Design is like branding…

Filed under: Design — by Danny at 10:55 am on Monday, September 24, 2007

Figure out what you want to make, and make it better than anyone else on the planet. Why, then, is it utterly impossible to walk into a store and buy a mobile phone? Not a phone with a camera, music player, web surfing computer, 12 games, 63 ring tones, and a GPS device…just a phone. As pointed out by the Reaction [beta] blog, this is the question that Jeremy Clarkson has posed in his recent Times article. And he’s right on point. If mobile phones were brands, we’d berate them for losing site of what they started out to do and becoming a mish-mashed mess of unnecessary crap.

Other than the fact that I’m absolutely LUSTING after an iPhone (anyone want to "sponsor" one for me?) - a problem further compounded by my well-documented distaste for Cingu&T - I don’t need my phone to do anything other than make calls and store numbers. But, as Jeremy points out, it’s absolutely impossible to find a phone that does only those two things. Imagine how small the unit could be if it didn’t have a built-in camera/GPS/sonar/radar/nuclear missile guidance system.

So when did we lose track of one of the keys in any moment of design…simplicity? Do what you set out to do, and do it better than anyone else out there. Fine, someone out there is paying out the nose for these uber-phones with tons of add-on features, but why can’t you market an uber-simple phone alongside those monstrosities? It could be tiny, it could be cheap…it could be a phone. I’d be happy…until I get my hands on an iPhone.

Technorati Tags: beyond madison avenue, design

7 Comments »

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Comment by Ruben Sun

September 24, 2007 @ 8:03 pm

The problem with this issue is that the window of opportunity for this type of innovation has passed.Mobile technology is driven by European and Asiatic countries whose needs are different from the US’s. Per PSFK’s excellent trend spotting we have learned that in pockets of asia and africa, 1st hand experience with the internet comes through mobile device experiences. Here in the states we generally get hand me downs and 2nd or 3rd generation technology.Though the opportunity for the creation of a simple and reliable cellphone has passed us by there are possible opportunities with mobile VOIP/WiFi phones.

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Comment by Danny Nathan

September 25, 2007 @ 7:36 am

Ruben, I don’t see what Europe and Asia have to do with the possibility of marketing a simple phone in the US. Not to mention, Clarkson’s article was written for and ran in a European paper, so clearly the US market isn’t the only place where a simple device could exist. I understand that they use their phones differently than we do, but we’re a pretty large market over here. Short of buying an iPhone (can we say phone innovation coming out of the US?), I’d much prefer to have a tiny, camera-less phone with a smaller screen that takes up no space in my pocket. Or give me the phone out of iRobot that’s just an earpiece.

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Comment by gl hoffman

September 25, 2007 @ 8:20 am

I am totally in agreement and have made a career, actually, at discovering simplicity as a differentiator. BTW, I just got an IPHONE—the big feature for ME…big phone buttons.http://blogs.jobdig.com/wwds/2007/09/24/more-features-and-big-buttons/

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Comment by The Elephant

September 25, 2007 @ 10:38 am

I applaud simplicity, but the only time ive seen such a phone advertised is in places like Parade magazine and it’s directed toward Boomers and older. Do you think that a sleek & simple phone could actually sell? I hope so, but I’m not sure…

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Comment by Danny

September 25, 2007 @ 10:47 am

Elephant,

If I had the choice between say a razr and a nicely designed, small phone, I’d choose the latter. But you’re right, it would have to be well designed, and SMALL. If it’s just a POS phone, then no it wouldn’t survive. But if the features traded were worth it: smaller size, extended battery time (can I take it out of town for a weekend without bringing a charger?), etc, instead of big color screen, internet surfing, and a camera, then yes, I think there’s a segment of the market that it would appeal to.

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Comment by Ruben Sun

September 25, 2007 @ 5:13 pm

The challenge is in not marketing but rather in product development.creating the right device at a perfect competitive pricepoint.as of now we’re finding complex handsets (like the razr) for 40 or 50 bones (considering that you update your contract) and just 122 bones for the moto krzr… and economies of scale and consolidation of R&D is entailed in keeping that price where it is…to create a simple phone will require additional and substantial amounts of R&D for a product where margins will most likely be very low. it aint easy making a phone that’s small, lasts long, and has good usability… and it’s been tried… see the diminutive Sony Ericsson T600 and the Motorola V70. These phones were created right about when they decided to incorporate cameras into just about any and every cellphone available.The SE T600 has been my favorite phone by far too date… for all the reasons mentioned above…I’m not saying it’s impossible, but it’ll take loads of commitment and nerves.

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