The information Swiss Army knife

The information Swiss Army knife

Posted Aug 31, 2007 5:56 UTC (Fri) by eru (subscriber, #2753)
In reply to: A first look at the OpenMoko Neo 1973 by N0NB
Parent article: A first look at the OpenMoko Neo 1973

but I'm the old grumpy sort that just wants a phone to do the job of a phone!

That's what I used to think too ... until I got one of those phones with more functions, and found them surprisingly useful and fun. It has camera (still and video clips (although the latter do look much like what RealPlayer clips used to 10 years ago on dialup)), does web browsing, and plays mp3:s. While their implementation certainly is inferior to what you get on more dedicated devices, the fact that the whole package fits in my trousers pocket without bulging makes the the phone more than the sum of its widgets: I can easily always carry it with me. If I see something interesting I can take a snapshot, if I wish to check what is the latest here on LWN while waiting for the local train, no problem.

The key here is that the whole thing is small and robust enough to carry always. I think a phone any larger would be less useful, even if it had better features. And forget about carrying the equivalent number of discrete gadgets.

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