Controversial :)

[LCPete]

we had this a while ago on here, I got a bit of stick for saying that they were no good for taking pics
Have now changed my view a bit and have taken some nice shots with my HTC
I mostly take shots of things that are quite far off with a long lens tho, phone not much good for that

 

[Teflon-Mike]

My phone did solve a problem - what to do while i sit on the toilet constipated :|

till the battery dies.
This is not progress.
Nothing wrong with the good-old news-paper, which also solves the problem, of what to do when you are finished and stranded realising the last piece of toilet paper has been used!
Find me an Ap for that one mate!

 

[fracster]

Mike, brilliant posts mate, very funny and correct to a certain degree.....

 

[Teflon-Mike]

I mentioned the Swis-Army knife earlier. Its a gadget. And one I do actually like. Useful and convenient when a parcel arrives for slicing off the banding and cutting the packing tape; unscrewing the bottom of a wayward mouse to clean the rollers; pull a fuse that's blown in the car, that sort of thing. But like I said, I wouldn't use it to try and cook spaghetti!

There is a lot of technology in my home; and yes, an awful lot of it isn't necessary, but like the Victorinox, can be convenient and useful.

Unfortunately Smart-Phones are not one of them!

I will admit, I was given one. O/H when she 'upgraded', gave me her old one. AND it was the camera on it she thought I would find most useful..... suggesting that its 5Mpix sensor, big view screen, and flash was actually 'better' than the cheap compact I have been using for years..... technically, yes, it was.

Till I tried to use the damn thing! Taking photo's is not its primary function. By the time I had convinced the damn thing to scroll through five layers of menu's to actually get it into camera mode.... whatever I wanted to take picture of has probably gone, and I could have gone and got the old compact, waited for the flash to charge and taken three pictures! But... OK.. its in your pocket and goes where you do... better than no camera. Except the shutter lag is even worse, battery life dire, and unlike the old compact you can swap batteries, when its dead... game over for another four hours! And THEN there's the faff and hassle of trying to get the pictures OFF the ruddy thing!

So actually... no... no chagrin I didn't get an iphone for Xmas!

 

[POAH]

I don't sit on the toilet that long

newspaper - weird new fangled invention that replaced the town crier

till the battery dies.
This is not progress.
Nothing wrong with the good-old news-paper, which also solves the problem, of what to do when you are finished and stranded realising the last piece of toilet paper has been used!
Find me an Ap for that one mate!

 

[POAH]

my phone allows me to read scientific papers on the train into the lab, it lets me get emails on the move, I use the internet, I can cheat in pub quizzes, it has a basic camera, I can play games on it, I use it to Skype when on wifi.

The modern day phone is something I would not be without.

There is a lot of technology in my home; and yes, an awful lot of it isn't necessary, but like the Victorinox, can be convenient and useful.

Unfortunately Smart-Phones are not one of them!

I will admit, I was given one. O/H when she 'upgraded', gave me her old one. AND it was the camera on it she thought I would find most useful..... suggesting that its 5Mpix sensor, big view screen, and flash was actually 'better' than the cheap compact I have been using for years..... technically, yes, it was.

Till I tried to use the damn thing! Taking photo's is not its primary function. By the time I had convinced the damn thing to scroll through five layers of menu's to actually get it into camera mode.... whatever I wanted to take picture of has probably gone, and I could have gone and got the old compact, waited for the flash to charge and taken three pictures! But... OK.. its in your pocket and goes where you do... better than no camera. Except the shutter lag is even worse, battery life dire, and unlike the old compact you can swap batteries, when its dead... game over for another four hours! And THEN there's the faff and hassle of trying to get the pictures OFF the ruddy thing!

So actually... no... no chagrin I didn't get an iphone for Xmas!

 

[Steve]

Teflon Mike should stand for Parliament.... I would vote for him.

The campaign starts here.

 

[george g]

Mike - If you feel so strongly about gadgets, have you acted upon it? Or are you still a telecoms engineer?

 

[andya700]

Teflon Mike should stand for Parliament.... I would vote for him.

The campaign starts here.

Make that another vote from me.
I think that progress and technology is great, but I do not like technology for technology's sake, because that is when we become very easy prey for the marketing people. There are many people who buy into the "must have the latest gadget", "must have the latest iphone/pad", because they feel pressured into it by their peer group.
It is quite amusing to watch the latest release of an Apple product, walk around our local shopping centre - Bluewater in my case - and see the hordes of people, politely queuing around an entire floor, just so that they can purchase yet another item which will be out of date one day after the purchase. The really amusing thing, is that the vast majority will be exhibiting their old model as they wait, just to let everyone know - "I have an Apple product".
I know where Mike is coming from, because we have had young and old relations try to ridicule us for not owning an iphone - preferring to have a PAYG base model instead. When they meet up, they are technology bores, endlessly talking about "apps" as if they are the answer to all the World's problems.
As for cameras on phones - 99.9% of images taken on them are rubbish, absolute rubbish, the social networking pages are full of them.

 

[pingramtedd]

One thing i have picked up from here....Do people really still use top up mobiles and Nokia 3210's? Smart phones is a term i don't really like...however, my 'smartphone' is incredibly useful! Yes we survived without them in the past but they sure make certain things easier

 

[george g]

I know this has gone off topic slightly and many posts above are a little tongue in cheek, but they obviously have some serious undertones. I am genuinely interested in why peoples views on mobile phone technology (or gadgetry as some like to call it) are so negative but those viewsseemingly would not stretch to cameras?

Surely the latest digital camera with the newest technology and mega pixel count does nothing to help starving African kids and you should be all using mechanical film cameras or at best an older digital camera? I see many who oppose 'smart phones' are using some damn good photography kit?

In fact you could argue, the amount you guys spent on up to date camera kit could have easily afforded you an iPhone AND a ticket out with a charity for a week to help those less fortunate in a developing country.

Please do not mistake this for me telling you how you should have spent your money, I am genuinely interested in the polarisation of views about mobiles.

I obviously think they are wonderful things - getting a little on the large side for pockets and battery isn't as great as perhaps I would like, but great none the less. How else could I get an infinite amount of information at my fingertips at almost any time? In fact I might argue that the fact you don't need to see printed media will reduce paper consumption and therefore reduce the amount of forests being cut down.

 

[Steve]

Surely the latest digital camera with the newest technology and mega pixel count does nothing to help starving African kids and you should be all using mechanical film cameras or at best an older digital camera? I see many who oppose 'smart phones' are using some damn good photography kit?

Fair point.

Personally I shoot mainly film. And yes it is some damn good kit. My Leica was probably the best camera in the world when it was made in 1950, and my 1970s Hasselblad is legendary.

Though I do also own a very nice digital camera too.

I used to have a smatphone supplied by work when I was with a large accounting firm. Had to give it back when I left and can honestly say I have never once missed it. Maybe I wasn't utilising it to the maximum of it's capability, but I honestly see nothing that a smartphone can offer to improve my quality of life.

My daughters would be distraught if they were without their smartphones.

So I accept that maybe it's a matter of lifestyle, and dare I say generational issue. Personally, I don't need/want the things a smartphone can offer at my fingertips. I always carry a camera and a notebook and pen. I can read a map. I enjoy reading books and newspapers. I'm not bothered about keeping up to date with facebook. Emails and web browsing are done on my laptop.

Some people will probably consider me a luddite, but I do embrace technology that improves my quality of life....it's just that imo, smartphones don't do that.