This is actually two thoughts in one, but they are both phone related.
Thought 44.1: The backside keyboard.
We created the typewriters since 1829 and they've use all of our fingers in an effort to create efficiency. We have even created varieties of key layouts such as qwerty and Dvorak to improve the typing speed. Then we took a huge step backwards and created the cell phone with only the 12 buttons for typing, reducing not only the number of keys by the number of fingers usable on those keys. Then we made the thought that if we just replicate the full qwerty things would be better. And to some extend they are, but we still are reduced to just 2 fingers, or rather thumbs to type with. Then it struck me, the full key set could go on the back of the phone. Well at first it seems rather stupid how do you see the keys to type on them, but does/should a touch typist ever look at the typewriter or keyboard? No. The buttons on the back could be a full qwerty keyboard split and rotated 90 degrees to fit in the hand. So, as the device is being held the keys could be typed on from the back of the phone, well, almost like a normal keyboard. It would improve the speed of text/email communication, and not take up any more space. Anyway I am just a bit surprised that no one has tried this yet. Or if they have I'd like to know why it was pulled, was it just too unfamiliar to people that it caused them dislike it, or was it really just impractical?
Anyway I should sketch this up and post it here about what I mean, anyway onto thought 44.2
Thought 44.2: Please Turn Off Your Phone.
Ok, We've all been to the theater or hospital where they tell you to turn off your phone or at least set it to silent. It's that that *where* part that got my brain going. Anymore these days phones are starting to come enabled with GPS systems that can track your location. How simple would it be to do something like create an app that was aware of being in/near a theater, hospital, etc. and automatically turning the phone to silent? This actually seems pretty straight forward to do, considering they are already planning advertising based on location, information overlay based on location and camera direction. But turning the phone to silent and revert state when going to into a theater actually seems like something that would benefit people on two fronts:
Front 1: Removing annoying announcements. We know why they say "Please turn off..." but with automatically doing this it removes the time spent nagging people and lets them get back to enjoying the show. It also mean no more looking just to make sure you have the phone in silent. It also would remove the chance that some left it on despite the nagging, ruining things anyway.
Front 2: No more forgetting to turn the ringer back on. How many times have you called a friend or had a friend call you only to get no answer because the phone was in silent mode, because they went out last night and got the nag, but forgot to put it back to normal.
Anyway I am not advocating that this be mandatory by any means, but it just seems like there "should be an app for that".
Anyway there are my improvements to the phone industry, maybe I'll get around to writing the app or building my own phone.
Thought 44.1: The backside keyboard.
We created the typewriters since 1829 and they've use all of our fingers in an effort to create efficiency. We have even created varieties of key layouts such as qwerty and Dvorak to improve the typing speed. Then we took a huge step backwards and created the cell phone with only the 12 buttons for typing, reducing not only the number of keys by the number of fingers usable on those keys. Then we made the thought that if we just replicate the full qwerty things would be better. And to some extend they are, but we still are reduced to just 2 fingers, or rather thumbs to type with. Then it struck me, the full key set could go on the back of the phone. Well at first it seems rather stupid how do you see the keys to type on them, but does/should a touch typist ever look at the typewriter or keyboard? No. The buttons on the back could be a full qwerty keyboard split and rotated 90 degrees to fit in the hand. So, as the device is being held the keys could be typed on from the back of the phone, well, almost like a normal keyboard. It would improve the speed of text/email communication, and not take up any more space. Anyway I am just a bit surprised that no one has tried this yet. Or if they have I'd like to know why it was pulled, was it just too unfamiliar to people that it caused them dislike it, or was it really just impractical?
Anyway I should sketch this up and post it here about what I mean, anyway onto thought 44.2
Thought 44.2: Please Turn Off Your Phone.
Ok, We've all been to the theater or hospital where they tell you to turn off your phone or at least set it to silent. It's that that *where* part that got my brain going. Anymore these days phones are starting to come enabled with GPS systems that can track your location. How simple would it be to do something like create an app that was aware of being in/near a theater, hospital, etc. and automatically turning the phone to silent? This actually seems pretty straight forward to do, considering they are already planning advertising based on location, information overlay based on location and camera direction. But turning the phone to silent and revert state when going to into a theater actually seems like something that would benefit people on two fronts:
Front 1: Removing annoying announcements. We know why they say "Please turn off..." but with automatically doing this it removes the time spent nagging people and lets them get back to enjoying the show. It also mean no more looking just to make sure you have the phone in silent. It also would remove the chance that some left it on despite the nagging, ruining things anyway.
Front 2: No more forgetting to turn the ringer back on. How many times have you called a friend or had a friend call you only to get no answer because the phone was in silent mode, because they went out last night and got the nag, but forgot to put it back to normal.
Anyway I am not advocating that this be mandatory by any means, but it just seems like there "should be an app for that".
Anyway there are my improvements to the phone industry, maybe I'll get around to writing the app or building my own phone.
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