Who dictates the features that a cell phone should have?
By shioan
@shioan (22)
Philippines
January 19, 2009 11:28pm CST
Is it really the consumer or the manufacturer?
Before, a cell phone is used simply as a mobile phone. It can only do calls. For leaving short messages, we use pagers or beepers. Then text messaging service was introduced in mobile phones. So that eradicated the pager industry. Then came the FM radio, music player, camera, internet browsing, and so on.
But if you think about it, did the consumers actually ask for these features to be included in the package? When you watch a commercial of a new model (the first model with camera for example), it will tell you that it's got camera and all, that you can take pictures anytime, anywhere (as long as it's not underwater). But it will never tell you that you 'need' a camera anytime, anywhere. Therefore, the consumer will think "Oh, I 'want' this phone with a camera so I can take pictures anytime, anywhere." Then later on, this 'I want' mentality becomes an 'I need' mentality. Most likely, he/she will never buy a camera-free phone in the future because he/she thinks that he/she needs the camera.
So for me, it's like the phone manufacturers are the ones dictating that "you need this, you need that" in your phone. They introduce new features and make you believe you need or will need them. And once a feature is integrated, many more are sure to follow. For example, infrared and bluetooth would not be introduced if you didn't have to take pictures, listen to music, play games, etc. Yes, they make life easier when it comes to transferring files. But have you ever thought that they just made everything (especially inside the phone) more complicated?
Just to clarify, I have nothing against cell phone manufacturers. I myself own a good-looking phone with all the above features. :) I just want to share my opinion from my observations. So what's yours?
1 response
@sk66rc (4250)
• United States
20 Jan 09
We often forget that manufaturer as a whole is made up of different people inside it... I'm pretty sure those people came up with the idea for what they thought was important to them & through market research, put features into a phone... You said it yourself that before the cell phones, there were pagers... Some guy at the cell phone manufaturer had this idea of putting them together... Usually it's the people that come up with the ideas & targeted towards people with similiar interests... Then hope for the best... I for one am glad they came out with the phone that they did because I don't like carrying so many things on me... Now that I have a phone with camera, I don't have to bring seperate camera with me to vacations... I don't know... Guess it's all personal preferences...
@shioan (22)
• Philippines
20 Jan 09
Yeah, having everything in just one small box is probably the ultimate advantage of a cell phone with many features. And I also believe they first conduct surveys, study the market and all before they release the new product.
And hey, they don't actually put everything into just one model, right? Because some may have bluetooth but no infrared. So I guess they also consider consumers who only need the basic stuff so they can get the phone they want (with just the necessary features) at a lower price. A new model doesn't necessarily mean it's got all the latest/advanced features. For example, it may have everything but sometimes the camera is only 2MP to compensate for the price.
1 person likes this
@sk66rc (4250)
• United States
21 Jan 09
I guess there's a market for everything... I personally haven't found one yet but I hear some people talking about finding used underware for sale on ebay... It wouldn't surprise me... Point is, I guess if there's a need or want, somebody's gonna come up with a way to make money off of it...