Smartphones, as the name suggests, are meant to be smart. True, I said, after purchasing Samsung‘s Galaxy III five months back, post a recommendation from Chip Magazine’s Technology Editor, Anand Tuliani.
What smartphones have done on the ‘usability’ front is absolutely remarkable. Right from syncing contacts all across social media & corporate ID platforms to an enhanced multimedia experience, these capacitative touch devices have literally changed the way humans treat a cell phone. Now I can create,edit and share docs on these large-screen phones, capture photos and immediately upload it on Facebook, and most interestingly access the gazillion apps & games on the Android Market.
But one mistake can ruin a thousand noble deeds. Unfortunately, most of the smartphone manufacturers have made this dumb, dumb error…..
Lack of control buttons on the earphones.
The magnitude of this crime is accentuated by the fact that I have to travel in an overcrowded Mumbai local everyday to office. I get pretty disappointed whenever I have to take out my ‘smart’phone from the pant pocket to adjust the volume or switch the song. I would have loved to have these options on the earphone itself apart from the regular call button.
Even more ‘smarter’, albeit futuristic, would have been if the earphone would be able to detect noise levels on the outside and automatically adjust the volume to negate the external effects.
Smart???...not an inch
Irrespective of my travelling in an overcrowded train, I still believe it makes a lot of sense to have control buttons as the modern day utility of the earphones is that apart from letting you hear audio, it allows you to do multi-tasking.. While working, travelling, playing or jogging, an earphone is essentially an important accessory which allows you to do two things at once: Mixing entertainment with routine tasks. Herein lies the importance and the error. It is incredibly frustrating to disrupt the routine tasks and connect with the phone to make minute changes. I’d have to take out the phone, unlock it, make changes, lock the phone, put the phone back. 5 steps & 9 seconds. Makes all the difference.
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Nicely captured, Arpit. Yes, the seemingly tiny ‘extra-but-millions-of-time-executed-task’ when looked over a longer period of time, does expose a huge gap in someone’s vision to simplify matters in today’s sophisticated world. One does need a reminder that simplicity is the biggest sophistication
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