Standalone Technologies Killed by the Smartphone

Started by Kalahari Inkantation, September 21, 2018, 02:05:00 AM

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Kalahari Inkantation

September 21, 2018, 02:05:00 AM Last Edit: September 21, 2018, 05:45:48 PM by Magyarorszag
  • landline phones of any kind
  • the mp3/music/audio player
  • navigational (gps etc.) devices
  • the pocket camera and camcorder
  • the fax machine (thank god)
  • the alarm clock/watch/timer/etc.
  • the payment card
  • the portable video game console

and some inevitabilities:

  • game consoles in general
  • the desktop computer

What have I missed? What's next? befuddlement


don't let's

rip calculators (or it should be like that by now anyway)

also rip anybody that ever said you'd never be carrying a calculator around with you everywhere you go

bluaki

I feel like wristwatches should be on that list, but bafflingly enough Apple and Samsung and everybody else has managed to somehow create a smartwatch trend.

Quote from: don't let's on September 21, 2018, 03:11:48 AMrip calculators (or it should be like that by now anyway)

also rip anybody that ever said you'd never be carrying a calculator around with you everywhere you go
Higher-end dedicated calculators (like TI-89 and Nspire) still have better features than any offline calculator app I've found.

Also you'd have to pry dedicated calculators from the cold dead hands of the education system, which insists on exclusively using devices with no means of communication, and in standardized testing even puts hard requirements on the calculator features; ACT bans the TI-89 and anything else with algebraic solving.

Quote from: Magyarorszag on September 21, 2018, 02:05:00 AM
  • landline phones of any kind
  • the mp3/music/audio player
  • navigational (gps etc.) devices
  • the pocket camera & camcorder
  • the scanner (thank god)
  • the alarm clock/watch/timer/etc.
  • the payment card
  • the portable video game console
Landlines are particularly useful for businesses, but they tend to be better off with IP phones so the traditional phone lines really don't serve any purpose.

Most new cars come with a dedicated navigation device installed. They're not going away any time soon.

Dedicated scanners are absolutely necessary over taking a smartphone picture for all but the most casual of uses.

Portable video game consoles will still be around for the foreseeable future. Switch is doing fine, even if it's not strictly portable-only, and even the 3DS line is still selling tons of new systems.

Even ignoring the lackluster adoption of NFC payments by retailers (even for those who have compatible terminals), mobile payments aren't really feasible in plenty of situations. Most notably at full-service restaurants. Are you going to just hand the waiter your unlocked phone and hope for the best? On-table payment machines like Chiles and Red Robin have would be nice, but there's no way you can ever expect every restaurant to adopt them. Also for fast-food drive thru, it's so much more awkward to ask the cashier "Can you stick the terminal out the window for me to use my phone on?" than to just hand them your card.

don't let's

September 21, 2018, 05:08:18 AM #3 Last Edit: September 21, 2018, 05:19:43 AM by don't let's
That's why I said should be

Is there some kind of patent/copyright stuff going on? Or do people just not want to develop a high-end calculator app?

Kalahari Inkantation

Quote from: bluaki on September 21, 2018, 04:55:24 AMI feel like wristwatches should be on that list,

agreed

and i also agree that there's no reason for (non-academic) calculators to not also be on this list, but for some reason they just aren't, i've yet to find any sort of calculator app that's as good as an independent scientific (let alone graphing) calculator

Quote from: bluaki on September 21, 2018, 04:55:24 AMMost new cars come with a dedicated navigation device installed. They're not going away any time soon.

but do they offer any significant features that a modern shitphone with google maps doesn't lol

car navigation systems just seem redundant to me, but i suppose it's true that not every driver is guaranteed to have a smartphone and for that reason i guess it makes sense to include a navigation system with the vehicle

Kalahari Inkantation

Quote from: bluaki on September 21, 2018, 04:55:24 AMDedicated scanners are absolutely necessary over taking a smartphone picture for all but the most casual of uses.

i actually misspoke lol, i mean the fax machine (thank god) and have since edited my post, but really scanning and faxing are inherently tied and the shitphone actually can competently do both

https://www.camscanner.com/

You should try that out, it's amazing. srsly

adobe has their own scanning software too but i've only ever used scamcanner

https://acrobat.adobe.com/us/en/mobile/scanner-app.html

the only things you couldn't adequately scan (or subsequently fax) with these programs, really, are works of art

don't let's

Quote from: Magyarorszag on September 21, 2018, 03:28:35 PM
Quote from: bluaki on September 21, 2018, 04:55:24 AMDedicated scanners are absolutely necessary over taking a smartphone picture for all but the most casual of uses.

i actually misspoke lol, i mean the fax machine (thank god) and have since edited my post, but really scanning and faxing are inherently tied and the shitphone actually can competently do both

https://www.camscanner.com/

You should try that out, it's amazing. srsly

adobe has their own scanning software too but i've only ever used scamcanner

https://acrobat.adobe.com/us/en/mobile/scanner-app.html

the only things you couldn't adequately scan (or subsequently fax) with these programs, really, are works of art
I've used cam scanner. It's pretty good. At least for what little I've used it for.

Kalahari Inkantation

September 21, 2018, 03:39:00 PM #7 Last Edit: September 21, 2018, 05:49:39 PM by Magyarorszag
Quote from: bluaki on September 21, 2018, 04:55:24 AMLandlines are particularly useful for businesses,

and even this is really only because they can't easily be lost or otherwise removed from the premises, not because they need to be grounded lol

Quote from: bluaki on September 21, 2018, 04:55:24 AMit's so much more awkward to ask the cashier "Can you stick the terminal out the window for me to use my phone on?" than to just hand them your card.

in this particular scenario, they could eventually incorporate some sort of a point of sale terminal into the drive through intercom or smth lol, but yes there are still many situations in which mobile payments are impractical

Quote from: bluaki on September 21, 2018, 04:55:24 AMPortable video game consoles will still be around for the foreseeable future. Switch is doing fine, even if it's not strictly portable-only, and even the 3DS line is still selling tons of new systems.

while true, the psp and ds combined sold ~235 million units in ~eight years

the 3ds and vita, in the 7.5 years since the 3ds's launch, have sold a mere ~88 million

that's not even 2/5 of the last gen portables

that's barely any better than the gameboy advance (82 million), which had just a four year shelf life

the success of portable consoles has enormously plummeted, and steve jobs is largely to blame for that

don't let's

Quote from: Magyarorszag on September 21, 2018, 03:39:00 PM
Quote from: bluaki on September 21, 2018, 04:55:24 AMit's so much more awkward to ask the cashier "Can you stick the terminal out the window for me to use my phone on?" than to just hand them your card.

in this particular scenario, they could eventually incorporate some sort of a point of sale terminal into the drive through speaker or smth lol, but yes there are still many situations in which mobile payments are impractical

The papa John's near me recently started handing the thing out of the drive thru window to swipe the card. It was a handheld size and a long cable. Though I think they were fishing for tips on carry out orders. awdood;

bluaki

September 22, 2018, 05:52:49 AM #9 Last Edit: September 22, 2018, 05:59:50 AM by bluaki
Quote from: Magyarorszag on September 21, 2018, 03:39:00 PM
Quote from: bluaki on September 21, 2018, 04:55:24 AMLandlines are particularly useful for businesses,

and even this is really only because they can't easily be lost or otherwise removed from the premises, not because they need to be grounded lol
Here are a few reasons I can imagine for using business landlines:
* Much better reliability and uptime than relying on a wireless signal
* Ability to transfer calls to other offices
* Plenty of desk phones have better call waiting ability than any smartphone
* Accommodates strict security policies better (no wireless signals, no unmonitorable communications, etc)
* Makes more sense for shared scenarios like restaurants where one-phone-per-employee doesn't make sense and just leaving a cell out on a table (to probably be easily stolen) doesn't make sense either
* Cheaper than issuing company cellphones
* More foolproof in that whenever an employee is at their desk they can hear the phone ringing, whereas with cells you'll end up with a lot of people forgetting to charge it or something stupid like that, and tech support for incompetent users is a lot easier with the simpler less-customizeable button-based interface of a desk phone
* A lot of people don't like carrying a separate work phone, security policies don't tend to play nice with BYOD, and either way having a work cell is prone to leading to an expectation to be on-call and respond to messages outside of work hours
* IP phone systems can automatically keep intra-office calls strictly inside the office, greatly reducing the risks of phone tapping by a service provider or malicious state actor

A few of these features are possible with using IP-based VOIP calling apps over secure Wi-Fi, but ultimately landline usually tends to be the right solution.

Thyme


The artist formally known

Quote from: don't let's on September 21, 2018, 03:11:48 AMrip calculators (or it should be like that by now anyway)

also rip anybody that ever said you'd never be carrying a calculator around with you everywhere you go
idk calculators can do plenty phones can't still, but yeah non-graphing calculators are useless if you have a phone - sans school bullshit

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