Mobile phones too complicated, says Inventor
By siliconindia   |   Friday, 06 November 2009, 22:18 IST   |    3 Comments
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Mobile phones too complicated, says Inventor
Bangalore: The lead engineer of the Motorola team which developed the mobile phone, Martin Cooper, told a privacy conference in Madrid this week that today's phones try to do many things for too many people, reports Telegraph. "Whenever you create a universal device that does all things for all people, it does not do any things well," said the 80 year-old Cooper, who developed the first wireless call from a busy Manhattan street corner on April 3 1973. "Our future I think is a number of specialist devices that focus on one thing that will improve our lives," said Cooper, who also has criticized the iPhone for being overly complicated and hard to use. "The first cell phone model weighed over one kilo and you could only talk for 20 minutes before the battery ran out, which is just as well because you would not be able to hold it up for much longer," added Cooper. However, the sales figures state that consumers are increasingly seeking phones with multiple features. In 2007, Nokia's 1100, a straightforward handset named "Penny", surpassed the 200-million unit mark, making it the world's top selling gadget. But over the past year sales of smartphones, which have some of the same functions as computers, such as internet access and music players, have surged sharply. The sales figures compiled by GfK, a market research organization, across England, France, Italy, Germany and Spain, suggest that sales of mobile phone handsets decreased by 10 percent over the last year, but sales of smartphones have increased by a whooping 140 percent from 3,810,097 to 9,129,868. Aarpm Rattue, Business Group Director, GfK, said that these days, the smartphones account for close to one in ten phones bought. "The market has more than doubled in size in 12 months," he said. Dr. Jon Agar, Senior Lecturer in Science and Technology Studies at University College London, and Author of Constant Touch: A Global History of the Mobile Phone, added that there was little evidence that people were shunning complicated technology. "Martin Cooper's assertion flies in the face of current trends, and I see no particular evidence to suggest that the trend towards more 'universal' mobile phones is going to change direction," said Dr. Agar. "Mobiles are far more than mere phones. They have the capabilities and flexibilities of a computer. Designers have made use of these capacities, and will continue to do so. The future of technologies is ultimately in the hands of users - and the vast majority of users have historically been loath to add to the very small number of technologies that we carry around with us," added Dr. Agar. On the other hand, Ben Wood, Director- Research at CCS Insight, which provides market analysis for the communications industry, states that the bid to maximize the number of features available on a phone was an easing factor. According to Wood, there had been an "arms race" amongst mobile phone manufacturers, who were competing to add features to their phones such as increased memory and better cameras. "But that technology arms race is starting to slow down now. For example, 12 megapixel cameras are only available at the very high end of the market," he said. "Mobile phone shops are starting to sell experiences rather than features. They'll advertise the top five phones with satnav or the top five camera phones," said Wood. Wood also added that the market for "talk and text phones" would always be there. "Those products will always exist," he said.

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