.
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I'm with ya. I just want something to keep me in communication. If I want something that plays MP3's I'll buy an MP3 player.
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NO!! This is what you need
http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=119353
It's an I-mate JASJAR.
Talk about having EXCELLENT ACCESS ANYWHERE!
(And it beats having to lug around a laptop!
Pitty there's no HDD, but other than that it's BRILLIANT!
May be a little pricey too.. but we can all dream... can't we!
M
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Looking at the answers so far I think the situation is obvious. There are so many feature sets in various phones, because people do want it. The majority of people maybe don't, but there's a few out there who do want those extra features, and the phone companies would be stupid to ignore the possible increased revenue from those customers. I have a RAZR, and I use the speaker phone feature most often, but I also use the datebook, camera, games, text messaging, and email address storage feature for contacts. These features come in quite handy for me, because I make business contacts all the time when I'm away from the office, and I got tired of carrying the huge PDA. I'm not a 'huge gramma purse' kinda girl, and having all those features in a small package is a godsend. Essentially, the RAZR is a phone plus the PDA stuff that I actually used, and it's the first phone I've had which fit nicely in my purse with everything else.
For music there is nothing better than the iPod though.
Jasmine
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Two cameras? That thing looks thicker than a PSP and uglier than a Crackberry
Before purchasing my RAZR several months ago I was looking everywhere for just a simple phone. I've had MP3 phones, camera phones, and all sorts of variations of the word "phone" over the last several years and found that nothing sounded better or was more reliable than my ancient Motorola from 1999. If the older phones had decent Bluetooth, I would have likely just bought one from eBay.
I'd like to see Nokia or Motorola bring out some sexy phone-phones. They don't need to be everything to everybody, but just a simple phone with Bluetooth and an attractive design. Naturally, they'll probably charge a premium for this kind of luxury
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I totally agree. All I need from my cellphone is probably the basica call/receive, message and voice mail. The alarm clock and calendar are good-to-have but I can live without. I don't really need a camera or a mp3 player with my cellphone.
The problem is cellphone that comes without those additional features are either bulky or hard to find! I still miss my Nokia 3210 or 8250 which they have really intuitive and clean designs and they remain functioning even after they fall accidentally!
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I wonder if there's just a generational gap in those that want a "swiss army phone" and just a "phone phone". I'm 28 and I'm about to switch to a new carrier and I'm anxiously awaiting getting a new phone/mp3 player/camera/mini gaming console/calculator/etc. My current phone is just a regular phone and has none of that, except for the calculator. Most of the other features I want in those times where I would like to be able to take a quick snapshot of something, like if I'm comparing prices while shopping in a store; or if I'm taking a walk and want to listen to a few tunes to pass the boredom; same reasoning for the gaming feature. Cell phones are still primarily phones but nowadays they're multifunctional devices, why lug around an army of devices when one can do. I don't expect my new phone to be better than my dedicated portable mp3 player or digital camera, but I don't have enough pockets to carry around 3 things so I'll appreciate the extra functionality it'll bring.
As for phones being free or not. It's true they aren't and that wireless companies subsidize them via the contract you sign. But even then it seems a fair exchange: the company gives me a free phone in exchange for my commitment to stay with them. I had thought about signing a one-year contract with my new carrier but then I noticed the phone would cost closer to its true price if I did that, $220. I'll try out the service for the first 30 days and if the reception's good stay with the two-year contract, since the phone will be $90. With the way wireless companies in the US operate, locking phones to their network, it seems a bit of a waste to spend extra money for a phone for a one-year contract, decide to go to another network after the contract's up and then have to buy another phone for more money because your old phone won't work on the new carrier's network. If you're happy with the network you're on and don't think you'll leave it's worth it to sign away your life for two years
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