Back to the Future
September 04th, 2010It’s said if you can remember the ‘60s then you never lived through them. One day they’ll say the same thing about the pre-iPhone years. Without a doubt the iPhone, and new handsets that followed it, have forever changed the way we use a mobile phone. In a few short years we have come to expect not just the latest generation of the iPhone but all new handsets to be feature rich enabling us to live life on the run.
The mobile is becoming an extension of our person, and data usage is on the increase among Australian mobile phone users. The 2009 Australian Interactive Media Industry Association (AIMIA) Australian Mobile Phone Lifestyle Index revealed that 77 percent ofusers surveyed use their mobile for more making calls and texting. More than 70 per cent access mobile entertainment and information services and 21 per cent visit websites on the phone at least once a day.
More tellingly, the survey released last September, revealed 31 per cent of mobile users included data in their payment plans, with 18 percent claiming they purchased additional data.
We depend on our phones to do everything from checking emails to online purchases and updating social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn. The mobile has become the noughties version of man’s best friend. It is the last thing we check we have on us before leaving the house, and the first thing we make sure we have on arriving home.
Yet, pre-iPhone the technology was much simpler and the mobile phone less central to our lifestyle.Most just used our mobiles to make a call, text a friend and for the really tech savvy occasionally check email. Accessing the internet on handset before the iPhone or even the BlackBerry, was less than a pleasurable experience.
Just how true this is, and how far mobile technology has come, was highlighted recently when I lost my iPhone. Rather than purchase a new handset I decided to use a Nokia E51 that was lying unused in the office.
The E51 is the classic style Nokia with a keypad and small colour screen. Though still a “current” model, using it made me realise just how dependent I had become on the latest technology and user friendly access to niche content.
I went from using a phone that allowed me to do my banking, check the weather and wind conditions for local surf, record TV programs and book a cab – all at the touch of the finger – to a cumbersome handset with minimal customisation and functionality.
True making a call and sending a text wasn’t a problem, but attempting to use the phone in the way I have become accustomed to often required me to access the internet, which was frustrating to say the least. Navigating the web on such a small screen ended with a severe case of RSI, and not an experience that I wished to repeat on a regular basis.
Yet using a mobile the ‘old way’ has made me think about the industry, where it’s heading and the pace at which technology changes. There is no question that the iPhone has revolutionised the industry and opened up the world to the ‘mainstream’ possibilities of the handset. However, not everyone has access to smartphones like the iPhone or its competitors. Industry analyst Gartner in its most recent report revealed that smartphone sales in the first quarter of 2010 grew by 49 per cent compared with the same period last year. While growth is booming smartphones still only accounted for 17.3 per cent of all mobiles sold in the first quarter – or 54.3 million out of 314.6 million.
This means a massive number of mobile users still use older phones like the Nokia E51, and as I’ve discovered these handsets aren’t the most user friendly if you want to do more than make a call. It is up to all sectors of the industry – handset manufacturers, networks and developers – to make applications, for example, more readily available bearing in mind the user experience. After all, content is just as relevant to the users of the older phones as an iPhone.
As for me, Im still a sucker for technology, so after a couple of months with the E51 and I’m heading back to the future, waiting for the Australian release of the new iPhone 4.
We’d like to hear your thoughts on non-smartphones? What have your experiences been outside of making a call and sending a text? Is data usage a big concern? What can vendors do to make the experience more user friendly.