Watson, come here! I need you!

We learn a particular metaphor - like using a phone for voice communication. We are successful at it. It becomes second nature for us. And eventually we can't think of it in any other way. Westerners, growing up with a 'keyboard' culture that dates back around a hundred years or more with it's roots in the typewriter, automatically try to use anything with a keys as if it was the same as their computer keyboard. Asian cultures, on the other hand, didn't have keyboards and word processors until very recently. They only gained wide spread acceptance within the last ten years.

So, when a Westerner tries to input their first few short mail messages on their new cellphone, they typically hold the phone in one hand while trying to punch the keys with the fingers of the opposite hand. What do the Japanese and Chinese do? Well, they hold the phone cupped in their hand, and use the side of their thumb to hit the keys. And, after a little practice, they manage to do it with machine gun like speed. Of course the younger generations of Americans have started to pick up the same type of approach.

Now, in Japan, and soon in the rest of the world, the hottest new thing is to have a cellphone with a digital camera built in. At first it sounds kind of strange. As a Westerner, my initial reaction was, 'why would I want something like that?' But then I realize that I had the same reaction to short mail text messages on my cellphone until I had the chance to actually experiement with them for a while. Now I send/recieve at least ten a day, sometimes much more.

So, what new and exciting worlds will digital camera equipped cellphones open up for us? I have no idea, but I'm sure it will be exciting, fun, and will definitely enhance communication between people. After all that's exactly what Alexander Graham Bell had in mind when he originally invented the telephone....

Mobile Phones with Cameras Become Increasingly Popular
- posted by tempusmaster @ 12:45 AM