Written by dgoldring on Wednesday, July 1, 2009

When Is A Phone Not A Phone?


There is an old joke about a guy who buys a watch with countless features.  While showing it off to friends, someone asks him what time it is.  Oh, comes the reply, "this watch does not tell time."  And I was reminded of that recently, when I saw rumors of a phone which would not make phone calls.  And if these rumors hold true, that is exactly what Dell has in store.  Well, technically, they are calling it a MID (Media Internet Device), but it will run the Android platform.

This rumor got me thinking, though.  Is a converged device with no phone really all that surprising?  In a recent four country survey conducted by Lightspeed research, 13% of users in the United states never make voice calls from their phones.  And a mere 52% (barely half) of all users in the United States make one or more voice calls per day.  Heck, I can tell you from my own use that while I use data on an hourly basis to download my calendar (from Google calendar), sync tasks and contacts, check email, and a myriad of other tasks online; I probably make fewer than one voice call per week.  The truth is that for me, and for roughly half the United States, these devices are not primarily cell phones.

Given this data, it should come as no surprise that Dell’s new (and by “new”, I mean “rumored” smartphone is not going to be a phone at all.  If the latest rumors hold true, it will be more along the lines of the iPod Touch than an iPhone.  According to the Wall Street Journal, the device – which is to operate from Google’s Android Operating System – the new device may also be sold through cell phone carriers, meaning it would have access to 3G or 4G wireless networks.  No word, of course, as to which carriers might carry the rumored Dell device; or whether this would replace the rumored Dell phone (which may or may not be pictured above) or whether it would be in addition, just as the iPod touch supplements the iPhone.  One thing that is clear, however, is that the people who can answer these questions are not talking.  Dell had no comment on any of these rumors. 

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5 Comments

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brandon
Jul 1, 2009

Looks like a Pre.

And for the record – I rarely use the phone part of my iPhone.


John D. Sheridan
Jul 1, 2009

I know several iPhone owners that rarely make voice calls on them. They tell me the weakest part of the device is the phone part. The same is true for my AT&T 8525 (HTC Hermes). It’s a work phone, and I’d rather use my RAZR for phone calls than wrestle with the 8525’s finicky phone. If my employer had better WiFi coverage I’d use my iPaq for email.

IIRC, the original Blackberry devices were email-only, sort of like a two-way pager. Many people still use them primarily for mobile email and calendar functions rather than phone calls.


Brandon
Jul 2, 2009

Let’s be perfectly honest – the reason why the phone part is the worst part of the iPhone is (IMHO) AT&T… not the phone.


dgoldring
Jul 2, 2009

Honestly, Brandon, I just don’t make that many phone calls. My service is accesptable with Sprint. But I am just much more interested in email and data than phone service. This new Dell option is really very attractive to me (if true). Supplement it with a free phone from your carrier and you are good to go.


Brandon
Jul 2, 2009

There’s no such thing as a free phone from your carrier (or mine or anyone else’s). You still have to pay for the monthly service.

I guess I don’t see the logic here on your part or on Dell’s part.

Why would you want to carry around two distinct devices – a dumb phone and a smartphone that’s too dumb to make calls? Dell would already have to have contracts with a carrier, so it also makes no sense for them to cripple the device and prevent phone calls. Its already got a radio to get data…. just makes no sense.

I know everybody’s use cases are different – but don’t you already carry around enough crap every day? Don’t you pay enough for phone service without having to pay twice (once for phone once for data)?

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