tech
may 12
2008

Don't Call Me

Last weekend I was trying to quickly organize dinner with some friends. I decided to try calling them. When no one answered, I realized how embarrassed I was to leave a voicemail. I'm not alone on this feeling that phone calls are jarring to daily life, but it makes me wonder something else... will we eventually come around to a new type of super-connected gadget that can do everything except make phone calls?
5 comments

Minus the SMS-only (Motorola) and Outlook-only (Blackberry) devices from years ago, the only one I can think of that <i>might have been</i> is the prototype Danger Hiptop. When they originally pitched the Hiptop to T-Mobile it had all the same functionality but it wasn't a phone, and I don't think they wanted it to be. From what I'm aware of, T-Mobile made them have a phone in it in order to seal the deal of what became the T-Mobile Sidekick. Maybe it's time to try that again.

posted by Aaron at 2008-05-12 13:50:49

I guess the iPod Touch is also coming at it from a similar perspective (but with WiFi).<br /><br />

posted by Rex at 2008-05-12 13:57:16

Good point.

posted by Aaron at 2008-05-12 14:05:51

But everyone wants Skype on their iPod Touch, right?<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Also: did visual voicemail just break the record for "shortest lifespan of a killer app"? Unexpected? Not so much, no.

posted by dav3 at 2008-05-12 14:29:22

People who still use the phone:<br /><br /> <br /><br /> Parents who want to sign up their kids for summer debate camp. I had 60 voicemail messages after 1 weekend.<br /><br /> <br /><br /> I wish there was caller-id that would associate a email address so I could email people back based on their phone number.

posted by bietz at 2008-05-12 21:00:47