I wonder what you would want on yours?
Alison DeLauzon from New York had something on hers that she never knew about, but it proved really useful.
We’ve all done it, haven’t we? Well, many of us have. You know, lost the expensive piece of electronic equipment (digital camera, phone, iPod, iPhone, bluetooth headset, satellite navigation, hearing aid, BlackBerry etc.) - left it behind on the seat in the restaurant, left the bag behind in the café, lost it when it slipped out of a pocket on the bus, had it stolen from a bag on the tube. We rarely, if ever, get it back.
But Alison DeLauzon got her digital camera back in quite an amazing way.
When she left her camera equipment bag in a Florida restaurant, she was saddened to lose her camera gear, but was extremely upset about the loss of the photos and videos she had taken of her new baby boy. What she didn’t realize was that the camera was equipped with a special memory card with wireless internet capability (an Eye-Fi, a 2-gigabyte SD memory card that fits into millions of digital cameras), and this card was programmed to automatically connect to the net and send the pictures on her card to her home computer.
The thieves happily took pictures of themselves and then passed by an unsecured wireless internet access point. When DeLauzon opened her computer at home she not only found pictures of her son, but of the thieves celebrating their new acquisition. As they worked for the restaurant where she had left her bag, they were easily caught and fined.
Given the increasing value of electronic gadgets and the data we keep on them, there is a growing market for security devices. GadgetTrak, of Beaverton, Oregon, sells software that can be loaded onto any of those devices. If a BlackBerry, for example, falls into the wrong hands, the software grabs information from the new user’s SIM data card and emails it to the rightful owner.
This incident set me thinking about the future. You know, the thing about how computers double in power every two years, and how they are doing things now that few of us ever dreamed of, and how mobile phones are becoming more and more sophisticated. I started to fantasize about what I would want my mobile device to be able to do (apart from make a call and take a decent picture, of course).
I wonder what you would want in yours? Here’s my initial list:
- Having satellite navigation as standard. Yes, I know you can get this on many phones now if you pay for it, but I want it as standard for free on my phone. I wouldn’t use it for driving - that would be too silly as the screen would be too small. But, EVERY time I try to walk anywhere in London I get lost, and having sat. nav. on the phone would be really useful. If it could talk to me through an ear piece and say: “Turn right now .. take the next left” that would save hours of weary frustration.
- Having the ability to press a button and find out where the nearest toilets are in relation to the phone. Yes, I know that by texting “toilet” to 80097 you can get that information in London, but I want it wherever I go. I’m getting old. Speed is of the essence!
- Having Skype working on all phones as standard. Yes, I know you can get this with the 3 network in the UK, but I want it on all networks so that I can get the free calls to America too.
- Having easy Instant Messaging software installed as standard.
- Having powerful and accurate voice recognition software on all phones to eliminate the need for serious keypadding. I would want to dictate my texts, instant messages, emails. I would also want to dictate documents and then be able to wirelessly print them off or transfer them to my computer for further editing when I get home.
- Having the ability to pay for goods in stores using my phone instead of credit cards like they can in Japan. Not having to carry the bulk of a wallet and phone (or worry about the security of two things) would be really good. And if it could be programmed to open and start my car to eliminate the need for a vehicle key as well, that would be fantastic.
- Having software that listens to voice patterns and suggests possible fraud installed as standard might be amusing.
- Having the ability to use my phone as an electric shaver (as well as a 1,000,000 megapixel camera) would also be occasionally useful.
I can see how techically minded you are, I would not know half these things existed in the first place.
I think your ideas are good but I have some reservations about the list, though point five is an excellent idea and would love that on my phone.
The problem for me is where do you stop. Take the sat nav in London, for example, when you are on foot. When I go to London, I use a map; easy as there are so many user friendly ones around. If you did not need a map then people desiging, producing and printing maps would be out of a job and a good skill to have,ie, reading a map would be lost.
What about security. If you have so many functions on one piece of eletronic equipment then if it is stolen,(someone will engineer the means to do so and out wit the safety devices in place), you may have lost sensitive and valuable info and actions, relyant on that mobile phone. Say, you could not get into your car, if the said item on your list was possible. Even if you got your phone back quickly, the inconvenience would be awful and the thieves might steal your car too.
I never like one machine doing everything, it’s ok until something goes wrong.
Personally while technology is great and essential in our modern world I am wary about it taking over too many things.
If, I thought about my own list, switching on my TV set and not missing a programme I forget to tape on DVD whilst travellling would be useful.
You have a marvellous imagination for all the things listed, shows how versatile you mind can be, perhaps, I am still a little bit of an old techno phobe as I don’t want to become too reliant on one gadget to do all my things. Besides, the stress of trying to learn everything from the complicated instructions manuels leave you with a nervous breakdown, or you have to pay someone to help you set it up.
We waited 4 months to get our DVD sorted out and we still don’t know how to use it properly. Perhaps, if you ever come over to ours you can teach us someday.
Oh what an excellent device - I feel quite sorry for the robbers. I bet they felt very stupid!
I had no idea you could text “toilets” and find the nearest ones. Is that true? Surely not.
I am a real Luddite - my phone doesn’t even have a camera. In fact, the main thing for which I use my phone is to tell the time (I’ve moved on from the Sun Dial stage!) - but I occasionally use it to speak to people or text people and it is useful as an alarm clock. My sons say that it has cool games on it but I have no idea where they are.
The shaver idea sounds quite good - if someone were using their phone in the quiet carriage on the train I could grab it off them and shave something rude on the back of their head.
Reluctant Blogger
I had no idea you could text “toilets” and find the nearest ones. Is that true? Surely not.
It is true, honest. Text to 80097 in London (it costs about £1) and you will receive a text back telling you where the nearest loos are. A very useful service.
[...] If the development of handsets over the last 10 years have made making a phone call a very minor consideration for some of us, I wonder what the next 10 years will bring. (See A Close Shave.) [...]
Alison Delauzon due to her own carelessness left her camera equipment in a restaurant. She referred to the waiter that later found the equipment as a thief and considered her equipment stolen which was not the case. The news service that reported the story also referred to the equipment as “stolen” which was not the case. The waiter perhaps should have reported the camera equipment to the manager but by no means can he be referred to as a thief since there was no intent for he found the equipment laying there with no owner in sight.