The Ultimate Cell Phone

A while ago, I got into a debate with a friend over how cell phone makers can justify selling hand-held devices for as much as they do. This ultimately led to us breaking down all the features a cell phone can have, versus how many people actually want those features in a phone. Well, a household-name cell phone company recently polled people who wanted or already had a cellular communication device. The management sat down and tossed around some ideas, citing the results of the polls.

They decided to start with a palm-sized, fat device that could only allow the user to talk into it and play back the voice of someone else with one. However, this wouldnt sell too well since the market for cell phones apparently wanted phones for more than just talking and also had the mentality that thinner is more convenient as well as "sexier", and every self-respecting business owner knows sex sells. So, they made the brick-sized device about as thin as their index finger, citing that poll results showed people hate fragile phones and drop them often. This meant they couldnt make the devices paper-thin because they would break way too easily.

Next, they looked at reception. A big turn-off for the polled people was the thought of being in the middle of a call and having it cut out unexpectedly. So, they added an antennae that jutted out from the phone. This lowered the attractiveness of the phone, so they opted to put the antennae inside the phone, which meant they had to expand the phone since the antennae was so long as to allow excellent reception no matter where the user would be.

The makers realized that the phone was lacking software and other communication options. The phone users demanded that they have a way of sending text-based messages, as well as access to the internet, especially to check MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube. They added the software to do so, along with a teeny-tiny keyboard which fit over the numbers. But, another problem arose; the polls showed that another common complaint was that the users fingers would get cramped from using the small keyboard. So, they created a larger keyboard that attached to the phone. This was definately not attractive at all and was way too much work to have to carry around two different devices, so they put the phone screen on one panel, and the keyboard device on another, and hinged them. A flip phone!

Now, people were saying they wanted to be able to put music on their phones and plug headphones into them. They added the ports and software accordingly. The people were still not satisfied. They wanted the ability to take pictures and video like a camera as well. The software and camera was added.

The makers were almost satisfied with their new product, except for one last thing pointed out by the poll. People found it irritating that their cell phone screens were so small that they had to strain their eyes to read them. They decided that since the keyboard was already so big, they could fill the entire top panel with the screen. Another annoyance was that you had to use the keys to select what you wanted to do on your phone. People wanted a pointing device. The makers added it to the bottom panel along with the keyboard. Everyone was finally satisfied with the end product. The device sold out within a matter of days. Here is what the product looked like:



The moral of this story is that if you want a cell phone for more than just talking, YOU DONT WANT A PHONE! Buy a laptop! A decent one costs about as much as a cell phone anyways! What makes this story so funny is that it is, in a way, a true story. I asked a couple people what they liked and disliked about their phones and got answers that led me to believe these solutions were realistic.