1SRC Editorial: Form and Funcation

Earlier this week I posted my latest editorial, "Form and Function", over on 1SRC.com.

I’ve always been a function guy. For me, the capabilities of the mobile handset are more important than the way it looks. With the introduction of devices like Apple’s iPhone, it will be difficult to sell a device based the merits of features and functionality alone.


It is all about the footprint

When you compare feature cell phones to smartphones one of the most apparent differences is the “foot print”, or the device’s form factor. Each year cell phones seem to get smaller and smaller. Every time I walk past a cell phone store and peer in the window I wonder how people avoid snapping there phones in half while talking on them. On the other hand, you have smartphones; devices that combine the features of a cell phone with those of a digital organizer. When compared with cell phones on the basis of style and price alone, smartphones seem like large, unattractive, and expensive alternatives to the sleek, attractive, and inexpensive alternatives. They are both “phones” after all, right? Why would anyone every want a smartphone?

On June 30, 2007, I’m expecting a lot of people to have a new appreciation for what a smartphone is and why they need one.

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